From the Archive: I don't want to associate with fat-shamers

"From the Archive" is a series of posts that I wrote on past, no-longer-updated blogs that I feel are good enough to need a new home.

This post was originally written in January 2014.

I recently requested to join a "vegan humor" group on Facebook (what? Vegans have a sense of humor?! Gasp!), and was somewhat dismayed with what I saw.

You guessed it, fat-shaming.

I don't clearly remember all of the stuff that I came across, but there were at least a couple that related to animals who had gotten fat by eating fast food. First of all, that's not even original. The "lol, McDonald's makes you fat" trope has been happening forever. Don't insult me with lazy comedy. Second, it's not based on truth. Fat people don't have significantly different lifestyles than thin people. Individuals have different sizes and shapes across the spectrum of eating and movement regiments -- from couch potatoes to Olympic athletes. Stop spreading misinformation. Third, you're being hateful and rude. Don't do that.

Needless to say (I assume), I left the group. While technically the admin seems to have decreed that body-shaming wasn't allowed, these posts were still up, and any dissent against them was thinsplained away. Not worth the aggravation.

But here's the most important part: I don't want to associate with people who think that kind of hate is funny or clever. The internet is a place where I have forged friendships, and I prefer not to have those sorts of individuals in my life. I don't stand for bigotry, and I don't want to make friends with people who do.