β
Fatβ is usually the first insult a girl throws at another girl when she wants to hurt her.
I mean, is βfatβ really the worst thing a human being can be? Is βfatβ worse than βvindictiveβ, βjealousβ, βshallowβ, βvainβ, βboringβ or βcruelβ? Not to me; but then, you might retort, what do I know about the pressure to be skinny? Iβm not in the business of being judged on my looks, what with being a writer and earning my living by using my brainβ¦
I went to the British Book Awards that evening. After the award ceremony I bumped into a woman I hadnβt seen for nearly three years. The first thing she said to me? βYouβve lost a lot of weight since the last time I saw you!β
βWell,β I said, slightly nonplussed, βthe last time you saw me Iβd just had a baby.β
What I felt like saying was, βIβve produced my third child and my sixth novel since I last saw you. Arenβt either of those things more important, more interesting, than my size?β But no β my waist looked smaller! Forget the kid and the book: finally, something to celebrate!
Iβve got two daughters who will have to make their way in this skinny-obsessed world, and it worries me, because I donβt want them to be empty-headed, self-obsessed, emaciated clones; Iβd rather they were independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny β a thousand things, before βthinβ. And frankly, Iβd rather they didnβt give a gust of stinking chihuahua flatulence whether the woman standing next to them has fleshier knees than they do. Let my girls be Hermiones, rather than Pansy Parkinsons.
β
β
J.K. Rowling