by Tracy Purbrick
Primary Care Dietitian
Cast:
The Emperor: Chloe Marshall, Size 16, vital statistics 39, 32, 41, Miss England contestant
The cheering crowd: the duped British public
The Little Boy: Monica Grenfell, nutritionist, previous Miss England Judge and author of plain-spoken article in The Daily Mail*
Welcome to this modern day adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson’s morality tale. For the edification of those who were denied this childhood allegory, T’is a tale of delusion and the power of normative social influence. A king is conned by crooked tailors who tell him his (non-existent) brand new suit is made of such fine cloth, that it’s invisible to anyone who’s stupid. Thus, not wanting to appear dumb, he feigns being able to see it. But his downfall really comes when he parades himself in his finery to all his citizens.
Initially, in spite of seeing nothing but pink flesh before them, they all coo over its magnificence. No one wants to be the apparently lone idiot unable to see it. That is until a child, oblivious to such social pressures, ignores what he is supposed to see and points to the King’s obvious state of exposure. Finally, after a little persistence, the boy’s words sink in and everyone agrees there is no suit and that the king is actually doing a streak!
Today’s players, treading the boards, have not quite reached this final act. In our fable Chloe has been held up as the ideal female role model, the cheering public have acquiesced, blogging rallying cries of ‘go for it girl, you look fantastic’ and the little boy (AKA Monica Grenfell), has bravely pointed out that, rather than looking fantastic, the other ‘f’ word – fat – would be rather more appropriate. Unfortunately, this is where the parallel play has kind of stalled. Where the public should now say: ‘Hey, maybe this Grenfell lass has got something’, they’ve instead reached a crescendo of Chloe worship and savaged our candid whistle blower. Why do they not see what Monica sees? Well for two worrying reasons, which this saga unhappily highlights. Firstly, because obesity is so rife, many people have become blind to it. And secondly, because of those who can see that Chloe is fat, many perversely feel that this is something to be celebrated.
Let’s take the fat deniers first. Their internet postings go heavy on the euphemisms. Fat women become ‘real’ women or ‘curvy’, the modern day spin on ‘big-boned’. Well, I don’t know which thesaurus they are using, but it bears no resemblance to the likes of ‘beefy’ or ‘pudgy’ that I find under ‘fat’ in mine! Now I don’t want to judge poor Chloe on appearances, but she’s put herself in that arena by entering a beauty contest. Surely a prerequisite for beauty should be looking healthy. No one expects the nicotine-stained fingers of a chain smoker to be found attractive, nor the jaundiced complexion of an alcoholic, or the rotten teeth of a bulimic.
Ditto, someone who is overweight and therefore exercises too little and/or eats too much. I’m not advocating size 0, but why not a healthy slim figure with at least a modicum of muscle tone? Bizarrely, according to her stats, at 5’10’’ and 12 stone 8lbs, her BMI comes out at barely overweight. Having seen hoards of patients over the years and giving her bikini shot a good going over, I can’t help thinking that something’s rotten in the state of Denmark, as our thespian friends would say!
However, even giving these stats the benefit of my considerable doubt, it only goes to show how the BMI usually underestimates obesity. Again, fat deniers love to slate this tool, oft quoting the likes of Jonah Lomu and his BMI over 30. Yet, rarely do such dissenters practice any exercise, let alone international rugby. If the BMI is to be criticized, its biggest sin is in underestimating obesity. Indeed, what dietitian hasn’t calculated someone’s BMI to be healthy, only to look up into a moon face peering over a pot belly. With overweight and obesity becoming the norm, it’s no longer the metaphorical elephant in the room, because the room is full of elephants.
Which leaves us with the second, equally worrying category of Chloe supporters: those who recognize her as fat, but who actually want that to be promoted as a healthy alternative body form. Whole groups of such like minded people have bandied together into organizations such as NAAFA, the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, ISAA, the International Size Acceptance Association and closer to home, Big People UK.
With banners arguing that obesity is NOT a disease, these groups have stated objectives such as, stopping all research into the treatment of obesity, calling instead for studies into issues such as, the cultural bias against fat people. Try telling a heart struggling to service an obese body it’s just got a bad case of fat prejudice!
When it comes to choosing a beauty queen, just like the models we see when flicking through the glossies, it is healthy role models we need. Not fat, nor emaciated. I don’t buy House and Garden magazine to see photo shoots of a dilapidated old council flat, I want to see something to aspire to, even if I do live in a shabby shoebox.
Likewise, I don’t expect to see Vogue showcasing someone with acne, even though more than the odd pimple has crossed my path. Yes, the average UK woman is a size 16, but surely a beauty contest, any contest isn’t about finding the average, but the exemplary.
People have value, whatever their size, but being fat should never be a selling point.
*A role model for ordinary women? By Monica Grenfell, Daily Mail, Thursday, April 3, 2008
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