I've always preferred "well fed"

Kind of sad that the comments are closed on that It would make for more good reading. I think it's possible he shouldn't have said anything at all, however, I only think that because the whole back and forth defending one's points on the internet thing gets a little tired. I do agree however with what he said. But I'm one of those people who think fast food is no different than buying a can of paint and pretending it's soup. So I would use that same argument he did even for a 100 pound person.

@joneser agreed. Typical Dan backpedalling without actually addressing anything Lindy said.

Lindy would make a damn great Editor-in-Chief.

Maybe I'm the only one, but this whole thing: YAWN.

Tean Eating cake vs Tean Not Eating Cake.

Dan Savage has consistently made two points clear. He doesn't find fat people attractive. And that being obese is definitely bad for your health.

One of those is an opinion and as such, unassailable.
The other is a fact: http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/causes/health.h…

Dan Savage has made a career of being crass and unapologetic. Why should the fat community be spared from these sorts of criticisms? Dan will attack the gay community (http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/03/bareba…) for unsafe and unhealthy behaviors.

But yes, shame and bullying are negative things. Dan Savage has always written as a bully, it's just that this time he's bullying a sacred cow of the feminist community.

I've been a long time critic of Savage, and people told me that if I don't like what Savage writes that I should stop reading him. Well, everyone: If you don't like what Dan Savage has to say, stop reading him!

I just want to thank Lindy West, because I thought I was fat but then I saw a photo of her and realized that I am much taller than her and much lighter than her. Jesus Lindy, go for a walk and eat some carrots, if you keep going the way you are going you will spend your entire life as an obese cow. Dan, if you can find a reason (insubordination perhaps) you should fire her, because if you provide any kind of health care to her the costs will be 2 pack a day levels soon enough. Time to cut her loose now while you can.

Savage = cowardly bully.

There's also 40zillion pages of discussion on metafilter about this: http://www.metafilter.com/100491/Hello-I-a…

@Joneser: Why do you get to decide whether this is a fucking gate or not? What makes you think you have that power? What are you hiding? Can someone please investigate this, shall we say, Jonesergate?

Yeah, it's not really an apology at all, he's just adding context to one example Lindy brought up.

I just don't think Dan gets that his near-couple decades of hostility to heavier people isn't purely the situational thing that he claims it is - it's pretty obvious to any longtime reader how Dan feels about fat.

He's free to have his subjective opinion, and he can say whatever he wants in his column - his skill at both are exactly why we're all there. Just don't run from your record when you're called out on it.

It's ironic Dan doesn't seem to understand that millions of people in this country would agree with this statement: "If a gay person put the same effort into being straight that a fat person would have to put in to become thin and stay thin the rest of their life, there would be no fat people and no gay people (and that would be awesome)."

The lesson I take away is that in some respects ALL of us are too harsh on "the other," even to the point where we pathologize "the other,*" and we need to fucking relax and consider being more empathic, and realize everyone is doing the best they can with their lives.

[there is a jangle of silver bracelets as Commenty Colin exits stage left through his beaded curtains]

* This isn't to disagree that a 400 lbs person has a health issue. I'm just talking about Dan's generalized, unacknowledged issues with fat in general, which seem to not exist in his mind, but are obvious to longtime readers.

Okay, let me weigh in on an issue that's been bothering me: Colin. I've had it, your relentless logic and well-reasoned statements ARE JUST TOO MUCH. Throw us a bone here. Please say something needlessly argumentative, totally based in your opinion, and overly harsh and/or demeaning. I need to know you're a human and not a robot.

* BOOP *

I can't understand why this is an issue. Were people previously under the impression that Dan Savage was a model for tact and human decency?

I don't know who this Lindy cat is because I only pay attention to what's going on in MY single-chinned neck of the woods. But can I just say that fat people should just reclaim the F word as other maligned communities have done?

Here's a fun game. Find an old photograph, now find the fat person.

You did no looking at any old photographs. Game disqualify. And you gave an outlier as an example. Statistics fail!

I'll just lay it out. There's no historical precedent for folks being so goddamn fat. Obviously there's exceptions, some pacific islanders got pretty big, there was that one president you so duly mentioned, and I've seen pictures of some really well-off folks that were fat.

I went to grade school in the mid 80's. There was one 'fat kid' in our class. I looked at our class photos a while ago. Let's just say, most kids today look like that one 'fat kid'.

@ douchey, find a photograph of you making a cogent point.

Take your time.

Arguing with someone who goes by "douchey" is even more pointless than the average Blogtown goings-on.

"It's ironic Dan doesn't seem to understand that millions of people in this country would agree with this statement: "If a gay person put the same effort into being straight that a fat person would have to put in to become thin and stay thin the rest of their life, there would be no fat people and no gay people (and that would be awesome).'"

False equivalency.



BULLSHIT he was a coward. FUCK FAT ACCEPTANCE. And FUCK SENSITIVITY. None of us have to like anybody else. Eat that.

Score one for fitness, a healthy lifestyle, and insensitivity (or what I prefer to call it, interpersonal liberty).

I think you needed it, pansy ass.