What do I think about “Dear Fat People”? The answer may surprise you!

I was reading a few online news sites, and I came across a headline where some woman was being censored by YouTube for a video she posted called “Dear Fat People”.

I did a quick search on www.google.com and found the video easily enough, and it was on YouTube.  So apparently the powers that be decided to let it remain?  I’m not sure.  It was listed under an account for  Nicole Arbour, who judging by her profile picture, and because she said her name at the end of it, appears to be the woman in the video.

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Me, recently being a fat person

I watched the video.  Was it offensive?  Well…Speaking as a fat person, and therefore one of the people the video rant was directed at, I can see that it would be very offensive to some people.

But as an American who is madly in love with the rights we enjoy in The United States?  I am 100% on her side!  Preach your opinion baby!  Swear your heart out!  Make fun of fat people, chain smokers, drug addicts, blondes, white girls, pretty girls, (all of which were represented in a manner that could be considered offensive) and anybody else you want to!

 

THAT is what is SO AWESOME about being an American!  we can say whatever we want!  We need to encourage similar behavior!  We need to embrace ALL of our freedoms!  People died thinking they were protecting the rights of their fellow Americans.

When I was a child, I recall hearing somewhere that Americans were conceited, and arrogant.  Was that a bad image for us to be labeled with?  Perhaps.  But it seems like these days we are so worried about what others think of us that we go out of our way to quiet others.  Like something I say somehow makes you look bad.

COME ON!  The only way you look bad is if you do bad things!  If you are happy with your life, who cares what others think of you?  If you are NOT happy with your life, YOU are the one who can change it.

We need to mind our own affairs, and not just as individuals, but as a nation!  In this instance I am NOT referring to our involvement in foreign countries…I could go on and on for years about that.  I mean right here at home!

Just this summer we have attacked people saying things on their own social media pages, the confederate flag, guns, musicians, comedians, politicians, and the list goes on.  To some extent we have always done such things, but social media, and the internet can do in minutes, what once took days, even weeks to accomplish, and in some cases careers are ruined.

In the past, somebody would say something and somebody else would be offended.  The offended person might say something to somebody about it,  and it might make the local paper, or T.V. news. Then maybe a bigger paper or news agency would pick it up, and on and on.  Sometimes before every outlet picked it up, it would die out, and that would be the end of it.  That is no longer the case.  Now with a few clicks of a button one person’s insulting behavior is exposed to anybody with a computer instantaneously!

So what am I going to do with my small bit of influence on the world-wide web concerning this matter?  Simple.  I am going to tell you what every school child once knew…”Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me.”

Listen.  It REALLY is as simple as this:  The ONLY power somebody’s words have, is the power given to them by the person, or persons receiving them.  HONEST!  It IS that simple!  Call me what you want!  For the most part you can’t offend me.  The only person who can offend me, is somebody that I consider a friend, or a loved one.  Those are the people you are supposed to trust not be cruel, and say things they know you find hurtful.  And if you are a friend or loved one who disrespects me that much, I WILL cut my ties with you.  I lost a couple dear friends last week when they accused me of using a comment I made on my personal Facebook page as a way to cause controversy for blog material.

THAT is what you do when you find something offensive.  Don’t attack a person’s livelihood, don’t scream for sponsor boycott’s, don’t scream for bans!  All you do when you respond that way is endanger the rights of everybody!

The best way to show a person you find them offensive is to TELL them, and then ignore them.  It is simple as that.

OK.  I have to put my soapbox away for now.  Just remember what you read here today, because someday soon, the person being offensive is likely going to be ME!

Doug Alley

About Doug Alley

I grew up in Bath, Maine in an upper lower class family with 3 step sisters, a step brother, and a little sister. After high school I spent 3 years serving in the USAF at Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage AK. I've competed in, and won, demolition derbies. I've competed in, and never won, stock car races. I am the 47-year-old father of an 11-year-old boy who is pretty sure he is smarter than I ever was. We live on a little less than an acre of land in a 1973 mobile home in Stetson with my wife Jen, some cats, a few chickens, and rabbits, and a couple of goats. I hunt, fish, camp out, dabble in photography, gardening, and I cook in variable degrees of near success.