Camryn Manheim has the blood of 300,000 Americans on her hands. The buxom actress, who dedicated her 1999 Emmy for the ABC series "The Practice" to "all the fat girls," has been blindly fighting a battle for fat acceptance. Her labors in this vein include her critically acclaimed book, "Wake Up, I'm Fat!" and her work on the aforementioned television drama. Both of these endeavors are liberated and triumphant — but they are also downright dangerous.
As Manheim and others like her extol the beauty of obesity, Surgeon General David Satcher reports that 300,000 Americans die every year because they are either obese or overweight. Even though she weighs "way over 200 pounds," Manheim does not see her weight as a danger.
However, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson might disagree. In a report issued last week, Thompson implied that Americans might be becoming a bit too comfortable with their pudgy midsections. The report indicated that nearly 33 million Americans are suffering from various forms of diabetes, largely because they are fat.
The HHS report comes in the wake of numerous studies released in the past year that illustrate the growing diabetes epidemic, and the link between obesity and numerous other life threatening diseases. Even in light of this conclusive research, the fat brigade continues to pander to the overweight masses.
Clothing chain Lane Bryant specializes in plus-size fashions and Web sites like SizeWise.com tackle issues surrounding "size acceptance." Both are endorsed by Manheim.
As people talk of "size acceptance" in www.SizeWise.com chat rooms, they lose sight of the fact that their weight is a veritable death sentence. Instead of talking about how to live with their weight, people should be talking about how to get rid of their flab.
Those same people who tap their chubby fingers on their keyboards should be ashamed to shop at "empowering" stores like Lane Bryant. Finding a stylish ensemble in a size 28 should not make a woman feel great about her body, she should be disgusted that she has neglected herself to the point of morbidity.
Manheim disagrees, of course, saying, "if fat people stop hating themselves, their regrets will be few." Apparently Manheim doesn't regret putting herself at risk for heart disease, cancer, asthma, arthritis, diabetes and premature death. The Surgeon General says all these afflictions can be triggered and aggravated by excess weight.
Granted, no one should ever have cause to hate themselves, but there is certainly nothing wrong with hating an illness. Should people embrace cancer as an empowering disease? Or cigarette addiction?
Overweight and obesity kill only 100,000 fewer people per year than cigarettes, yet no one has dedicated an Emmy to cigarette smokers. Millions are spent each year maligning cigarette companies because they encourage self-destructive behavior; when will we see a national ad campaign against Manheim and her cronies?
Probably not until Manheim develops diabetes herself, which is bound to happen sooner rather than later. While the government's report that 61 percent of adults are overweight is alarming, the fact that 13 percent of children are overweight is shocking. We are grooming an entire generation of kids who might not live to see adulthood because they will die of heart attacks before they even graduate from high school.
Thirty years ago, on the other end of the scale, gaunt supermodel Twiggy inadvertently made anorexia fashionable. But Twiggy never asked an anorexic to starve herself; Manheim tells girls to stay fat every chance she gets. No one should grow up wanting to be Twiggy-thin. They shouldn't hope to be Manheim-fat either.
James Manley is a journalism sophomore. Reach him at james.manley@asu.edu.
