The Fat of the Land
Serwer, Arnold
The Fat of the Land by ARNOLD SERWER One of the country's most abused minorities, the fat people, have begun to fight back. They want society to recognize them as first class citizens entitled...
...And they want judges to fine anybody who calls someone else Fatso, fathead, or fat stuff...
...Sounds like a good program," I said, pulling out a large candy bar and beginning to munch on it...
...They want Diet Cola, Metrecal, and all those other diet aids banned by law...
...I asked...
...The Fat of the Land by ARNOLD SERWER One of the country's most abused minorities, the fat people, have begun to fight back...
...They should remember we all had to struggle to get somewheres and nobody's entitled to a free ride...
...I'm way ahead of all that jazz, Daddy-O," he said...
...How does your husband feel about it...
...Take over Texas, maybe...
...Polly Unsaturate, my next door neighbor, used to worry that real estate values would drop if fat people moved in, but prices held up...
...Diet books were burned in the park along with a photograph of Twiggy...
...The way I look at it, fat people are okay so long as they don't start pushing thin people around...
...His answers surprised me...
...This thin man country thinks it gives us equality when it makes bicycle tires the same size for everybody...
...Fatley Carmichael and his crowd, the Fat Power people...
...Twelve pounds in the last month...
...I asked...
...I know that, Charley," he grumbled...
...Some fat people, some thin, some in-between...
...Speakers protested that fat Americans were discriminated against in nearly all wralks of life, and in our culture, not to mention in elevators and rowboats...
...No one could pass the physical...
...I'm fat—I need a bigger tire...
...Recently they held a "fat-in" attended by 500 persons...
...What do you think...
...What sort of demands...
...Are fat people treated fairly in the United States...
...I'm a Fat Muslim...
...The first person I stopped, a thin man, hastily read my clipping...
...They're agitating the fat people to elect fat sheriffs...
...That fat slob...
...They want to outlaw advertising that makes fun of fat people and glorifies slender ones...
...If I can lose fifteen pounds more I'll be able to 'pass.' " "Passing over to the skinny side, eh...
...Skinny Texans, they can go live in Rhode Island...
...This brief summary of what took place should stir your imagination as it did mine...
...We got the vote, sure, but some of us can't make it into the election booth...
...Most of those who gathered for this historic event in New York City's Central Park were fat, but there were dozens of slim sympathizers on hand who said they wished they were fat...
...Treated fairly...
...I live in a mixed neighborhood...
...That's big enough...
...With that he crossed the street and disappeared through the doors of a Turkish bath...
...Maybe fat people should get a better deal than they do," said the plumpish gentleman, turning pale at sight of the candy bar...
...He went off, pushing his bicycle...
...If you do, will you still favor a better deal for the fat people...
...The fat people should have their own country...
...They're worse than the other bunch...
...A young history teacher declared, "If everyone was fat there'd be no war...
...I heard what he said...
...Fat chance...
...They believe if enough fat people get together and throw their weight around they can scare the skinny power structure into meeting their demands...
...To find out how people might react to that possibility I clipped the AP story and, after a hearty luncheon, ventured abroad to test public reaction...
...Fatley Carmichael's overdoing things...
...They want society to recognize them as first class citizens entitled to respect, a place in the sun, and a seat in the subway if they can squeeze in...
...On my street, they are...
...What other bunch...
...It was an inspiring example of mass solidarity, if my heavier friends will forgive the expression, and the first real rumbling of revolt by the fat people against a society that worships slimness...
...Think you'll make it...
...Who cares what he thinks...
...The newspapers, dominated by the Skinny Establishment, gave scant space to the rally...
...I'm hitchhiking to Glenns Falls...
...Did he want equality and integration...
...What you think I stopped here for...
...She read the news clipping and thought a moment before she answered my question...
...Probably a disciple of Fulsome X. That kind do fat people no good...
...An Associated Press version reported that pickets bore signs reading, "Fat Power," "Think Fat," and "Buddha Was Fat...
...Are we about to witness a Fat Revolution...
...Lost any weight lately...
...You've got a flat tire," I said...
...Excuse me, buddy, I got to get back on the highway...
...Us Fat Muslims don't want to integrate with skinny folks...
...What are they up to...
...But they're trying to go too far too fast...
...A slightly plump gentleman who had been standing nearby, pretending to read a newspaper, spoke up...
...A trim, middle-aged lady carrying a bag of groceries was my next respondent...
...A 300-pound hipster riding a bicycle coasted to a stop as I hailed him...
...Some people are mean to them," he said...
...There's going to be a skinny backlash that will hurt the cause of fat rights...
...he said...
Vol. 31 • August 1967 • No. 8
