Flying While Fat – Repost
By Bianca
Ok, this totally freaks me out. Because, I don’t know if you know this or not, but….I am kind of fat. Kind of a little bit more than just a little fat. And I fly. Sometimes. Well, really not all the much, because I hate it, but sometimes I want to go somewhere farther away than a reasonable car ride, and I have to fly. For instance I got married this year, and flew to another state for the wedding. (Totally off topic, we had a white trash wedding, and it was freaking awesome!!).
And you can tell I am fat by looking at me. I am very apple shaped, so really all you have to do is look at me from the side, and you would be like “Yep, she’s fat”.
I cannot imagine how I would react if someone at the airport looked at me and thought “Yep she’s fat, and that fatty needs two seats.”. Like the guy in story linked above, I can fit into an airline seat. And my fat does not spill over the side or anything. I know people know that I am fat, but I have no idea how fat they think I am when they look at me. Some people may think “That chick needs to lay off the pizza”, others may think “Damn, she’s got a nice rack”, some others “OMG, did you see her icky back fat”, and of course some think “That fatty is going to keel over and die any minute now, we need to make sure to stay back so she doesn’t fall on us, but get the camera phone ready in case we need to post this on youtube”. (As an aside, this chick is a size 10, and she just fits into an airline seat, which freaks me out even more, because I am way bigger than her, and now I think I have just been in denial about my flying experience, and that people secretly cry inside when they see that they are seated next to me on an airplane).
Soooo. Do I just not fly? Get some spanx to suck everything in, and hope that does the trick? Curl up in a fatty ball, and cry while eating chocolate doughnuts covered in ranch dressing?
Bianca It scares me to death to read this too. But you know, its not like we’re hitching a ride with the airline. We’re a paying customer. So just get on the plane and ride if you haven’t had a problem before.
I think its the airline. I specifically avoid Southwest Airlines. I think they’re cheapskates, I don’t like undercutting unionized labor, and that A&E TV show cured me of ever riding their airline. It convinced me I wanted to avoid their customers and their agents.
The thing that pisses me off is how the offending person is always assumed to be fat. In the last two flights out west, I’ve had teeny tiny women all the way over into my seat. I’m huddled into the corner trying not to bother anyone while trying to fend off the St John’s knits that are slowly making their way towards the last bit of space I have.
I don’t care if the obese fly, but they need to purchase two seats for the overflow. I fly American and Southwest, and I tell the agent when I call to book the ticket that I expect the obesity policy to be enforced and that I will complain loudly if it isn’t. Those obesity policies are there to protect passengers, and I consider it part of the ticket purchase contract.
Apart from the bus-like atmosphere (a scrum for the seats), this type of treatment is the reason I will have to be truly desperate to fly Southwest. On the other hand, they probably wouldn’t want me as a customer anyway…
–Andy Jo–
For whatever it’s worth, I’m a big fat size 20 on the bottom. I have thighs that go on for months and an ass to match. Flying on Jet Blue (17.8″ seats) was uncomfortable, I won’t lie, but you know something? The seat next to me was empty both times. I was stunned. They had a few empty seats going out, and about half the plane was empty coming back. And when I had to put my arm rest down I put it only as far down as the top of my thigh, without mushing it down, and rested my arm on top of it. Nobody said anything.
Anyway, if the airlines are going to keep making the seats smaller and smaller and smaller, as they have been for decades, there’s going to be a tipping point wherein an average-sized woman (14 or 16 misses on the bottom) will not just be on the borderline of not fitting, she just will not fit, period. It’s already a dentist-level PITA for even thin people to fly now, so I don’t get why they want to make it even more unpleasant than it has to be. I don’t see how that’s profitable for them at all.
I wear a size 20/22 and am a pear shape. I can get the arm rests down — but sometimes it might move up a little during the flight. I have never had any issues flying. Even when people are next to me. Yes, I am usually uncomfortable but that also has to do with my long legs. I have never been stopped yet (knock on wood). I have never flown Southwest so I don’t know about traveling on them, but I generally fly Delta, Continental or AirTran. I wouldn’t let his experience stop you from flying — I have seen a lot fatter people than me get on without a problem. I would say just avoid Southwest.
Apologies for monopolizing your blog Bianca but I have to say this: Okay fellow fats, I’m fucking sick to death of all this self-hatred and shame spiral bullshit! When the fuck are we going to band together as a group and fight our oppressors? Society will continue to make us the scapegoats for all their ills unless we stand up and say No More!! I’m sick of reading countless stories of obese people harassed by airlines, by their fellow citizens, by the medical community, by everyone. We have got to take a stand, we’ve got to start fighting this. If you don’t know this stuff already, here’s your crash course: Obesity is genetic, dieting can’t alter your genetics but can kill you or permanently damage your body, obesity does not kill and it does not cause any other disease. Period. The treatment we suffer as obese people is no different than that which was suffered by African-Americans for centuries. In fact, everytime you see the word fat or obese used in a negative light, I want you to mentally replace that word with the n-word. It’s no different, it’s completly socially acceptable to say fat derogatorily just as it was completely socially acceptable to use the n-word at one time. Usage of these words is never justified, it’s just the way it is or was and will continue to be forever until we say NO. Every time you think of buying into the idea that fat is wrong and you need to change to be a better, more socially acceptable person, think of someone of color buying into the idea that only white is beautiful, think of that person sitting down with a bottle of bleach and a scrub brush. Neither one (fat or of color) can change the way they look but the real point is that NONE of us should be shamed into pointless, destructive self-hatred in the first damn place. We will continue to be harrassed and oppressed until we stand up for ourselves. When will we say enough is enough? When will we allow our voices to be heard? When we will stop apologizing for who we are? When?
[...] This is interesting to me, because 1. this is another world and it’s not something I think about and 2. I believes this is something no one should have to think about it. I understand that airline companies are about making a profit, and the smaller the seat, the more people they can stuff into an airplane, and thus, the larger the profit. [...]
[...] we received many comments in response to Bianca’s post about Flying While Fat. We thought we would share the most – ahem – “gracious” one of the bunch, [...]
“If you don’t know this stuff already, here’s your crash course: Obesity is genetic, dieting can’t alter your genetics but can kill you or permanently damage your body, obesity does not kill and it does not cause any other disease. Period.”
You know what I’m fed up with? People’s willful denial of science. From “intelligent design” to the “fat acceptance” movement. Here’s your crash course. Obesity is strongly correlated with a number of medical problems–diabetes, heart disease, loss of kidney function, joint problems, sleep apnea, etc. It’s one thing to say everyone, including fat people, should be treated with dignity and respect. Quite another to insist what is supported by the majority of the medical research is not true. Please do not city Sandy Swarzc’s web page. Do you notice how nearly every FA blog references her? She’s one of the few people out there willing to endorse ideas that have little evidence to back them up. You are doing a disservice, not helping people by claiming that obesity has no associated health risks.
Tempe, if you want to talk “science,” back up your assertions. I’ve got a WHOLE blog dedicated to busting mainstream myths about obesity. Feel free to visit it and learn something. I’ll wait patiently for your UNBIASED studies on obesity linked to the multiple health problems you have listed. And make sure these people aren’t getting funds from companies that promote diet products either.
As for Sandy, she has worked in the medical field her entire adult life. She probably knows what she is talking about. She does all of her own research, and does not take a dime for it. And she backs up EVERY SINGLE THING on her blog. You’ve probably never even read it. There are plenty of other “mainstream” scientists who agree with her – try Glenn Gaesser of the University of Virginia, Gina Kolata of the New York Times (bachelor degree in molecular biology, MA in mathmatics), J Eric Oliver (University of Chicago), Paul Campos (professor of law at the University of Colorado, plus all of the individuals who work for the Academy for Eating Disorders… I could go on with many more here.
Oh, and guess what? Correlation does not imply causation. Since you’re such a genius, I’m sure you can figure it out.
Do you know what else has a health risk? LIFE. Just the fact that you exist means you are at risk for a multitude of diseases. And you will get sick one day, and you will die. It does not matter how thin and/or “healthy” you are.
“The treatment we suffer as obese people is no different than that which was suffered by African-Americans for centuries.”
It IS different. It’s really, really, spectacularly different.
Yes, fat people are discriminated against. Yes, we do have a lot of self-loathing going on (not solely a fat experience, but that’s another debate).
But we’re not slaves. We’re not being lynched. We’re not being sterilised. We’re not imprisoned for misdemeanours. We’re not denied an education.
How can you even compare the two…?!
The comparison may be that both groups are/have been judged (and treated at times) as less-than-human based simply on their appearance.
“Tempe, if you want to talk “science,” back up your assertions. I’ve got a WHOLE blog dedicated to busting mainstream myths about obesity. Feel free to visit it and learn something.”
Actually, I would be interested to read it. Link? Yes, I can provide you with a bibliography of studies showing that obesity does often lead to other health problems. What would be the point? You can do the same thing. But having seen the damage done to a lot of people’s bodies by obesity (including mine) I find it hard to ignore when people claim it isn’t a problem.
Tempe Wick , I am sorry that you hate yourself. Maybe you should work on finding peace with your body instead of projecting it onto other people.
The link you are interested in is this.
http://obesityhc.blogspot.com/
Well, that’s a bit of a stretch–”I’m sorry that you hate yourself.” However, thank you for the link–I’m willing to be swayed. Of course I would like to believe that my obesity has nothing to do with my hypertension. And my mothers’ has nothing to do with her hypertension and diabetes. Also, that my brothers’ former obesity had nothing to do with his diabetes, hypertension and the resulting blindness and kidney failure. Once he lost weight, he no longer had to take medication for the hypertension or insulin for the diabetes. You understand how I could be skeptical. Of course, this is anecdotal evidence, and there is plenty of it to suggest the opposite. Thank you for the link, it should be interesting reading.