In what universe is “tubby custard” less insulting than “fat”?

In Janet Albrechtson’s universe, that’s where.

A friend, whose judgment I respect, has been encouraging me to read Janet Albrechtson on the basis that I probably won’t agree with her but she’ll probably give me food for thought.

So, having a bit of spare time today, I decided to give it a go.

So far, NO good.

Apart from the blanket statement that all (or, the concession is made, most) fat people are fat because of unhealthy life choices – and for an argument against that, see here, or simply all of Kate’s blog and many of the other links from her place (yep, I’m being lazy, but so are you if you believe that all fat people are just being bad to themselves), she says:

A couple of friends said this: “But, of course, you can’t write about ‘fat’ people. It’s too judgmental.” At least, suggested one friend, call then “tubby custards” instead of using the “f” word.

WTF????

Fat is a descriptive term. It should SIMPLY be a descriptive term, like “blonde” or “brown-eyed”. Granted, it has taken on something of an insulting tenor because of the way our society views fat (see: Janet Albrechtson’s blog), but …

How can I put this …

At least “fat” can be (re)claimed as descriptive. At least if you call someone “fat” they can say to themselves: “it’s only a word”. And maybe it’s true, in which case they probably know it themselves.

However, calling someone “tubby custard” is never going to be anything other than derogatory.

And here’s the thing. I always understood Albrechtson was smart, if inflammatory. This blog post of hers makes her look stupid – and inflammatory by accident. Kind of like a certain northern red-head.