Tanya Gold's Telegraph article re obese mannequin

Tanya Gold in 2008:

Tanya Gold says she's sick of society's negative attitudes towards fat people

www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1088455/In-defence-fatties--Let-eat-cake.html

Women's thinness is compliance. Women enjoying their bodies, their activities, and wearing proper clothes to participate in sports without shame or begging for approval is about the most feminist thing most women can do.

*goady

Just another rentagob writing today, lowest common denominator click bait nonsense. Move on. Don’t give her the notoriety she craves.

Yeah, Tanya will write anything for attention.

"She is immense, gargantuan, vast. She heaves with fat."

This is a disgusting way to talk about a female form.

"Is Tanya Gold slim these days? Not clicked the links but I'm sure I remember her years ago having a really quite raised BMI?"

yes iirc she is no stranger to a fish supper herself

I suppose she is one of those women like liz jones who've taken the king's shilling to write horrible backwards anti woman opinion pieces, partly motivated by greed, partly by internalised misogyny

not a good look whatever size clothes you wear imo

Does going to a gym make the slightest difference to obesity?

Yes, it can do. You’re right that regular activity across the day is beneficial and important, long periods of sedentary behaviour has a big role to play in our overweight society. If you use the gym and know how to workout properly, it absolutely helps. It’s just most people underestimate how much they need to do, or how hard they have to workout. A combination of healthy eating, lifestyle and exercise is the best approach.

Is Tanya Gold slim these days? Not clicked the links but I'm sure I remember her years ago having a really quite raised BMI?

Oh it is sad. I made friends with this cool Aussie lady at my old gym ( I do not bother with those ghastly places now!) who was obese. She had a trainer there and really worked out hard. She was my inspiration not just for her courage, but because physically it was much harder for her than the skinny ladies that usually frequented the gym. One day we were chatting in the changing rooms about workout gear, I am very fussy and think most of it is poorly designed. Anyway, she was saying she could never get tops, vests, long enough etc and we both thought about starting an awesome brand! I went out to the cafe area and this very thin catty miserable woman came out and said, ‘ of course she can’t get vests long enough, she’s got the biggest arse I’ve ever seen ‘. I was horrified. I said, ‘ whatever, she works out harder than you or I do, the rest is none of your business’. Some years later that catty woman ended up being my landlady, and long story short I took her to court and she had to make repairs worth £12,000 and pay me a total of £6,500 in fines and compensation. It took a while for her to get her karma but she deserved it.

Seeing a mannequin like this is going to inspire people who are overweight to go and buy some gym gear and give it a go - a good thing surely?

Does going to a gym make the slightest difference to obesity? Surely tackling weight has far more to do with what the person eats and doing regular, normal activities to use up calories such as walking, not taking the lift , even vigorously cleaning the house.

I agree that there is nothing wrong with showing size 14, 16, 18 models but being seriously overweight is not healthy and it's not body shaming to acknowledge that.

Why shouldn't women of all shapes and sizes have an idea what clothes are going to look like on them before they try them on?

Well I think they should too. But I am a bit torn because if we are talking about all body types being represented for that reason, you’d have to include extremely thin/anorexic mannequins. I’m pretty sure we all think that would be a bad idea too. I’m of the opinion neither extreme unhealthy body type should be ‘normalised’. While one mannequin certainly won’t do that, it’s the combined effect of all the different things that normalise obesity, including the fact half the adult population ( is it more now? ) are obese.

I have a bit of background in nutrition and fitness, I’m also hypothyroid and ran a support group for hypothyroid people. It’s absolutely true that shaming people does not work and it’s obviously just mean. You don’t know why someone is overweight, my best friend is taking drugs post cancer to keep her alive. They’ve made her weight balloon. I gained 10kg just from being an undiagnosed hypothyroid person with a useless doctor. There is no sense at all in shaming people or making it a thing- why the fuck my friends mentioned to me I gained weight I’ll never know! Yes I know!! ( I’m also critiqued as a thin person! ) But equally, we cannot deny obesity is a problem, we should be careful we don’t normalise it or make it seem an okay thing. Ideally, it’s an issue that medical, dietary professionals advise on and everyone else shuts up about really.

I'm in a few women's running groups and it really saddens me when people ask if they're too fat to run, too slow to join in....sport is for everyone

I get your point and I love your attitude. Just one thing I should point out, there are some body types that shouldn’t run as it will cause issues with their joints and stuff. I mean very overweight or obese people. Some really shouldn’t run. But walking and swimming in the meantime are great and enjoyable alternatives.

I am a chubby 12 though, not a slim toned 12 . I have a small frame. I know it is stupid, I know that I should feel fine, but I feel shame. If I see women of any shape running or swimming I think they are great, so I don’t know why I feel like this, I think it comes from my first boyfriend who was deliberately critical of me and all women. (I was a size 4 at the time) .

SirVix

...that's how you feel at a Size 12. I've gone up from a Size 10 to a Size 20 due to binge eating disorder and medication for bipolar disorder.

I've had people men shout at me in the street when I've gone out for a jog to try and lose weight

Surely Nike making exercise clothes for bigger sizes is a good thing.

I have never heard of someone eating more to look like an overweight model, but many will starve themselves to be skinny.

I agree with Marvin. There are many reasons why people get fatter and cake is only one of them. I have put on weight due in part to an underactive thyroid, and it is hard to lose. I am not huge, but I am fatter than I have ever been and it does make me feel too embarrassed to swim or run etc, not helping at all with the weight and fitness. If I feel that at a size 12 ( from a small size 8) , then I assume I am not alone.

Tanya Gold has ishoos and is a wannabe professional troll who would write anything for money and infamy.

This.

It’s actually been years since I last read one of her “controversial” opinion pieces. Where has she been?

Seriously - one larger mannequin is not going to incite a generation of kids to think being obese is a great look to aspire to, it goes against a seriously ingrained culture that thin=good!

The truth is that there are all sorts of body shapes and there needs to be more acceptance of larger ones so that the focus can be on health rather than aesthetics. Diets do not work - so the focus needs to change from weight loss to good lifestyle choices, this means healthy eating (not restricting but good choices), exercise, not smoking and minimal alcohol. Better to be overweight/obese and be ticking all of the other lifestyle boxes than skinny and eating crap, not moving and smoking and drinking. People make all sorts of assumptions about larger people's lifestyles and personalities (as does the awful TG here) but rarely do they do the same for very slim people.

It is a very difficult line to tread. Making people ashamed - obviously not good. But celebrating "curves" as they seem to be called - equally not helpful. Some of the models in adverts are not curvy or plump, they are very overweight.

Seeing how one looks in clothes is also a hard one. I'd never buy a single thing ever again if clothes were modelled on a dumpy pear... ie me!

@IrmaFayLear

Playing devil's advocate though what would you have obese people do instead?

Hate their bodies?

Speaking personally the worse I feel about myself the worse my eating habits are (as they are psychologically driven). The better I feel about myself the better my eating habits are.

When I want to exercise now I can actually buy clothes to exercise in...only a few years ago the message was that I should be exercising but you couldn't find exercise clothes in my size which was pretty shit and demotivating.

I don't have any links to hand but research shows that making people feel ashamed of their weight is counter productive - it doesn't get them to change at all.

She used to write for the Guardian (my DH buys it, I find it too try hard) and it was all ''look at me! Aren't I just the most adorable fuck up!

Really, really annoying.

Why shouldn't women of all shapes and sizes have an idea what clothes are going to look like on them before they try them on?