This is a fictional book cover done by Kimberly Brittingham. She is an overweight woman in New York who designed the cover as an experiment to explore discrimination against obese persons. The story she tells of people's responses is very shocking, not because these persons reactions were somewhat peculiar, but rather because it highlights how common they are. You can read Her Account of the experiment for yourself.
Comments on the experiment can also be found on this site.
I believe the fact that we are having this conversation points to the fact that discrimination will continue to flourish in one form or another. People like to alienate anyone who is not like them or appears to be an oddity. While it is true that being overweight presents numerous health risks, the motivation to criticize does not originate from concern.
From my own experiences I find people tend to be critical of anyone who is not like them. For example I'm quite a skinny girl and people might think slim people have life easy, but it's not so. People still say mean things about your weight without even stopping to check their facts. If I got a dollar for every time people made comments about me being anorexic or starving myself, I would not have time to write this blog cause I'd be too busy spending my money.
This is not to say I can relate to a fat person's experience especially, experiences which involve people scorning you just because of your weight. At the end of the day it's up to each person to cultivate an acceptance of themselves and try to move past other people's negativity.
Anyway just had to make this post after hearing the story about the experiment...you go Kimberly!!!
From my own experiences I find people tend to be critical of anyone who is not like them. For example I'm quite a skinny girl and people might think slim people have life easy, but it's not so. People still say mean things about your weight without even stopping to check their facts. If I got a dollar for every time people made comments about me being anorexic or starving myself, I would not have time to write this blog cause I'd be too busy spending my money.
This is not to say I can relate to a fat person's experience especially, experiences which involve people scorning you just because of your weight. At the end of the day it's up to each person to cultivate an acceptance of themselves and try to move past other people's negativity.
Anyway just had to make this post after hearing the story about the experiment...you go Kimberly!!!
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