Fat Friday - Chubby Origami
September 5th, 2008
Fat activist Marilyn Wann has come up with an idea that will tell Japanese corporate culture that the whole thing they are doing with measuring waistlines, requiring weight loss in employees, and levying penalties if they don’t reach company goals, well, it just sucks! So she’s sending 1000 fat cranes to Japan.
This dose of fat and fun brought to you via Mouthfeel.
UPDATE: There is an interesting conversation going on over at Fatshionista surrounding the 1000 Fat Crane project, and the ideas that come up around the cranes, cultural appropriations, and race relations. Check it out!
Filed under Fat Fridays |6 Responses to “Fat Friday - Chubby Origami”
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Please, I urge you to drop your support for this inappropriate and racist project.
Hey, Tara. I wish you had said a little bit more on your views of this project. At the moment, what I see as inappropriate is a corporate culture (and it just happens to be Japan; I don’t think the U.S. is far behind) that evaluates employees not on their work performance, but on something as arbitrary as their waist measurement.
You’re certainly welcome to say more on the topic. For instance, I don’t see the racism component that you referenced.
While tara is nothing but an FA troll, (I’m pretty sure it’s her anyway, it seems like she’s been popping up again lately), there is water to what she’s saying. A really good article at Fatshionista covers is:
http://www.fatshionista.com/cms/index.php?option=com_mojo&Itemid=69&p=75
Fat acceptance needs to be a global effort. Given how profoundly disenfranchised fat people are right here in this country, I don’t feel that the imperialism concerns are ultimately warranted. I understand where they are coming from, but I still see a smattering of lowly activists (and outside the fat-o-sphere, most fat activists aren’t even middle class) taking on one of the most powerful governments in the world. The power balance here profoundly favors the Japanese government. But it is important for fat activists to speak out against fat oppression. Both in our own backyards and around the world. I don’t see this as a “we know best” situation but one where an offense against human dignity must not go unanswered. While I understand the concerns of appropriation, I think given the context and audience for this protest, that this was a reasonable symbolic gesture in keeping with both the original historical context and the world-wide symbolism it has gained.
I also would note that a lot of criticisms of appropriation seem quick to dismiss the genuine lack of a consensus within the cultural groups in question. What some see as unacceptable, others just don’t. That is absolutely NOT a reason not to still have the opinion that it is wrong and advocate for that opinion. But there is deep disagreement within these communities about these issues and advocates of the view that this would represent appropriation AND appropriation is necessarily wrong have too easily acted like their opinion simply should be understood as the only proper one. The obviousness of their opinions simply isn’t obvious. That doesn’t mean they can’t still be right. Or that it shouldn’t be discussed. It obviously should be. But there isn’t a universally declared right opinion yet. These kinds of things simply are universally believed to be offensive, much less racist. These are complicated issues, and while that complexity should never be a reason not to advocate one’s position, I do think that complexity should have more place in the discussion.
As a parallel, FA grew out of radical feminism. Now, within feminism as a whole, there is not consensus that fat acceptance is right. Quite the opposite, actually. A lot of feminists think fat acceptance is wrong or even dangerous. I disagree with that, obviously. And I’ll stand up and say so. One thing I won’t assume is that even people who are feminist or pro-feminist will get it. Its not obvious. I’ll still start a dialogue on the issue whenever I can, and I won’t be apologetic about it, but I know I can’t just sit back and chide those who haven’t come around to fat acceptance. I need to engage them to advocate my position. I can’t just expect people to do that work for themselves. And I’ll know that this is still an issue where there is a lot of different opinions and I don’t have to be happy that someone disagrees with mine, but I do have to know that people who generally share my political beliefs won’t necessarily share this one. On another parallel, some women don’t believe men should be called feminist when the support the ideals of feminism. This is far from a universal belief, however. Other women encourage men to identify as feminist. So, as a man, what should I do? Ultimately, I have to realize that both point of view is valid, but I also can’t adopt both at once. I choose to identify myself as a feminist. I respect those who would rather call me a feminist ally or pro-feminist, but ultimately I felt more persuaded by the notion that self-identifying as a feminist was a way of making a statement against sexism and misogyny. Its a complex issue and my decision shouldn’t silence those who would still advocate differently, but there needs to be a recognition that there is no clear-cut right or wrong on some issues. At least not one that can be universally applied. You still get to have your view on what is wrong or right, but the issues remain complex.
Unrelated to this, I would not that *some* of those who have jumped to join in the criticism seem to be yanking the criticism in a very different direction from what the original discussions were directed towards. I’ve seen a few people decry the action through belittling the importance of fat acceptance. Some of that might be “Oppression Olympics” stuff but some of it seems to genuinely not respect FA and that needs to be resisted even as those views are being subtly intertwined with a different set of concerns. For instance, the “good intentions” of the government officials advancing these heinous policies are immaterial, but they have been raised as an excuse. Excusing fat hatred because it is well intentioned excuses virtually every indignity fat people are subjected to. This is a bigotry that is positively drowning in its “good intentions”. The harm done by well-intentioned bigotry is grave and demands a response which acknowledge those awful ramifications completely. Further, the complaint that fat activists are introducing the metaphor of war into the issues off fatness is simply entirely off base. We hear all the time about a “war” of which our bodies are the target. The critics of fat are all too eager to use war metaphors in their harshest sense. The fat activist is thus criticized for exposing the language used by fat critics. That is akin to someone calling Barrack Obama “uppity”, then being attacked for employing racial charged language, and then attacking those Obama defenders for playing the “race card”. Wann didn’t create the war metaphor for the anti-fat movement. The anti-fat movement did. Wann simply called them out for it. There is certainly room to discuss the implications of her methods, but to blame her for what the anti-fat movement did is really missing the point.
I’m not Japanese, but I do live in Japan (if this waistline policy continues, I may well be completely screwed in terms of employment and have to leave the country), and I usually see 1,000 cranes associated with making a wish (such as that a friend in the hospital will get better), which doesn’t seem inappropriate here. (Of course, I can’t claim it as my own culturally just because I have folded a few for others’ thousand crane projects.) The sending them on a war anniversary thing, though, that is obviously a bad idea.
I don’t see this as a “we know best” situation but one where an offense against human dignity must not go unanswered. While I understand the concerns of appropriation, I think given the context and audience for this protest, that this was a reasonable symbolic gesture in keeping with both the original historical context and the world-wide symbolism it has gained.
BStu: You took the words right out of my mouth. THANK YOU for such a thoughtful response. Launching the campaign on the anniversary of Hiroshima was a bad idea, but I still feel compelled to defend Wann’s action in calling out a government on a policy based in bigotry, no matter how well-intentioned. I think the charges of racism and imperialism are somewhat overstated, but once again, I agree with you that allowing a space for the critical engagement of these ideas is absolutely necessary.