# Attention whore or social commentator (Obese photographer)? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 13, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-whore-or-social-commentator-obese-photographer/658251 "2013-05-13T18:25:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MostlyClueless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@MostlyClueless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MostlyClueless)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-whore-or-social-commentator-obese-photographer/658251/21 "2013-05-13T21:06:15Z")
Might be just me, but I did not expect that the general SDMB response would be so negative. Personally, I don’t get any attention walking down the street as I’m fairly bland-looking. But I can imagine that someone looking like her gets a lot of shit to deal with on a day-to-day basis. Of course, the persons who act like assholes are unlikely to see this or learn from it, but I think it’s a valid message. ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-whore-or-social-commentator-obese-photographer/658251/22 "2013-05-13T21:21:01Z")
> [@supergoose](#): > > Seriously? I agree with the rest of that paragraph, but I can’t really see how they were doing that. At best, they \*might _have been making fun of themselves, but I think that’s a really forgiving interpretation. And even if that was the case, it’s still inappropriate and insulting to her. The way I see it, the social contract goes: you don’t point out other people’s physical flaws in front of them, and they don’t do it to you, unless you have a relationship with them that makes it appropriate (close friend, doctor, etc). And even then, you don’t publicly embarrass them doing it_. Well, the kind social contract, anyway. > > \*exception: when you know the person isn’t sensitive about it and can take the joke. Sorry, I always explain too much. The thing is we don’t have context for these pictures. If it was a video, we might hear the cops going “har har, fattie’s had too many donuts” or we might hear “Ah come on, you even look good in the hat, and it makes me look ridiculous!”. But we don’t know what happened immediately before and immediately after. If the accomplice is being obvious about training a camera on her, it would be blind stupid for the cop to make fun on her on camera. Not that there are no stupid cops out there, but I find it much more likely they were just being friendly with a member of the community, in the same way that you put bunny ears on your cousin in the family photo. That’s the problem with all these photos. There is no context, and we know the woman deliberately selected only photos where people appear to be looking at her with disgust. For all we know, they could be looking at her and thinking “damn, that is an ugly fat person”, or they could be thinking “holy shit, has that woman bathed in the last week”, or “did that woman just rip ass in public” or “dammit, I just remembered I left the oven on”. The woman went out of her way to find photos that matched an agenda and called attention to it. As others have pointed out, if she had tried to appear mildly attractive she probably could have done so, but it seems she went out of her way to not be attractive. Which kinda ruins her point, even if people are actually looking at her. ---
**Author:** ![colander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@colander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colander)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-whore-or-social-commentator-obese-photographer/658251/23 "2013-05-13T21:42:27Z")
> [@yellowjacketcoder](#): > > but it seems she went out of her way to not be attractive. How do you figure this is true? She looks pretty unremarkable to me. > [@](#): > > Which kinda ruins her point, even if people are actually looking at her. Don’t you think it might be just a little fucked up that there are people who like to take gross little jabs at passersby whose only crime is apparently not being attractive enough for their tastes? I’m pretty sure that’s her point. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-whore-or-social-commentator-obese-photographer/658251/24 "2013-05-13T22:06:11Z")
But the entire point being made above is that neither we nor the photographer actually knows if _any_ of these people were making “gross little jabs” at _anyone_. ---
**Author:** ![Tequila\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a6a055/32.png) [@Tequila\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Party)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-whore-or-social-commentator-obese-photographer/658251/25 "2013-05-13T22:14:05Z")
I have a friend that is about her size. She’s not a sharp dresser either and pretty much runs around in t-shirts and capris. I don’t think she ever spends more than $15 on a haircut and, due to some health issues, doesn’t have the best posture either. But that all said, she’s always clean when she goes out in public, where’s the appropriate sized clothes, and is extremely friends and smiling. And although I’m sure she’s endured some glances of dislike, she’s never once mentioned them and I’ve known her my entire life. Anyway, most of the pictures don’t really seem to have anyone looking at anything, much less with disgust. Sure, there might be three that could be interpreted that way, but like others have said, without context the setup doesn’t translate well. Also, I agree that a person of her size probably wouldn’t even garner much attention in even a health conscience local. She’s just pretty unremarkable in that regard. However, if I came across her, I might spare a slightly negative look. Why? She comes across as absolutely miserable, and in several photos, appears to actually sort of be in the way of what others are doing. So, yes, I may very well react to those things, but not at all to her weight. I’d say for her intended purpose with viewers, this experiment was a fail. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-whore-or-social-commentator-obese-photographer/658251/26 "2013-05-13T22:15:46Z")
Randomly freeze frame any tv show a 100 times. You’ll be surprised at how many odd expressions or awkward body positions you’ll see. Most of the people in that woman’s shots were just zoning out and thinking about whatever. Their crabby boss, shopping lists, kids or that ache in their back. It takes a real narcissist to assume anyone gazing in your direction is thinking about you. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-whore-or-social-commentator-obese-photographer/658251/27 "2013-05-13T22:26:28Z")
At least she’s not pissed with the Pope. ---
**Author:** ![YourAdHere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/65b543/32.png) [@YourAdHere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YourAdHere)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-whore-or-social-commentator-obese-photographer/658251/28 "2013-05-13T22:46:59Z")
Regarding the girl in the half shirt touching her stomach: To me that just seems like a semi automatic reaction. She saw a camera or an obese woman and immediately checked on the status of her own exposed stomach because she probably works to have it in a shape where she can expose it like that and is constantly mindful of it. Like how if you saw someone with messed up hair you might subconsciously fix your own hair, or if you saw someone with bad posture you might suddenly be aware of your own. Also maybe she saw the camera and is covering up out of fear others will think she’s fat. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-whore-or-social-commentator-obese-photographer/658251/29 "2013-05-13T23:32:53Z")
> [@overlyverbose](#): > > Hard to tell. Looking at that article, a few things went through my mind: > > 1. Well, yeah. She is fat. Nothing that warrants staring, though. The first thing I noticed about her wasn’t her weight, it was her hellaciously bad posture and very poor carriage. Standing with a straight spine, chin up and shoulders back can make a big difference in how people see you. > > 2. It’d be nice if she’d get over herself. “Look at me - see how I’m fat and persecuted?” Jeez - move the fuck on. (And I completely admit that this was a very uncharitable thought, but that’s what went through my head.) > > 3. On the flip side, yup, it sucks. Most people will walk by you and spare maybe a passing glance - they’re too busy worrying about what others think of them - but there are some who will stare and be assholes. And she captured some of those assholes on camera. That really blows that those people exist. > > So, yeah - she’s overweight and some people probably take offense at that for whatever stupid reason. Those people are assholes. We know that. And it’s interesting how assholes behave, if by interesting you mean maddening, sanctimonious and judgmental. And now you’ve got proof. Congratulations. Now chin up, stand up straight and move on. I cosign all of this. I came into the thread expecting to be on her side, but nope. Can’t do it. I’m all for calling out injustice when I see it, but proof is important. She doesn’t have proof of being “mocked”. She has proof of people making less-than-pleasant faces in her general vicinity. What’s really assholish is that she publishes some of these pictures online, without allowing the people she’s captured to defend themselves. The camera gives her a voice, but what about them? Does it even register to her that she’s taken away theirs, for her own benefit? (I wonder if her camera has caught fat people frowning at her. If so, how does she interpret these pictures?) I have a movement disorder that makes me grimace for no reason at all. Sometimes I’ll catch a glimpse at my mug in a window’s reflection and flinch because I look so mean and angry. So I can easily see myself being one of her villains. Instead of looking for the worst and drawing potentially erroneous explanations from it, she should try an experiment. Smile at people and see what they do. I don’t care if you look like Chewbacca; if you smile (and you’re a woman), you will get plenty of smiles back. I know this from first-hand experience too, since one way I try to combat the grimacing is by actively smiling. This experiment might make her final assessment of society a little less gritty and maybe a little less publishable. But smiling in the face of the enemy is definitely more empowering than boo-hooing about the stank faces of what appears to be mostly teenagers, who wear stank faces all the damn time. ---
**Author:** ![Septima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@Septima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Septima)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-whore-or-social-commentator-obese-photographer/658251/30 "2013-05-13T23:38:32Z")
The images of children seem downright cruel to me. She has no right to do that (and in fact, where I live, those pictures would be _illegal_ to display unless she had signed consent from the parents, which I doubt she had). The image on the swing is particularly misguided. She is an adult, sitting on a swing in a children’s playground, staring vacantly at nothing whatever as if something is wrong with her. Of course a kid is going to stare, that’s freaking weird. What she looks like has nothing to do with it. In fact, after all her rhetoric about vengeance, “getting back at” etc. coupled with the images of children makes me question her sanity. Any adult who wants revenge on a child needs her head examined. ---
**Author:** ![colander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@colander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colander)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-whore-or-social-commentator-obese-photographer/658251/31 "2013-05-13T23:43:53Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > But the entire point being made above is that neither we nor the photographer actually knows if _any_ of these people were making “gross little jabs” at _anyone_. Some of them sure as fuck are. Why is that cool? ---
**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-whore-or-social-commentator-obese-photographer/658251/32 "2013-05-13T23:47:32Z")
> [@Snow\_Pea](#): > > I was referring to the weird posture with toes pointed at each other, not the size of her legs. Looks like she’s possibly [pigeon toed](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigeon_toe). In the picture with the police, it looks like she’s exaggerating it a little, but probably not on purpose. I’m pigeon toed, myself, and I think I did that a bit when I was younger. For me, it’s mostly self-corrected as I got older and most people don’t notice unless I either point it out to them or walk up/down stairs. For some reason, I naturally turn my foot inward when I go to walk up or down stairs. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2013, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-whore-or-social-commentator-obese-photographer/658251/33 "2013-05-13T23:49:16Z")
I’m not understanding all those depressing, I’m-eating-all-alone pictures. Does anyone else get them? ---
**Author:** ![Snow\_Pea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Snow\_Pea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snow_Pea)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-whore-or-social-commentator-obese-photographer/658251/34 "2013-05-14T00:15:52Z")
> [@colander](#): > > Some of them sure as fuck are. Why is that cool? Which ones, specifically? Where is the proof that these people were actively mocking her, as opposed to just being caught having a weird facial expression and randomly looking in her general direction at the nanosecond the image was captured? ---
**Author:** ![Snow\_Pea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Snow\_Pea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snow_Pea)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-whore-or-social-commentator-obese-photographer/658251/35 "2013-05-14T00:18:46Z")
Could a mod please fix my link? It has an extra “[http://From](http://From) here:” at the beginning that is screwing it up. Plus a “/?fark” tag on the end. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-whore-or-social-commentator-obese-photographer/658251/36 "2013-05-14T00:31:30Z")
I don’t see anyone with a particularly mocking tone. All I see are people looking at someone getting their picture taken in a weird pose. I’m pissed I gave her a hit on her site. ---
**Author:** ![colander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@colander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colander)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-whore-or-social-commentator-obese-photographer/658251/37 "2013-05-14T00:38:23Z")
> [@Snow\_Pea](#): > > Which ones, specifically? Where is the proof that these people were actively mocking her, as opposed to just being caught having a weird facial expression and randomly looking in her general direction at the nanosecond the image was captured? Are you seriously trying to tell me that, for example, the police officer just happened to be coincidentally holding his hat over her head? Don’t be stupid. Obviously, at least _some_ of these people are deliberately taking the piss. So, I again ask you: _is that okay?_ Are you, on balance, still more angry about the fact that this woman has the balls to complain about people fucking with her for no good reason than the fact that people are, in fact, fucking with her for no good reason? Because that just makes you seem like kind of a cruddy person. No offense, of course. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-whore-or-social-commentator-obese-photographer/658251/38 "2013-05-14T01:01:01Z")
> [@colander](#): > > Are you seriously trying to tell me that, for example, the police officer just happened to be coincidentally holding his hat over her head? Don’t be stupid. Obviously, at least _some_ of these people are deliberately taking the piss. So, I again ask you: _is that okay?_ Are you, on balance, still more angry about the fact that this woman has the balls to complain about people fucking with her for no good reason than the fact that people are, in fact, fucking with her for no good reason? > > Because that just makes you seem like kind of a cruddy person. No offense, of course. I will give her the cop. He’s clearly a bad guy. But she seriously dilutes the poignancy of this example with all the random shots of A Whole Lotta Nothing. Like the picture of her at the park with the little girl on the scooter nearby. Who is fucking with her in that picture, for real? Or her standing next to the shop window looking like a zombie. Just like in the swing picture, she just looks weird like that. Why shouldn’t someone give her a side-long glance? And even if they are truly frowning at her, most of them are teenagers. Teenagers are immature and given to inappropriate behavior. We already know this. And they could be laughing at her because she’s fat, because she’s dressed like a dork, or because she’s standing in the middle of the sidewalk doing weird-ass things with her feet with a camera trained on her. Or all of the above. I don’t know and neither does she. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-whore-or-social-commentator-obese-photographer/658251/39 "2013-05-14T01:14:38Z")
When she gets back home to Memphis she probably doesn’t get the same reaction. We have plenty of overweight people here. It ain’t no big thang. [In 2007 we were the fattest city in America.](http://www.forbes.com/2007/11/14/health-obesity-cities-forbeslife-cx_rr_1114obese_slide_2.html?thisspeed=20000) ---
**Author:** ![RandMcnally](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@RandMcnally](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandMcnally)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2013, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-whore-or-social-commentator-obese-photographer/658251/40 "2013-05-14T01:23:08Z")
For the people who are mocking her, I doubt it’s due to her weight. In the U.S. if you gawked at every fat person you ran across you’d never get to your destination. I think it’s more about the fact that she’s dumpy as all get out. I’m surprised she isn’t wearing crocs. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-whore-or-social-commentator-obese-photographer/658251.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attention-whore-or-social-commentator-obese-photographer/658251.md?page=3)