So whether you’re an anorexic, trying to get to 1000lbs, a heavy smoker with emphysema, a severe alcoholic, or anything else like that, my message remains the same: when you have a kid, it’s not all about you and your wants anymore. And you owe it to your child to do the best you reasonably can to remain healthy enough to attend to their needs and to be around long enough to meet your grandkids.

I figured so, you filthy libertarian :)

I appreciate what you do, really, and I understand where you are coming from. (and btw, I am myself more a forsaken “inbetweenie” than true plus size- darn stores never stocking size 14)

And yet, it’s galling.

Not only do her actions affect me as a run o’ the mill fat person living in a thin person’s world, it affects what I do professionally. This is a fashion and humor blog, but it’s more than that, and I try really hard to strike that balance, but I am also a public figure, and I try to be a good representative of fat acceptance and health at every size.

It might surprise you (or it might not) to find out a sizable minority, if it still is a minority, of MftBG readers are not plus size. Manolo for the Big Girl is the #1-ranked blog for plus size women and the #31-ranked fashion blog overall, so when I blog, I’m not just preaching to the choir, but am trying to break down preconceived notions about fat people that people might hold and not even know. AND I’m trying to do it in a lighthearted way.

It’s a tough line to walk and I work really, really hard at it. So when a woman gets a story that millions of people read –and lest we forget, this is also a publicity stunt, her income is from people paying to watch her eat so the more people who know about her, the more money she’ll potentially make– it’s a slap in the face to me professionally, even though she is just trying to make an honest buck, because she is willing to let herself be used to propagate negative stereotypes that I work so hard to fight.

In a small way it’s like black actors in the pre-civil rights movement era. Of course I’m not saying it’s nearly as difficult to be a fat blogger in 2010 as it was to be a black actress in 1943. But if you were an entertainer, you could make a lot of money playing a maid or a servant and hey, we’ve all gotta eat. But it DID make things harder for actors who refused to play domestic help, like Lena Horne.

Donna Simpson is a “Bad Fatty”. She is the wrong kind of fat. She is fulfilling negative stereotypes. Fatness- your doing it wrong.

Your 3rd mind seems to feel that way, and I can understand- to a point. But I most agree with Mind 2 – any person should be allowed to make choices that are dumb, as long as they are their own. If she is being coerced to do this, that is another story.

I know it is another talking point for people who want to dehumanize and reduce fat people to the unhealthy cookie cutter they picture, but she is still allowed to have bodily autonomy. The problem is not with her, but with the people who will use her in this way- and I’m sure you know that.