This past week, a Montreal nightclub called “Muzique” released an invitation for one of their events with what was meant to be a jokey little sign-off. Below all of the usual event information, someone had written: NO FAT GIRLS ALLOWED!!!!!!!!!! :) — and several of the club’s “plus-sized” regulars are livid.
In an interesting turn of events, however, the night club is actually trying to distance itself from the message, saying that it was a party planner who wrote the message and that they are considering issuing an apology to anyone who was offended.
The people interviewed in the article all discuss the rather unshocking fact that nightclubs do tend to discriminate when it comes to looks, although they will never tell you that to your face, instead claiming that the club is merely “at capacity,” etc.
But I do find it somewhat encouraging that Muzique, at least, is not trying to ride this wave of publicity unlike, say, the grinning asshats at Beautiful People who so proudly staged a “no fatties” campaign.
But, regardless of who wrote that message at the bottom of the event e-mail, and why, it still drives home the fact that there is a strange kind of discrimination going on toward overweight people in North America.
Admittedly, this is hardly news. And while a “fatties only” night club might sound promising, doesn’t it sound a little like segregation? Of course I’m not comparing weight to race — I know that weight can be lost while skin color cannot. Nor am I comparing “fat discrimination” to “race discrimination.” But I am saying that it sounds as though fat people are essentially not welcome at “normal people” establishments — especially overweight women.
It seems that every time I write one of these “fat discrimination” stories, the same comments usually pop up: But isn’t being fat a choice? Couldn’t these people just be thin if they tried harder? And shouldn’t we try to encourage people to live healthier?
Sure, but there are plenty of skinny-looking people with terrible body-fat ratios, zero muscle and very little stamina. And yet I doubt very much that the majority of people are going to point to them and say, “Why can’t they just get their act together and get in better shape?”
Let’s face it: this is about modern beauty standards, not health. More importantly, this is about female beauty standards — there’s a reason it’s “No Fat Chicks” instead of “No Fat People.” And I don’t think it has to do with people’s genuine concern about heart disease.
But what I think baffles me most is this idea that somehow overweight people just smugly keep on the weight to scorn men and thin women. Believe me when I say that for most overweight people, there isn’t a day that goes by that you don’t think about dieting or exercise or hate yourself just a little bit more every time you lose a battle with will power. And making people — especially young women — feel even more guilty or shameful about their bodies is most definitely not helping anything.
