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.
Okay; but the criticism I’m seeing of Paula Deen has to do with the fact that her show promotes unhealthful eating habits, and does so with vigor and provocation. It goes way beyond hipsters joking about putting bacon on everything. The fact that she’s been doing this and concealing the fact of her Type 2 diabetes for three years is astonishing to me. I’ve never heard anyone say anything about her being fat. Just that her food is full of it. Side note: Bourdain is being a jerk. His comments are way over the top. I don’t understand why people have to be that hyperbolic.
I am not good with words (which is why I don’t comment on here often), but I look at it like her health is really none of my business (or worth attack). For example, the Jackass crew promotes crazy-ass, unhealthy stunts on their show, but I don’t see them criticized with the same zeal that Deen is being criticized with right now.