Friday Feminist Fuck You: Regina Benjamin Fat-Haters

This week in the crusade against women of color in leadership positions we have people calling Regina Benjamin fat. Charming.

I haven’t done a video in a while (stage fright!) but I think the only way to reply to the fat-hate against Regina Benjamin is with a resounding “Fuck You!” Listen to me ramble. Transcript after the jump.

That last few weeks have shown us that when Conservatives are up against a wall they are very limited in their ability to combat with arguments so they focus on arguments that focus on characteristics and, when they can’t disqualify someone’s credit or merit, they make comments about them being fiery, as in the case of Sotomayor or they say they are fat which is the latest hee-haw over the appointee for Surgeon General Regina Benjamin who is by any accounts one of the most qualified people to be nominated for surgeon general. Given specifically the location that she has worked in and her personal and professional would make an amazing surgeon general and would definitely understand some of our most disenfranchised in need of healthcare and health advice.
So, naturally after her pic was posted multiple forums around the country have decried her body mass index as though this is somehow an indication of her lack of health and I think what is really sad about it is not necessarily that we have a superficial culture and we have a superficial online culture people say what they say, but there are news anchors that have also joined in on this..and they think that because she is overweight this disqualifies her for SG. Assuming that she is fat.
1. They have never met the woman, they have no idea.
2. Weight is something that is very subjective to a person. Alot of misinformation is out about what is considered obese, what is not considered obese and a lot of it is fat-hating and fat-shaming and it is to keep women complacent in hating their bodies and therefore not feeling good about themselves and not interacting with the world in effective ways. It is a means of social control and it is a means of emotional and psychological control that has wreaked havoc and terror on women across the country. So calling her fat is just an extension of this same sexist trajectory.
3. Finally, she is obviously extremely qualified and it is interesting because if she was a man no one would think to say she is fat because it is only women that are judged by what they look like and whether that is going to determine whether they are qualified to do the job, as opposed to men that are just evaluated in whether they can do the job.
So fuck you to everyone that has been fat-hating all week long on Regina Benjamin. She is awesome and I can’t wait to have her as part of this administration.