DEAR JENNIFER LAWRENCE, I THINK WHAT YOU MEANT TO SAY WAS:

Me n' JLaw that one time we were on a plane talking about stuff and things.

Hey lady,

First of all, thanks for what you do. You’re a conventionally gorgeous woman with the largest platform imaginable and you’re using it to discuss body issues with class, charisma, and comedic charm. You’re normalizing positive body talk and hot damn that’s amazing.

So, I was just on an Australian talk show for a second today and they asked me what I thought about your statement “It should be illegal to call someone fat”. I formed an opinion on the spot, and began to realize that there needs to be a correction made. It should most definitely NOT be illegal to call someone fat, but rather “it should be illegal to practice fat discrimination.”

I know you mean well, and from what I gather, you’re simply saying that children shouldn’t see irregulated negative role modeling in the media;  you’re talking about sparing our younger generation the shame and hurt that body bullying can cause. But I gotta stop you right there.

Yes, bullying is dangerous, and we see horrific results from such actions: low self-esteem, eating disorders, self-harm, and suicide to name a few. However, if we were to illegalize the word fat as an insult, we would only be perpetuating that which we are so desperately trying to eradicate. Such measures would be ineffective, and in fact, would make things worse.

Here’s why: the word fat is not inherently bad. It’s an adjective. It’s a benign descriptor of size. Saying “You’re fat” is (and should be) the same as saying your shoes are black, the clouds are fluffy, and Liam Hemsworth is tall. It’s not good, it’s not bad, it just is. The only negativity that this word carries is that which has been socially constructed around it; our aversion is learned. It’s our association that is disparaging and THIS is what we must change.

Don’t stop calling people fat.
Stop the hatred that we connect with the word fat.

We have to stop lumping things like sex, curse words, and cigarettes together with physical descriptors such as fat. We have to stop saying that some bodies should be morally censored. We have to stop teaching children that they should be ashamed of appearances altogether. I mean, if we keep associating fat bodies with unmentionable things that have “negative effects” on our younger generations, how will we ever move forward?

I have a fat body and this is not a negative thing. My body is perfect simply because it is, and THIS is what we need to teach our kids.

Only after we remove all negative associations from body shapes, and start looking at people as people will we become a role model worthy of our children’s respect.

Holler if you hear me,
Jes