I read a novel a while back where the heroine was overweight.  This would not be a big deal, except she talked about it CONSTANTLY.  It was getting a little old, actually.

Anway, there was a scene in which her new boyfriend took her jogging, which she hated. (I can relate to this - exercise in any form sucks, except I seem to have landed in the most exercise-happy, athletic ward EVER.  Hmmm…)  But she dutifully went jogging with him, and a skinny chick passed her and then there was a paragraph degrading this unknown woman.  She was automatically a b*tch.  She was heartless and cruel, and hated fat chicks everywhere.  She was obsessed with being thin, and exercising all the time, and was basically evil incarnate.  There was even a “why does she even wear a bra anyway” type of comment. 

This was not a major plot point.  I think, I’m not sure, but I think, it was supposed to be funny. The skinny girl did nothing, NOTHING, except jog.  She didn’t look at the heroine, she didn’t bump into her, she didn’t roll her eyes at her, she just jogged past, and got serious hate vibes and eye-daggers sent at her.

So. This bothered me.  Because I’m skinny.  Some might even say “scrawny.”  And that girl could have been me. This isn’t the only thing I’ve read that’s similar in tone, and now I’m starting to wonder if there are people that don’t actually know me and yet hate me just because I exist.  (I should really stop reading altogether.  That must be the answer.)

Do I really get hate vibes sent after me when I walk around the grocery store? And when did it get OK to make fun of people because of their weight?  What, underweight is OK, but overweight isn’t?

I am skinny because of genetics.  It’s not the way I eat or how much I exercise. I’m sure there are many many heavier people out there who are in far better shape than I am. Other thin people, too. 

I hesitate to even say that, though, because it makes people hate me more.  And then I feel like I have to apologize because of my genetic make up, and that feels so wrong to me, like apologizing because you have brown hair or something.

So, am I being paranoid?  (Please say yes.)  Do some overweight people look at me and automatically assume all kinds of negative stuff?  Am I instantly classified as an exercise/nutrition nut job who hates anyone fatter than I am?  And if you’re overweight, does this mean you’ll look at me and think “now there’s someone I won’t be friends with?”

One of my friends I left behind in SLC is heavily overweight.  (Like, was part of a study on obesity, overweight). I sometimes miss her so much I can’t breathe. I miss all my friends, actually, a lot, and she’s not the only one with weight issues, so I know not all heavy people hate me.  I don’t think you can ever say “all (blank) people” do anything.  But to have some people hate me even when I do nothing whatsoever?  I know, their problem, not mine, but….ick.

Anyway, I know weight can be a touchy subject for women, and I’m NOT complaining that I’m thin.  I’m really not.  I know that for this society I got genetically lucky on that one (other things…not so much).  I’m just floored at the number of stuff I read where the “fat chicks” hate the “skinny chicks”, especially after the “fat chicks” have endured so much hate for so long. 

(Also, I hate all the diet ads I see on facebook constantly.  Geesh, it’s enough to give even a scrawny gal a complex.  Back off, would’ja?)

Cue the “oh I wish I had your problems” comments….NOW!  (But seriously, tell me the truth.  Be anonymous if you want. Do you have negative thoughts about other women solely based on their weight, fat or thin?)  Oh, and while you’re being honest, please STAY NICE.