Et Tu, George Takei?

Star Trek veteran George Takei has been posting all sorts of civil rights things on his Facebook of late. These posts - or reblogs - show that he's not only for gay rights (he is gay himself), but also for feminism and women's reproductive rights. Lots of people, myself included, have come to admire him over this. He's not a young guy, and it's not self-explanatory that he'd be feminist, since he is not a woman. A lot of guys don't seem to give a toss about feminism, because it's not about them.

But today I see that he's reblogged someone's idiotic post.

"It's a disaster when your country has an obesity epidemic and a skinny jeans fad." 

Takei adds insult to injury by adding,

"And not everyone should wear skinny jeans, I might add." 

Yeah, we got it, fatties look bad in skinny jeans.

What a disappointment. For those who think it's a harmless joke, consider what it's really saying. Let's de-wittify this statement a bit:

It's a disaster when I have to look at people I find unattractive, especially in clothes that show off their body shape. 

Yes, how awful. Poor you. Seeing fatties - and this probably mostly means fat women - in tight clothing is tough, and surely you've been badly traumatized by it. If only we realized how bad we look to others and stopped flaunting our fat.

What's the real difference between this and statements like "gays need to stop flaunting their sexuality all over, kissing and holding hands in the street. I don't need to see that!"?

I don't think there is a difference. I think the only reason someone like Takei can post this is that liberal mainstream culture is pro-gay, but anti-fat. Fat is not seen as a civil rights issue yet, and thus most people aren't going to look beyond the mainstream media's view. Fat is bad, fat is ugly, these are the facts, fatties have to accept it. Even many feminists think in this way.


So how accepting is George Takei really? Is he someone who truly thinks about oppression, or is he just adapting to the culture and taking the causes given to him? If you're openly gay, you're probably openly pro-gay; it's a bit more daring because he's a celebrity, but it might not require a great sense of empathy. There's a lot of fat hate in the gay community, but if he truly was a feminist ally, he'd be able to look past that. Right? Of course, everyone's a dick about something, and no one has a grasp of all the issues at once. The reason I don't feel like cutting him any slack here is that he raised the bar and made us believe he's truly accepting and  empathetic. He created an image of himself that he apparently can't live up to.

The fact that it's so laid back, such a joke to him, somehow makes it even worse. It's like he can't even imagine that someone might take this offensively. It's just a given, fatties look bad in skinny jeans, and look at the amusing juxtaposition of skinny and obese, ha ha.

His response to this fallout will determine if I respect him even less, or even more than I did before. But the chances that he actually apologizes and takes down his post are slim, or in fact - pun intended - skinny. If he does this, he is a true ally and really thinks about this stuff. I will admire him again.

If he says "Oh lighten up and have a sense of humor", it shows he doesn't care about fat people's feelings, or women's feelings in general, at least when it comes to attractiveness. Lots of otherwise tolerant people buy into the beauty ideals and reinforce them in their own lives. This would be very disappointing, and I'd stop reblogging anything he says, no matter how acceptant.

If he says "This isn't a civil rights issue because fat people just choose to eat too much", like Ricky Gervais said, it shows he hasn't given any thought to fat acceptance, or indeed fatness, beyond what the mainstream media has to say. This is a form of ableism, and an excuse to keep saying bad things about fat people, since it's just a choice. It would show that he despises fat people. I'd hate him if he did this, truth be told. I still love Ricky Gervais' shows, but I haven't been able to forgive him for saying that.

If he says "Oh sorree for not liking the sight of others' bulging fat rolls," with a possible mention of the diabetes risk etc., it's worst case scenario. This is the Dan Savage way: call your readers lardasses and tell them fat is unseemly, like that's some kind of proven fact. I doubt Takei would be this crass, but everything is possible.

This has shaken my faith in humanity - well, maybe that's slightly dramatizing it, but it definitely shook my faith in celebrity allies. Most of them step in it at one point or another. I was disappointed in Stephen Fry earlier, but at least he was hating on himself, not other people. He didn't make a joke out of other people's fat, and I respect him still, largely because of that.

So is Takei a true ally or a frenemy? Only his response will tell.