Nicole Arbour has struck again by posting a "Part 2" to her ranting video about overweight people, and honestly, is anyone really surprised? If you don't know, Arbour posted a video on September 3, 2015 titled "Dear Fat People." The original video is very unfunny and cruelly attacks overweight people while Arbour tries to disguise her rant as being concerned with "health." It currently has over 10 million views and is probably what prompted her to post another one, knowing that she would invoke the same attention. So she posted again, and this time had very specific things that she wanted to say.
She makes a comment concerning Barbie's new revamp on different body types and Arbour clearly missed the point. She states, "Barbie had to look like she eats cheeseburgers to make feminists happy." She is focusing on the fact that Barbie now has a curvy body type and not on the fact that Barbie has also created an array of body types and ethnicities. Yes, there is a curvy Barbie now but there are also petite, tall, and other body types with diverse skin, eye and hair colors. Knowing she could add fuel to her fire, she threw this in the video because of the body positive movement that she is so determined to tear down.
Which is why she continues on to attack Ashley Graham and her cover of Sports Illustrated. The fact that a plus-size model was featured in such a popular and iconic magazine was seen as revolutionary by supporters of the body positive movement. Arbour, however, did not see it this way and explains that "Sports Illustrated swimsuit models are the mecca of physical perfection when it comes to modeling."
Let us all take a moment and remind ourselves that physical appearance does not always determine a person's health. I am not downplaying health or the importance of working out, but one quick scroll through Ashley Graham's Instagram shows that she is very into fitness. She posts working out videos and health related images enough to show that she cares about a healthy lifestyle.
Arbour mentions Graham's workout routines in the video but dismisses it by saying that taking health advice from a "fat person" is like "taking movie advice from a blind guy." Comments like this are so infuriating because it makes you wonder what Arbour really wants. She says that she wants fat people to start working hard to get a better body weight yet she claims that putting it on social media negates the fact that they're doing it. How does that make sense?
What is interesting is that Arbour's problem with this magazine cover turns into a different issue. Not only is Graham plus-size, but how dare she also "represent 'real women,' and 'natural curves and bodies when her pictures are Photo shopped as f--k'", explaining that she believes Sports Illustrated chose different-sized models to cause controversy but still retouched them to make her appropriate for the magazine.
"To cause controversy for publicity"... sounds similar to what Arbour is doing by posting a Part 2 to her only video that has 10 million views....
Joke's on Arbour, though, because Graham has told Access Hollywood that, "The Sports Illustrated editors did not retouch me. They did not take out things. They didn't reshape my body in any way, shape or form."
Arbour still had more to say as she exclaimed that Graham chooses to maintain her weight so she could book "plus-size" modeling jobs. "All the other models have to be in top shape. She doesn't, or it's discrimination," she says. "If any of the other models showed up looking like her, they'd be fired."
This video and Arbour's original one are disgusting, cruel and down-right fat shaming. She can claim to be a health advocate all she wants but a true health-positive person would be body-positive, too. Which she clearly is not when she states "Hashtag #BodyPositivity is full of it,".
No one has ever said that as a society people should promote obesity, anorexia or bulimia. Yet, people do, and should, focus on empowering other women and loving their differences. Women should not go through their daily life feeling uncomfortable to be around other people because of their body shape. Every single person on this earth deserves to be confident and happy with who they are.
So I would like to say to Nicole that #BodyPositivity is not full of it, you are.
If interested in watching either of these videos, please do not go to her channel directly. Nicole Arbour is a YouTube partner and therefore each view she gets only benefits her. Here are links to re-uploads of the videos on different channels.
Here are some links to response videos on "Dear Fat People" and Dear Fat People Part 2".
Nicole Arbour vs Everyone (Personal Favorite)
Opps We're All Humans // Grace Helbig
Curvy Barbie & Plus-Size Swimwear Models | Re: Dear Fat People 2
