I know you’re tired of hearing about the plight of fat girls, but I’m here to tell you a little more about what it’s really like to live in a fat body. After having watched about the fifth episode of Catfish in a row that dramatically ended in revealing a plus size girl as the swamp creature behind the computer screen, I felt like I needed to put in my two cents.
Firstly, this post isn’t to tell you to go date a fat girl. This post is simply to say that fat girls are not the problem.
You know how when you take a test and everyone in the class fails? That's when it becomes the teacher's problem - not the students'. That’s how plus-size catfishing works. When after being rejected, bullied, and torn down by men and society their entire lives, fat women can find solace behind someone else’s face and at their keyboards. This isn’t the fat woman’s problem; it’s society’s.
If we weren’t so concerned with policing how others look, fat women could date just like anyone else could. There wouldn’t have to be specific dating apps or websites specifically tailored to men who fetishize plus-size women. In fact, we could just be women without having to specify our body types. No other “sized” woman has to do that. But the plus-sized woman must.
I am a die-hard Catfish fan; I’ve seen every episode. And every episode that involves a plus-size girl as the “catfisher” ends the same. The guy says, “We can be friends. I’ll still be there for you. But I don’t want any sort of romantic relationship with you.” Why? It’s the same person you’ve been talking to for years, just with a different face. Seeing this time and time again has only further exacerbated the harsh reality of superficiality in this day and age.
Just last week, the episode featured a girl pleading with her online lover for him to accept her so they could be together. She loved him. And five minutes before she walked out the front door, he was madly in love with her. Once she revealed her true packaging, the love in his eyes was gone and repulsion replaced it. I’m sorry to tell you, but that’s just wrong.
No, it’s not okay to trick someone on the internet. And it’s not okay for it to get so bad that you have to drag Nev and Max into it. But being fat is okay. And loving someone who is fat is certainly okay.
Love is love and love will always be okay.
