For the sake of fairness, I thought I'd post Dan Savage's defense, which is well-witten and for the most part fair, though I think he overlooks some things. I don't have hard evidence I can point to or a single smoking-gun example but, as a reader (and fan) of Dan's writing, I have felt that there is an undercurrent of antipathy toward the overweight. Maybe this is entirely in my own mind, but, as Lindy West and others on Slog have noted it, as well, I don't think he can so easily dismiss the charge that he (consciously or otherwise) contributes in his own way to the shame society heaps on the overweight.
But check out his response and tell me what you think.
for the record this: http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2011/02/14/hello-they-are-fat
ReplyDeletewas a much better defense on his part
than the other 2 posts he made. the one you linked was too defensive to really be anything other than (as a commenter points out) privilege-denying-dude. which, you know, doesn't necessarily invalidate his points, esp considering his columns that are actually quite understanding and encompassing.
whatever. he's a controversial dude. comes with the territory. i'm not necessarily interested in who is "right" or who "wins" on this issue as much as i am interested in listening to 2 smart, funny people take on a controversial topic and plumb it to its depths~
glad you posted this ... good to have more than a single story, eh?!
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