Critique of Hillel Schwartz "fat and Happy?"

...

believe that through hiring overweight people, they are running the risk of losing potential slender, harder working individuals by selecting the fatter people to represent their company (Davies). As Schwartz and Davies agree to the fact that fat individuals are displeasing and unwanted in the work force as well as in the school systems, Schwartz believes these overweight individuals have a better life on a different world.

In the closing of Schwartz’s article, he poses a solution to the fat shaming issue by creating a fat utopia that separates obese people into a completely isolated society allowing a more comforting life. A fat utopia would be more caring and less hateful to the overweight individuals. "It would favor the gourmet over the glutton, slow food over fast food, matriarchy and communal affection over patriarchy and self-hate, eroticism over pornography, philanthropy and art over greed and blind technology. It would therefore end the narcotics and narcissism" (Schwartz 185). To overweight people, the fat utopia may provide a chance for a better life, separated from hatred and discrimination; however, Schwartz provides little evidence or justifications for his claim. On the other hand, Peggy Elam supports and agrees with Schwartz’s views in her writings, "In fat utopia, roundness is valued and large bodies sized for success." Elam states, "...a young fat woman with low self-esteem stumbles from a fat-phobic culture into an alternate world in which fat people live happy, healthy lives" (Elam). Even though Schwartz does not provide credible evidence in his statement of a fat utopia, Elam backs his claim in agreement with Schwartz that if obese people lived in a separate world, they would be happier and have socially healthier lives.

As one could infer while evaluating Schwartz’s article, there are many issues that accompany obesity from a social aspect as well as the possibility for a better life in a fat utopia. Schwartz, Waldman, Davies, and Elam would all agree to the fact that obese people are continually discriminated against in the social world, education system, and work field as well as having a separate world for the fat would eliminate continuous hatred from those around. Although the discrimination may differ from person, school, and business, the overall trend stays rather constant throughout all populations.