Last week, comedian Nicole Arbour posted a video online called "Dear Fat People." In this video, Arbour makes jokes about fat people and attempts to "debunk the myth that is fat shaming." She justifies this statement by saying, "Fat shaming is not a thing. Fat people made that up... Fat shaming. Who came up with that? That's f*cking brilliant. Yes! Shame people who have bad habits until they f*cking stop. Fat shaming. If we offend you so much until you lose weight, I'm OK with that. You are killing yourself." Afterwards, she goes on to make more comments about fat people getting handicapped parking passes and cuts in line at the airport. The general public was NOT happy about this video. There were hundreds of comments just like these on her video:
Arbour's YouTube account was suspended due to the anger; she even lost a job over the video as well. And for some reason, everyone on this Earth is still upset.
What people need to realize is that this is comedy (or at least a poor attempt). Comedians are always pushing the boundaries of what is considered "socially acceptable." We've got comedians cracking jokes about race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, police brutality, rape, and depression; the list of insensitive topics goes on and on. And yes, all comedians receive some backlash from someone who was offended by what they said, but this kind of anger at a video that some comedian posted online is nonsensical.
In addition (by no means would I label myself a feminist), what people don't realize is that it's hard to be a woman that's "funny." Comedy legend, George Carlin, has made fat people jokes (much cruder jokes than Arbour's) in his stand-up routine, and no one gave him grief about it. But when a woman makes jokes about fat people, it's all of a sudden wrong because "all women have body insecurities," and "thus, should be more sensitive toward other peoples' body insecurities." And then, when women make such jokes, they're automatically labeled a "cold-hearted b*tch." However, when a man makes a joke about weight, it's okay because "he's a guy," and "all guys are like that."
(Shoutout to Bill Nye for giving a great lecture at Tulane)
We have videos on the Internet of police killing innocent citizens because of the color of their skin. We have videos of ISIS beheading their hostages. So why are we this upset that some girl posted a video where she makes JOKES (not even necessarily her personal opinions) about fat people? There are literally thousands of other issues that need our attention.
Arbour has said that she isn't going to apologize for her video. And while I think her video was overall pretty bad comedy, I stand by her. I think there are too many people that don't stand up for themselves and their work due to what people around them say. So, good for her.
Whether you are offended or not, she's just one other comedian in this world that has made a joke about issues that America (or Canada, she is Canadian) has. If you spend your energy on something you can't change, then it's a waste of time. Instead of focusing on something an irrelevant (at least she was irrelevant to me before this happened) YouTuber said in a video, you should fight for things that truly matter. So basically everyone needs to just chill out and stop being so sensitive. You're all beautiful human beings.
