Fat Phobia in Early 2000s TV

As part of my personal schtick of being stuck in 2005, I end up watching a lot of early 2000s reality TV shows. To be fair, I watch a lot of reality TV in general. I think watching the way people act and react to things when put in the bubble of a fake world, yet are stimulated and asked to pretend like everything is normal, is interesting. What is even more interesting– to me at least– is how reality TV can allow us to track trends throughout time. Whether this be competition shows like Project Runway, America’s Next Top Model, or American Idol, dating shows like The Bachelor or more recently Love is Blind, or even miscellaneous lifestyle shows like Jersey Shore and Dance Moms, we are watching a time capsule of the year it was filmed. And when talking about early 2000s reality TV in particular, there is nothing more jarring than the blatant and borderline disgusting fatphobia and body shaming that’s prevalent.

Body shaming was incredibly popular in the early 2000s, as unfortunate as it is to say. It seemed like anyone who was above a size 4 was seen as fat, and this was perpetuated not only through common, everyday fashion, but also through high fashion and editorial fashion. Kate Winslet was relentlessly made fun of during the promotion of Titanic for being “too fat” to play the role. The director of the movie called her “Kate Weighs-a-Lot” during filming, leading to the press calling her “blubber.” Looking back at this under the lens of the modern age, this is insane. No one, nowadays, would consider her fat. Comments like this to actors and actresses reflected negatively on society which led to eating disorders and body checking trends and negative views on one’s body as they grew. It suddenly felt like if rich, famous people could never be skinny enough, how could we (the average person) do it? Growing up under this was harmful and demoralizing to everyone involved.

But it wasn’t only in movies. I remember watching America’s Next Top Model and watching Janice Dickinson and Tyra Banks look at a woman with a chest bigger than an A cup and call her fat. Yet, Tyra Banks had the audacity to respond to critics making fun of her weight by saying, “I look at this picture and I think it's curvy I think it's beautiful. I think it is hot. I think it is sexy” following it up with, “so, I have something to say to all of you that have something nasty to say about me or other women who are built like me… kiss my fat ass!” Which on the surface feels very empowering, and also completely at odds with everything else she has said. Anyone who knows Tyra Banks will agree that she is not “fat,” she is not “plus sized,” and quite frankly, never really has been. And at times she knows that too, having said in the exact same speech, “All I can say is there's something that ain't right about that picture… it's just not me, not right now.”

Hold on a second while I roll my eyes at the hypocriticalness of it all. Tyra and Janice are notorious for calling any woman fat. Unless you can see their rib cage (which is unhealthy and should not be condoned), they were fat. They were considered a plus sized model. So, now you have all these models giving themselves eating disorders and counting calories and telling themselves if they gain any weight that they are failures as models. “‘America’s Next Top Model is not a plus-sized model,’ scoffed Dickinson, dismissing the show’s first plus-sized model, Toccara, purely on her size.” Or we can look at Keenyah in season– sorry cycle– four who gained weight during the filming of the season from stress, poor diet, and hormonal changes. The show started “tailoring her photoshoots to her new ‘fat girl’ persona by casting her as Gluttony in a Seven Deadly Sins challenge and as an elephant in a safari-themed photoshoot.”

Growing up watching these shows was exhausting. I was lucky enough to be almost too young watching shows like this, so all these horrible concepts went over my head, but there were plenty of women who were not this lucky. According to a study conducted by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, “global eating disorder prevalence increased from 3.5% to 7.8% between 2000 and 2018.”

I don’t know what can be done about this. We’re veering back to y2k fashion– which I love– but I worry we’ll end up with y2k thoughts and opinions as well. If you’re happy and healthy, who fucking cares? I love my curves and my hips and sure, Tyra Banks would probably call me fat, but she hasn’t been relevant in 10+ years. So who cares. Live your life—it's too short to be spent not eating cake.

Strike Out,

E Dunsmuir

St. Augustine

Editor: Maya Kayyal

E Dunsmuir (he/they) is a writer for Strike St. Augustine. He loves Victorian England, emo music, and anything to do with horror, so don’t be surprised when these things pop up in an article. When they're not writing for Strike, he’s probably texting his boyfriend or watching TV with their roommates. You can reach him at edunsmuir66@gmail.com or @edunsmuir66 on most social media platforms.

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