News, People Are Talking
Fat-Hating Marie Claire Blogger Struggled With Eating Disorder
By Leah Chernikoff
Maura Kelly, a sex and relationship blogger for Marie Claire, is finding herself in a whole lot of hot water today. She wrote a post for the mag’s site titled “Should “Fatties” Get a Room? (Even on TV?)” which was ostensibly about the CBS sitcom Mike & Molly, a show about a couple who meet in an Overeaters Anonymous group, but was really just a fat-ist screed coming from someone who has struggled with eating issues herself.
Marie Claire has upped their fashion coverage recently with hires like Nina Garcia and Taylor Tomasi Hill. And considering the fashion industry’s recent efforts to diversify the body shapes on the runways (like Beth Ditto at Gaultier), on the pages of editorials and ad campaigns (Crystal Renn for Chanel and Gaultier), and this season’s embrace of curves (Louis Vuitton Fall 2010), this post from Kelly flies in the face of all of that. Moreover, it’s just an unabashedly mean spirited piece and we’re kind of shocked that it’s attached to such a reputable ladymag, one, no less, with a feature series called “Big Girl in a Skinny World” by 5’2″ 220 pound stylist Ashley Falcon.
Here’s the thing: Kelly has struggled with anorexia. She’s written about it. So it seems wildly insensitive that someone who has struggled with eating issues would lash out at others struggling, too. Since the post went live, Jezebel has noted that she’s addressed her anorexia in the comments: “Though I don’t think of myself as anorexic any more, being freaked out by obesity to the insensitive, even cruel, point that I was is certainly a vestige of the anorexic mindset; maybe so was being righteous about how easy it is to lose weight. (Because once I lost an extreme amount of weight, of course—about half my body weight—etc.).”
But does that make it OK?
Judge for yourself. Here are some highlights:
“I think I’d be grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other … because I’d be grossed out if I had to watch them doing anything. To be brutally honest, even in real life, I find it aesthetically displeasing to watch a very, very fat person simply walk across a room — just like I’d find it distressing if I saw a very drunk person stumbling across a bar or a heroine addict slumping in a chair.”
But don’t worry guys, she’s got nothing against fat people! See:
Now, don’t go getting the wrong impression: I have a few friends who could be called plump. I’m not some size-ist jerk. And I also know how tough it can be for truly heavy people to psych themselves up for the long process of slimming down. (For instance, the overweight maintenance guy at my gym has talked to me a little bit about how it seems worthless for him to even try working out, because he’s been heavy for as long as he can remember.)
Because really, if you’re overweight, it’s clearly your fault:
But … I think obesity is something that most people have a ton of control over. It’s something they can change, if only they put their minds to it.
Tags: Ashley Falcon, Marie Claire, Maura Kelly






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It’s funny that you just tweeted about this, because I did too, right after reading her piece. It just blows my mind that people still feel so entitled to judging and criticizing others that they are comfortable doing it in a really public forum.
I think the whole concept of writing an “opinion piece” on the writer’s disgust at “fat people” is idiotic.
We live in a sick world where a person’s weight now generates a whole series of self-righteous assumptions regarding their character.
I know this from personal experience. Due to an extreme health crisis, I went through a long course of gruelling treatments which left me emaciated and close to death. To try to take my mind off all the pain I dragged myself off to a party where a complete stranger praising my “svelte” figure. When I told her I had cancer and a poor prognosis she said “Well, at least you aren’t fat”, as if that awas a far worse fate than death.
I was also told by many random people (not health professionals) that I had an eating disorder and was anorexic. This when I was on food supplements and trying everything to get into a normal weight range.
No one, regardless of physical characteristics, should be subjected to this kind of rudeness and ignorance. There is a great deal more to people than their weight. Perhaps Maura Kelly needs to grow up and expand her horizons.
WOW….I am terribly sorry to hear that you (and anyone else who has ever experienced anything similar) had to endure all of that, from the illness to the (presumably) stares, to the commentary, questions, and ignorance of people.
But I am also glad that you’re here able to share with us some of your insight.
I think that too often, we tend to take for granted a vast many things, including health, and we generally regard the thin as having a healthier lifestyle than people who aren’t perhaps as thin as the next person. The reality is that the absolute reverse could possibly be true. It’s all situational…
But I digress…it’s early and I’m not really as coherent as I’d like to be. LOL But again, thanks for that and KUDOS.
Be blessed. ;)
Thanks Ian. Your are quite right about thinness – it can be a sign in itself of devastating health problems (and not only serious psychiatric problems like anorexia). In my opinion, people in the moderately overweight range can often be completely fit and healthy if they exercise and eat a good diet.
It saddens me that so many people have such screwed up views about weight that healthy people make themselves unhealthy and unhappy all for the sake of appearances. None of this stuff means much when you are really unwell. When you are just holding on to life all you wish for is health, and all you want is for others to appreciate their lives and what they have.
Thank you for your courage. We all must stop judging each other about our appearance. Like you, each person has a story. If people knew what was really going on with you, they should be more compassionate. I agree — no one should be subjected to ignorant and rude comments about how they look or what they are experiencing. We are all beautiful spirits living in physical bodies. When will we acknowledge our deeper selves rather than fatness or thinness, etc.?
Thanks Kim, I totally agree with you. I think it is terrible how many people have been hurt and damaged by callous and cruel remarks about appearance such that they feel they cannot be themselves and feel they have to hide from the world. I admire people who have the courage to be themselves despite all this negativity.
I really wonder when our society became ok with commenting on others body’s etc. Isn’t it just considered poor manners? I hope that you are healthy and happy now!
As far as the article in Marie Claire, I won’t be purchasing the magazine again, and if it is so displeasing to Maura to see a large person even walk across the room then she doesn’t have to look! Agreed, she needs to grow up. Gotta wonder what is so rotten in her life that being self righteous makes her feel better!
I agree – it is bad manners. And thanks – am very happy and fairly healthy.
WOW. This is not coming from the perspective of someone who is concerned or with an actual thoughtful opinion. It just seems like a hate filled post from someone who has hated herself and her personal self image. I think her problem is that she subjected herself to so much scrutiny and misery being anorexic that she can’t swallow this recent plus sized movement. She honestly thinks it’s unfair.
She’s ignorant and her superficiality is probably what drove her to an eating disorder in the first place. She thinks aesthetics are way more important than they really are and she needs to get over it, for the world does not revolve around what she thinks is aesthetically pleasing.
Actually, a lot of the time people are driven to anorexia because of a need to control something about their lives, not because of a preoccupation with aesthetic beauty. Frequently people who suffer from anorexia were raised in some kind of situation where they didn’t have any control over their own lives and so they react by controlling their diet to an extreme degree (Karen Carpenter is a good example; her parents wouldn’t let her move out of the house and live her own life even when she was a wealthy adult).
I’m not condoning Kelly’s piece, I’m just making a point.
kind of like a defense mechanism
Also, btw, not everyone who’s fat is “struggling with eating issues.” Sure, maybe some fat people are, but comparing simply being fat to anorexic doesn’t compute either.
But thanks for calling out Kelly on this ridiculous piece. Shame on her.
Thanks–you make a good point. I understand that not everyone who is overweight is “struggling with eating issues.” But the characters in the sitcom that Kelly’s post is about meet in Overeaters Anonymous which implies that they are struggling with eating issues.
You know, if obesity is actually a disease like alcoholism, why exactly is it mostly confined to the populations of rich, first-world countries? It’s sad that it’s no longer possible to point out that clearly unhealthy behavior that makes people very unattractive physically is a bad thing.
It’s actually confined to the lower-class portion of highly industrialized countries. And if you remotely think that shaming works, you’re on another planet.
I don’t care what works. I’m not interested in solving other people’s personal problems. You and everyone else complaining about this blogger are part of the movement to make it socially acceptable to be obese, and frankly, it’s not acceptable. Obesity is unattractive and, much more importantly, unhealthy. The fact that it is confined to a specific demographic indicates that it’s a condition deriving primarily from lifestyle. Outside of a small minority of people with genetic disorders, most of the obese in America could choese to eat healthier, and lead a more active life.
It’s not an easy “choice” for many people living in low income working class neighborhoods with very limited access to healthy unprocessed foods and the means to a healthier lifestyle. Obesity is a problem, yes, but the solutions are not that simple.
whether or not you find obesity unattractive is IRRELEVANT. yes there is a movement to make obesity SOCIALLY ACCEPTABLE. not because EVERYONE has to find it attractive, but because quite frankly some people do find it attractive. if we made every single physical caracteristic that SOME PEOPLE find unattractive socially unacceptable then all we would show on TV are “perfect people”.. then it would be socially unacceptable to have facial hair, freckles, bitten nails, shaven heads, tattoos, big feet, grey hair, flat chests, the list GOES ON… saying that ANY PHYSICAL CARACTERISTIC is SOCIALLY UNACCEPTBALE is truly a sign of hatred towards women as women are beautifully diverse… and I suspect an underlying sign of self-hatred towards one’s own imperfections.
I think men who are “built” – as in having visible muscles and being “cut” – are unattractive. I like my men closer to how Frank Gorshin looked as The Riddler, kind of scrawny. I also find men with large noses – such as Alan Rickman – sexy. Should I force the entire world to accept my idea of the ideal man? Big nose and all?
Well said rolleyes! Obesity is unhealthy and is a huge cost to society. I take Leah_Chernikoff’s point that low income working class people have limited access to healthy unprocessed foods (although I see plenty of morbidly obese people slurping 24 oz coca-cola when they should be drinking plain old H2O), but why can’t these people walk more? Everyone has access to walking, right? The fact of the matter is that people do have a choice. Even if it is a limited choice, there are still steps that can be taken! Action is what people should be focusing on rather than whether monikers like “fatty” is offensive or not!
The problem with people like you, rolleyes, is that you’re too ignorant to understand that not everyone who is fat is lazy and eats badly. There are many factors, including genetics, health issues, and medications. For example, did you know a lot of medications people take for things like diabetes, high blood pressure, migraines, depression, and bipolar disorder commonly make peope gain weight? Other people may have undiagnosed thyroid problems, which makes it extremely difficult to lose weight. And it’s not as simple as going to the doctor and taking some tests. Sometimes a thyroid problem doesn’t show up for years. Stress also causes weight gain, especially in woman. I personally was on antidepressants for a few years, and in that time it made me gain quite a bit of weight, which I’m still having difficulty losing dispite my active and healthy lifestyle.
Wow. She has issues. Too bad that she has a such a public, respected forum in which to air them – it gives her opinion too much weight, no pun intended. Her article is extremely biased and is beyond hurtful. Who cares what she finds appealing or repulsive anyway?
The only thing that article did was establish that Maura Kelly is mentally ill. I don’t care if she had an eating disorder or troubled childhood or whatever — anyone who can write an article like that, musing over how much she hates the sight of fat people and pouring that much vitriol into her descriptions has a major, major issue. And frankly, shouldn’t be writing for the magazine.
I have a great idea for her next blog post: make her wear a full on fat suit around nyc for a week, I wonder if that would change her feelings about this matter.
I have a great idea for her next blog post: make her wear a full on fat suit around nyc for a week, I wonder if that would change her feelings about this matter.
I mean some of it is a little extreme but shes being honest. I think Americans are way to PC relax everyone. She just had the nerve to say out loud what everyone is thinking. It is gross to see fat people walk, it’s ugly to see the human body in such a destroyed form.
Can’t get over “Rolleyes,” who isn’t interested in helping other people solve their personal problems, but who obviously wants people to lose weight for HER benefit, because it bothers her seeing them. It can’t be for their own health or well-being, because that would show interest in their personal problems, which clearly she can’t be troubled with.
Can’t get over “Rolleyes,” who isn’t interested in helping other people solve their personal problems, but who obviously wants people to lose weight for HER benefit, because it bothers her seeing them. It can’t be for their own health or well-being, because that would show interest in their personal problems, which clearly she can’t be troubled with.
Is this her?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lulumcallister/3846575155/in/photostream/lightbox/
ugly on the outside too
http://cdn.thefrisky.com/images/uploads/Maura_Kelly_main.jpg
Fighting appearance-shaming with appearance-shaming? Really?
Who says I was fighting for appearance-shaming?
http://i843.photobucket.com/albums/zz360/taytrong/MauraKellyisscary.jpg
Some people only understand empathy when they want others to feel it for them. It can be a useful tool.
My first reaction to her story was, “maybe I should I write one about how gross it is to see ugly people make out.” Irony.
Supposedly, she has written an apology.
I wonder if anyone has read it.
Supposedly, she has written an apology.
I wonder if anyone has read it.
We have. It’s a lame non-apology. Basically “I’m sorry if you were hurt, you fat ugly cows” type thing.
This disturbs me on so many levels. As a human being, I am revolted by Maura Kelly’s insensitivity, shallowness, and obliviousness. As a woman recovering from an eating disorder, I am revolted by her need to hide behind anorexia as an excuse for appalling behavior. As a professional writer, I am revolted by her lack of skill, professionalism, and research. I am also disappointed that she chose to write such a revolting post instead of embracing this opportunity as a platform to open an intelligent, important discussion on women’s portrayals in media. The fat vs. thin debate is as ridiculous as the working mom vs. the stay-at-home mom debate, and as dangerously polarizing.
I hold to my opinion that she’s not even really anorexic. I’ve never known one who was mean to fat people, just to themselves. She just uses the word to gain sympathy. A throw away term. Like how some people who do not have obsessive compulsive disorder claim they have OCD.
This is disturbing….not only for overweight people….but imagine if heavy people would judge the same way the slim ones? how would that feel?
visit http://iscariotteh.wordpress.com/
Their website has a “Sex and Relationships” section, so I’m guessing they have that content in the magazine as well.If you want something non-sexual, but more mature than teen magazines, Lucky is a good magazine. Vogue and Allure, as well as possibly other fashion magazines…
http://www.healthproductreviewers.com/leanspa-acai-review.html
What would iti be like if overwght people would judge the same way the slimmer one? wouldn;’t that be desturbing? how would that feel? …this kind of thinking makes me feel that that woman has some issues….frustrations….
visit
http://iscariotteh.wordpress.com/
Her column is called “The Year of Living Flirtatiously” because she is (when not spewing venom) trying to find a relationship. She says almost 30 years old and never been in love (nor been loved). I think we can all see why.
Almost 30 my ass.
She graduated in 1996 so at minimum, she’s 35
Almost 30 my ass.
She graduated in 1996 so at minimum, she’s 35
thank you for writing about this horrible piece (and without linking to it!)
I wrote a letter to Marie Claire and posted it on my blog
http://www.ohboyohboyohboy.com/2010/10/letter-to-editors-of-marie-claire.html
If people think they can make comments about my smoking, why can’t I or someone else express an opinion about gross obesity? And, why is everyting so PC?If Marie Claire fires her, maybe she can find a better job like Juan Williams did.
I don’t think people should have the right to make comments about your value as a person because you are a smoker. I DO think they should be allowed to request that you don’t smoke around them because it has a direct impact on their health. The difference of your habit being gross vs you being a gross person! My husband is a smoker and its a GROSS habit, but I don’t think he’s a gross person (ok well not all the time at least.)
I don’t think people should have the right to make comments about your value as a person because you are a smoker. I DO think they should be allowed to request that you don’t smoke around them because it has a direct impact on their health. The difference of your habit being gross vs you being a gross person! My husband is a smoker and its a GROSS habit, but I don’t think he’s a gross person (ok well not all the time at least.)
Unless I trip and fall on a Smurf Village, my fat ONLY hurts me. Whereas your smoking not only hurts you, but your 2nd hand smoke kills other people – and it’s now proven that 3rd hand smoke, the kind trapped in your clothing and hair, can cause health problems too. Therefore you’re not only committing slow suicide but mass murder as well.
Honey, there ain’t no such thing as 2nd hand fat.
—As if to illustrate my point, you now insinuate that I’m a mass murderer because I smoke?!! Isn’t that a little akin to suggesting that fat people are starving people to death by taking more than their share of food?I don’t smoke in smoking-restricted areas or in non-smokers’ homes or vehicles. I also pay more for my health insurance through work. Is it fair that I be charged extra for insurance but that obese people, who are also more prone to health problems, are not?
Honestly I really would love everyone to answer why it’s such a big deal. America is trying to make obesity ok. It’s not ok. We live in a country of fat people, its horrible, not only is it ugly but its very unhealthy. I think its horrible of everyone here freaking out and trying to make it ok to be fat and unhealthy. I agree with you 100 percent.
Actually, that’s not entirely true. See below.
A study, published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, found obesity increasing the rates of work absenteeism results in an estimated cost of $4.3 billion per year in the United States.
And the obesity epidemic puts a strain on the healthcare system and costs US taxpayers billions of dollars a year.
Way to have an opinion and not be afraid to say it :)
“To be brutally honest, even in real life, I find it aesthetically displeasing to watch a very, very fat person simply walk across a room”
that quote in the article made me laugh so much, i loved it!
great artcle :)
“To be brutally honest, even in real life, I find it aesthetically displeasing to watch a very, very fat person simply walk across a room”
that quote in the article made me laugh so much, i loved it!
great artcle :)
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What she said was mean spirited and catty end of story.
I really find it amusing yet pathetic when people think that they are intelligent enough to hide their snark and ill will under the guise of caring about another person’s health.
Of course she has the right to express herself, so does everyone else. Does this mean that if I said that “with a mug like hers the last thing she should be talking about are people that shouldn’t be seen in public.” and than excused it away saying that I’m only concerned for her and her lack of aesthetically pleasing features?
Come on folks, call a spade a spade. Yes some people are fat, and she’s ugly, yet there’s no need to be mean or nasty and than veil it with faux concern. It’s really disingenuous.
35, really??
I think she should be fired for her irresponsible and insensitive comment..for a women’s mag no doubt..shameful..like women don’t have enough issues..that silly women digs in the knife based on her own neurosis..disgusting