However, I do think her comment about “carrying that kind of weight” reveals that she does judge people for being weighty past a certain point. As someone who is thin, I have felt the sting when people say similarly to what Judd said but about thin people, “When I see people THAT skinny, I can’t help but think there is some disordered eating.” It’s not ok to assume disordered eating in either fat or thin people.

It’s an extremely important conversation that I think has been marred by a counterproductive point.

Linking weight gain to the Winter period isn’t just something that Judd has said in a vaccum. It’s a common meme and is often used as a justification for weight gain. And the unstated flipside of that meme is that, once it’s no longer Winter and that lazy funk is over, the weight will be lost.

Now, please note, I stated repeatedly in the post that Judd’s overall argument is a strong one and that I don’t think that this necessarily weakens it at all. I just find it problematic that in this interview she pathologised fat (going out of her way to say that there must be some underlying reason for why someone is fat) and that in her essay she seems to go out of her way to explain her weight gain. In a narrative about how objectifcation is damaging, what purpose does this serve, except to indicate that it’s not the norm?

The only place where I think I could be accused of “picking apart” what she says and “extrapolating” is with respect to the specificity of her comment about a size eight being heckled for being fat – and I go to great lengths to acknowledge that within the post. Otherwise I’m commenting specifically on her own words.

She means that when she “sees a person carrying that kind of weight” she believes she is justified in assuming that they’re carrying that weight BECAUSE they have “self-esteem issues” and “disordered eating.”

I’m sure you’re aware of how prevalent this line of argument is against fat people–particularly women. You’re fat because: You’re scared of men! You were abused as a child! You’re self-destructive! Etc, ad infinitum. Solve your emotional problems and you’ll magically become thin!

Judd is,
for all the good points she makes, still engaging in hypocrisy. She is making–damaging!–assumptions about OTHER WOMEN’S bodies while at the same time claiming this behavior needs to stop.

It’s important to say that.

As for pathologizing fatness, well, I think that the fact that the fat acceptance movement exists and is necessary provides support for her comments about self-esteem. It is not possible to be fat in this world without suffering esteem issues. That’s part of why fat people need support sites like this one.

I don’t think the way in which you pick apart and extrapolate what she’s saying is really doing anybody any good. You jump to all sorts of conclusions based on her comments and if someone did the same to your arguments, I’m pretty sure you would not be pleased. She never said everyone gains weight over winter and that it’s natural. She was the one accused of having had plastic surgery. She was the one who said she looks different because she gained weight over winter. Let’s not put words in her mouth lest others put words in ours in response.