We “fatties”
Jan 30th, 2008 by heidi
A complaint I sent off in response to a BBC Breakfast segment this morning. I am quite, quite certain that the presenter in question called me, and everyone my size, “fatties.”
I think I may make it my mission to read up on and complain about EVERY obesity story they cover, as their coverage is so extraordinarily and almost unbelievably biased.
This morning, I had BBC Breakfast on during your interview of Ben Fogle, regarding his current project, “Extreme Dreams.” I was listening to the interview, about to head out the door, when the male presenter (I apologise for not having caught his name) made a comment. He mentioned that Ben’s programme was unlike the ones we see where, and I am certain I heard the word correctly, “fatties” are sent off into extreme situations, complaining all the way.
I’ve not had any luck finding today’s Breakfast episode online to watch again, in case I somehow mis-heard the presenter, but I am quite certain, given the context, that “fatties” is the word he used. My apologies if this is not the case. However, if he did indeed use the word “fatties” to describe large people, I would like to file a complaint.
While I can only think he may have intended to use the word to refer to the attitude these programmes take towards large people, namely, to insult and browbeat them into weight loss, I find this term incredibly offensive and am amazed that any news presenter would use it in any situation. As a large woman, I am not ashamed to call myself “fat” (it is a factual word describing my size!), but the word “fatties” is insulting and derogatory. Would this presenter describe a mentally-handicapped person as a “retard” or a person of colour with the N-word? More importantly, would he casually toss these words out on a publicly broadcast news programme? The fact that he was willing to say this word at all, whether intended as a “subtle” critique of another programme or simply as his own opinion, becomes a frank illustration of what I already see as BBC Breakfast’s approval and over-coverage of any anti-fat/anti-obesity viewpoint, even if it is insulting to large people. Stock footage of headless, fat people walking around is standard for almost any story on health, even if it is not related to obesity/overweight in any way (witness your recent story on Britain’s obsession with fast food, wherein most of the stock footage was of fat people, regardless of the fact that none of them held fast food bags and not all of them were even eating!).
Lest I digress too much from my point, unless the BBC would find it acceptable for this presenter casually to throw out racial slurs or other insults, I feel that a public apology should be issued for the use of this word and that the BBC Breakfast anchors should be reminded that people of all shapes and sizes should be treated with the same respect that they themselves would hope to receive, particularly in a public broadcast!
