Crocodile Fat

A few years ago it was all the rage for pretty, thin talkshow hosts to put on a fat suit and go out in public to better understand how differently (badly) fat people were treated. Former supermodel and current whack-job Tyra Banks did it, and there were a slew of others around the same time who chose this path to easy ratings greater understanding.

Forgive me for being a tad snide about this, but while these stunts make for good publicity, they do absolutely nothing to increase understanding what overweight people actually feel.

The problem is that there are a couple levels to this. Let’s call them internal and external.

I think dressing up in a fat suit to experience discrimination first hand is probably admirable. You’ll see that you’re invisible to the opposite sex, looked at with distain by most, and treated rudely by people who think of you as weak and unworthy of consideration.

But I imagine that the people watching these shows, and those thin people pretending to be fat, must be thinking some version of this:

Man, being fat is really hard. I’m out of breath, my legs and joints hurt, and people aren’t treating me with the respect and deference I’m used to. Why in the world would anyone do this to themselves?

I’m pretty sure about that sentiment because that’s what I would say if I were forced to be ridiculed as a drug addict, alcoholic, or gambling addict. Why are you throwing away your family and your life? Stop it!

Today we add a new wrinkle: a personal trainer has deliberately gained 70 pounds so he can empathize with his overweight clients. I’m betting that he’s dying to stop eating like that, and he can’t wait to get the weight off. It probably goes against every impulse to eat the way he’s been. He said as much in a recent interview:

"It’s been very tough physically, mentally and emotionally to let myself go like this. The first couple of months were the hardest. I felt like I was going through withdrawals, just like any other addiction. I was jealous seeing people running, going to the gym, and being in shape."

And therein lies the problem.

He will understand his clients’ physical challenges better, and he has probably gotten a pretty good idea of how being fat changes the way people perceive and treat you, but he will always lack that one last piece of the puzzle, the one thing that would help him understand why his clients are fat.

Sadly, he’ll have his 15 minutes of fame, and may even be able to parlay that into wealth through a book deal, TV show, or public speaking engagements--all made possible by people who think he understands them. In reality, he only understands why they really should buy his book.

 -Doug