22
This Is Fat
Awl pal Claire Zulkey has has a new project: "Even before obesity became the major story that it is I always thought, as I watched news stories featuring some anonymous person walking across the street, "Does that person know he's being filmed? What would he think if he saw himself on TV? How did they set up that shot, did they argue over who best illustrated this story?"
So here it is, Obesity Stock Photos."
I can FINALLY get rid of my subscription to blubberbangers.com!
Can't quit you, Gutty.
Gutty completes me. I'm very much looking forward to his future contributions to The Poetry Section.
With any luck he'll write a book and cook deep-fried, chocolate-covered blood sausages with Emily Gould.
Gutty Images?
Huh! Guess I'm another humorless bitch.
Just don't be an obese humorless bitch.
too late for me!
i've always understood the proper term for this to be "headless fatties."
Gutty said Yo! There's nothing left Pop /
Looked at me in my face and passed me to Chubb Stock.
Those stretch marks are making my lunch want to discontinue the function of being my lunch.
This means Gutty's doing his job, right?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J36cvLXko04
So, obviously a lot of those photos are actually of "obese" people. But others? Like, this one?? Do not get.
You've seen Kate Hardings' BMI slideshow, right? (http://kateharding.net/bmi-illustrated/) That person could easily be classified as obese.
Actually, I have! And some of those are certainly puzzling, until I realize that anyone about 5'11" or taller is almost immediately classified with a BMI of "overweight" unless they have the proportions of a male mode. I.e., disturbingly skinny.
But this is supposed to be "obese"! Which means if the lady in this picture is 5'6" (for example), she's gotta weigh 186 pounds! That looks way more like a model for the personal trainer who helps you lose "those last 5 pounds" than someone who weighs 186, no?
Maybe she carries all of her weight in her badonkadonk like me?
But, really, I do agree with you, because stock obesity photography is a different animal than stock 'cankles-the horror, the horror!' photography, ie. death versus social suicide, and the linked headline sounded more Daily Mail.
Not really? We've no idea what her bone structure or her muscle composition is like or lots of other things – hell, half her body's not even in the shot. It's also shot in a much more flattering light than most of the 'headless fatty on the street' photos on that tumblr, which makes her skin look better (and less fat – think how much better Gutty up there would look smoothed out with a bit of color on him.)
My point is, obviously, that you can't tell if someone is "obese" or not by looking at them. Much like you can't tell health from a scale, but that's a different story.
Yeah, for example I am only gutty on the Z axis – standing up straight I wouldn't be able to grab the flab in that position. Then again, I'm not obese (yet) and the Daily Mail is more UGH LOVE HANDLES, HOW WILL YOU DATE A FOOTBALLER NOW?
I think the idea is just to catalogue images that have been used to illustrate stories about obesity, not to compile stock images that are of fat people.
you got it. I have a Google news alert on "obesity" and I just check that and see if they use stock pics. I don't use pictures of actual captioned people.
From the archeological files:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6PuGcB0lO4