xoJane: Leave Paula Deen Alone

The thing about being fat is that you turn into public property. You are an object, not a person, and this makes you fair game for being shredded. This goes double if you are a woman, particularly a woman celebrity; by being publicly fat, Paula was already a target for people who loved making classist comments about her food, and by being pushed into a public disclosure of a private health matter, she became an even bigger target.

When you are fat, people feel free to make comments about your body and to speculate about your health, and believe this is some kind of public service. They also seem to be under the impression that you have never heard these insights before and will be incredibly grateful if someone helpfully suggests that you put down the fork, shut your piehole, get off your lazy ass, etc.