Sneetches and Citizenship

In Fat Shame, Amy Farrell talks about citizenship as more social than constitutional. It’s all about belonging and contributing in the eyes of society, and the biggest problem is looking the part.

The differences between fat and thin in society reminds me of a Dr. Seuss story about star-belly sneetches. There were two types of sneetches on the beach, plain-belly and star-belly sneetches. The absence of a star meant that those sneetches were discriminated against and excluded from events run by the superior star-bellies. One day someone came along with a machine that could put a star on the sneetches bellies, so all the plain-belly sneetches signed up right away. Immediately following, the star-belly sneetches got their stars removed in order to keep their high-class status. The cycle continued until nobody could tell the difference between the star-belly sneetches and the plain-belly ones. Eventually they just decided that it didn’t matter who had stars and who didn’t, they were all equally awesome.

The story of the sneetches relates directly to one of the reasons that thin started to become in style. Fat used to equate to wealth and status. It meant that you were well off and you could afford to eat rich, calorie-packed food and not work off extra weight you were able to put on. With the industrial revolution and the rise of the middle class, the nouveau riche was able to become fatter and more on level with the upper class. People from old money thought that the excess weight was because the social climbers were of a lower state of mind and inadequate breeding and therefore were unable to control themselves which is why they were gaining the extra pounds. With that comes the switch. Fat is no longer something to be strived for, but a sign of lower class and thin is the new normative. It’s like the difference between the sneetches, as soon as the sub-par ones are on the same level as the superior sneetches; the star-belly sneetches change the rules.

By the end of the story, the sneetches have changed their physical appearance so many times that they no longer remember who had a star to begin with. They finally realize that they’re wasting their time and money with the machine instead of just accepting each other, which they ultimately do. Dr. Seuss and Amy Farrell are arguing essentially the same thing. They’re preaching tolerance and acceptance no matter what your body looks like, having a star on your belly or being thin does not automatically make you a better person

Humanity has most definitely not reached the point where we as a people are ready to declare our equality with one another. We live in a Euro-centric world. Everything is based of the European standard of living. The thin white body is civilized, whereas a fat and dark one is considered primitive. Even the way that the rest of the world is commonly talked about it European. For example, first world countries are civilized, and third world countries are considered under developed. Second world countries are never talked about which makes the difference even more pronounced. It is our duty as a civilized people to help and contribute to the advancement of the uncivilized populations. It’s directly comparable to talk shows with celebrities like Dr. Phil or Dr. Oz. They preach health and have overweight people on the show to help them ‘better’ themselves. However, whether it be TV doctors or sneetches we need to take Farrell’s advice and get rid of the stigma placed on bodies for physical differences.