Musings on a Fatphobic, Christian Bully

[Content note: fat phobia and fat shaming]

I hate it when I accidentally stumble into scary corners of the Internet.

This time it was a blog written by a woman who describes her blog as "an anti-feminist woman's thoughts on Christianity, Culture, and Family." Let's call her Sunlight Marie. Needless to say, Sunlight Marie and I don't see quite eye-to-eye on anything...ever. And of course I won't link to her blog, because as I said w/ my PUA post, why draw attention to myself? Plenty of mean spirited people already come here of their own accord.



What struck me in particular is how Sunlight Marie is so incredibly against fat people. She's actively fatphobic and shaming and all around hateful. I was just about to drop in a quote of hers from a recent post on fatness but it was so horrible that I just refuse to even reference her words in quotes. But in this post she posits her personal opinion (that thin is better and more attractive) as a universally accepted truth. She claims that all of us should actively be engaged in weight loss focused behaviors and states that feeling shame about your body is a good thing (I almost feel bad for her at this point. But not really.)

But the worst thing that Sunlight Marie does is pull pictures from fat acceptance blogs and repurposes them with the intent of making her bigoted and fatphobic point.

This is something that is really upsetting to me. I mean, I cognitively understand that when fat people put themselves out there in fat positive spaces that their images are at risk of being stolen in this manner. But it's an entirely different thing to find a blog where that is happening and see the venom spewing forth from this "good Christian lady." *eye roll*

I must have missed the part of the scripture where we're supposed to judge, shame, and mock other people--but I digress.

I mean, these people in the images she stole are average, everyday, happy fat people holding signs that say stuff like, "Love your body!" AND THIS IS WHAT SHE HAS AN ISSUE WITH.  This fatphobic rant is centered on how she believes feminists want all women to be ugly. Her main goal is to illustrate this through abusing people's pictures.

It's so interesting to me that there is such a stark contrast between anti-feminist spaces like this and feminist spaces. When I'm going off about what I think is a really horrible position (like an MRA or what have you) I do so with my words...I don't post a picture of him and insult his looks. It's not just a difference in opinion between Sunlight Marie and myself; it's an actual difference in values. She is fine with posting hate and harassment because she actively believes that fat people don't deserve the respect she would extend someone else (all while scoffing at "thin privilege." What a blissful state of denial she must exist in.)

Now, if you know much about my online life, you know that I run a public shaming blog that calls out sexists. So I can see how one might think that I'm being a hypocrite here...but make no mistake there really are huge differences between online harassers like Sunlight Marie and FacebookSexism. At FBS, I post the words of sexists, as they say them, and hold that up for public scrutiny. I highlight the fact that they hold really oppressive views about other people. I don't ever make any comments about their person; just their opinions.

Sunlight Marie, on the other hand, shames people simply for being happy because she thinks they should be miserable.

How sad for her, really. What a hollow, meaningless existence. Perhaps the saddest part is that she has found justification for all of her bigotry through her faith. I was raised in that faith and while I no longer practice, I do remember that it has so much potential to be about LOVE. She's instead focused her attention on hate and anger.

What a ray of ...sunlight... indeed.

This blog has strict comment moderation intended to preserve a safe space. Moderation is managed solely by the blog author. As such, even comments made in good faith will be on a short delay, so please do not attempt to resubmit your comment if it does not immediately appear. Discussion and thoughtful participation are encouraged, but abusive comments of any type will never be published. The blog author reserves the right to publish/delete any comments for any reason, at her sole discretion.