A letter James Corden will probably never read

Intro:

Recently, Bill Maher presented us with 6 uninterrupted minutes of fat phobia and fat shaming. This sparked controversy, with some people agreeing outright, and some people recognizing the harm being done by this kind of thing. Most people, however, were somewhere in the middle—they were able to see it as harmful, but underestimated the seriousness of that harm.

James Corden responded to this incident with his own statements about fatness and fat-shaming. This was awesome. But soon enough, I realized just how much internalized fatphobia was built into his response. It felt like a victory and a loss all at once—it was great to see someone speak up,  particularly someone who is in the same kind of role as Bill Maher. But it was agony to realize just how much of the negative stigma against fatness people really buy into. Sprinkled throughout the response was the self-deprecation that has become necessary for fat people to present in order to be considered valid. But also the self-deprecation that keeps fat people from recognizing the injustice in the way they and their bodies are treated. 

I wrote a rather scatter-brained post about Bill Maher’s initial discussion of the topic (if you want to read it, click here: https://balancewithoutscales.blog/2019/10/23/72/ ). While there is a part of me who wishes he would learn, and wishes he would read about this topic more to be more educated about the issue with the things he was saying, if I had to choose, I would rather see James Corden read more about this. I wish I could sit down with him and tell him that he doesn’t have to appease a world that thinks size is the big indicator of value. What would I even say? Where would I even start? Of course, this wouldn’t happen in real life, but if I had the chance. I think I would say the same things to him that I would say to so many people in larger bodies who are still sucked into diet culture and the fatphobia that permeates it.  

Dear James Corden,

I appreciate your courage in addressing the fat-shaming issue. You are more suited to speak on the subject than Bill Maher. But you’re missing a couple of things. First off, I know you have spent time trying to lose weight, we all have. But you don’t have to, and you don’t “suck” for not being able to stay at a lower weight than your body wants to be at. None of us deserved to spend our lives on and off of diets. They don’t work. We know they don’t work, and yet we so often go back. But you don’t have to. You can just be. You can just exist in your body, however it is naturally. 

I want you to know that you don’t have to buy into the health trolling of people like Bill Maher. Bill Maher doesn’t care about your health, my health, or anyone’s health. If you were thin., your eating and exercise behaviors would not be any of his concern. Don’t be fooled. There is a difference between discussing behaviors that are problematic in terms of health, and aggressively calling out a group of people based on their size, to assume things about their health that he simply cannot know from looking. If we want to be concerned about the fast food issue, fine, then let’s talk about that. But it’s not only fat people. If you want to be concerned about a lack of movement in the general population, fine, then let’s talk about that. But it’s not only fat people. There are health problems. But nobody owes their health to anyone, and to assume that these are issues specifically relating to fat people is not helpful for anyone. 

I want to thank you for highlighting the nuances of this issue, like the roll genetics plays in body size, and the importance of addressing poverty when addressing food-related issues. I also want to thank you for highlighting that fatness is not an exclusively American thing. These are the things that get left in the dust so often in this discussion. They need a light shone on them, and you did that. But I think the best thing you could have said is exactly what you said here: “If making fun of fat people made them lose weight, there’d be no at kids in schools, and I’d have a six pack by now.” We know that fat-shaming leads to weight gain, not weight loss. More importantly, we know it leads to psychological distress. It does worlds of harm, and absolutely no good. Thank you for pointing that out. 

Now I want to remind you, it’s okay if you finish a whole pint of ice cream tonight. Ice cream lovers everywhere, of all shapes and sizes, support you. We know that everyone eats just for enjoyment sometimes. We know that everyone eats past fullness sometimes. We know that food is more than just fuel. I hope you know it, too. 

To watch James Corden’s response video, click here: