Principal accused of fat-shaming

Great Debates
1

Here’s the story.

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Students and others are up in arms about the speech at the usual places on the net. But isn’t this principal right in her intent, though I confess she might have phrased it more diplomatically. The reality is whether we like it or not that fat kids in school or those that appear fat are far more likely than some other groups to be picked on, joked about and bullied. The principal can’t ignore this fact. She’s simply warning the kids that leggings have a tendency to make girls look fatter if they don’t have the right figure for them. She doesn’t go into the possible consequences of a girl appearing fatter to her schoolmates but she doesn’t have to. They’re all too real and the tragic outcomes that can arise from a boy or girl being bullied are a matter of record.

So what’s a principal to do? Let us say she gives in to the chorus of outrage on the net. The speech is withdrawn and she never makes it again. The next year one of the students, let’s call her Student X, decides that she looks good in leggings and starts wearing them to school. Lacking the ability to “see oursels as ithers see us” and not having had the benefit of the principal’s advice she finds to her dismay that some of the other kids are laughing at her, calling her fat, being obnoxious in the manner that kids excel at. Student X sticks to her guns, God bless her, and persists in wearing what she wants to wear. The pressure however eventually wears her down. Feeling totally alone, depressed, with nowhere to turn she hangs herself after some particularly nasty abuse on her Facebook page.

Could something like this happen? Of course it could. Would it have been prevented by the principal warning that leggings can make you look fatter? Probably not. But could it have been prevented by such a speech? Could it have made Student X think twice about wearing those leggings, could she have decided that maybe she didn’t look quite as good as she first thought, that maybe they did make her look fatter than she was? The answer to that is yes, that is possible. And on those grounds the principal should have told her critics to go take a hike, that her paramount concern was the safety of her students not their conceptions of ‘fat-shaming’.

I’d really be interested to hear opposite views as I make no claim to infallibility and I’ll readily concede to a well-reasoned counter-argument.

2

I’m fairly confident that students don’t take fashion advice given by principals during general assemblies.

3

I’d say the principal created more potential for the theoretical harm you imagine by calling attention to the “problem”, such as it is.

Having been a teacher, I would heartily endorse someone telling school administrators that they should avoid speaking in public if they don’t have a certain level of IQ. And even then, think twice. (This is my attempt at irony, in case there’s any doubt)

4

Do you understand why people are opposed to fat-shaming? I don’t think you do, because your whole explanation is a paraphrased defense of fat-shaming.

What if the principal saw a female student eating a hamburger. She knows that a poor diet can lead to bad outcomes. “Maybe you should eat a salad instead, honey. You’re not exactly a size 0.”, says the principal. But student X sticks to her guns, God bless her, and persists in eating what they want to wear. The poor diet, however, eventually wears her down. She ends up dying of a heart attack statistically earlier than someone who ate salads might.

Could something like this happen? Of course it could. Would it have been prevented by the principal warning that hamburgers aren’t healthy to eat all the time? Probably not. But could it have been prevented by such a speech? Could it have made Student X think twice about eating that burger, could she have decided that maybe she wasn’t as healthy as she thought, that maybe she should eat a salad that day? The answer to that is yes, that is possible. And on those grounds the principal should have told her critics to go take a hike, that her paramount concern was the safety of her students not their conceptions of ‘fat-shaming’.

The mistake you are making is that you are counting the (admittedly) very unlikely possible positive outcomes of fat-shaming as a good thing, and failing to consider the fact that it has many negative outcomes as well. On net, fat-shaming tends to not actually result in fewer fat people. It sure does help fat people feel really bad about themselves, though.

5

Here’s another hypothetical.

The principal gives the talk about how girls shouldn’t wear leggings because it makes them look like fatties. A bunch of popular girls note that Student X was, in fact, wearing leggings that day. As a result of the speech, she finds to her dismay that some of the other kids are laughing at her, calling her fat, being obnoxious in the manner that kids excel at. Student X never wears leggings again because she’s a good student and follows the rules, but bullies have long memories. The pressure eventually wears her down. Feeling totally alone, depressed, with nowhere to turn she hangs herself after some particularly nasty abuse on her Facebook page.

Could something like this happen? I mean, I guess? But inventing wildly unlikely and extremely specific hypotheticals has a weird way of not proving points.

6

Lots of people who say rude and inappropriate things are “right in their intent”, mean well, etc. That doesn’t excuse them for being rude and inappropriate.

[QUOTE=aldiboronti]
The reality is whether we like it or not that fat kids in school or those that appear fat are far more likely than some other groups to be picked on, joked about and bullied. The principal can’t ignore this fact.
[/quote]

If the principal is concerned about bullying, she should take it up with the bullies themselves, not with potential bullying victims who aren’t doing anything wrong.

[QUOTE=aldiboronti]
She’s simply warning the kids that leggings have a tendency to make girls look fatter if they don’t have the right figure for them.
[/quote]

She’s a school principal, not a fashion consultant or a personal shopper. It is none of her business whether her female students’ fashion choices make them “look fatter” or not, or to issue guidelines about what the “right figure” should be for certain fashion choices.

[QUOTE=aldiboronti]
So what’s a principal to do?
[/quote]

Shut the fuck up about what her students are wearing, that’s what. Except in the case of dealing with reasonable, consistent, universal school dress codes that don’t single out students by body type.

In other words, if a school decides that wearing leggings without a skirt/long top/other covering is against the school dress code, it should just say so. Don’t try to justify the policy on the grounds of critiquing particular body types.

(Which is an especially stupid approach, given that a student who is a size zero could then come back with “Well I don’t look fat in leggings, so why can’t I wear them to school?” Don’t make your dress-code rules about differences in individual body type.)

It is not a principal’s job to police all the personal choices of students that might conceivably make them more vulnerable to bullying, even if it were humanly possible to do so. The principal’s job in such cases is to make it clear to the bullies that bullying isn’t tolerated.

I repeat: If a school has a dress code, it should clearly state and enforce the dress code, without attempting to justify the dress code on fashion-police grounds.

The argument that the principal has a moral obligation to defer to the prejudices of bullies by encouraging her students to be intimidated by them is one of the most craven I’ve ever seen applied to an issue of school administration.

7

As the mother of a teenager, middle school and high school are tough for any kid. They have a lot of pressure on them academically and socially. It’s a time when they are very concerned about their self image. I don’t know what the principal’s intentions were, but these kids are already concerned with body image. I also agree with another poster who said kids probably aren’t taking fashion advice from a principal.

8

Sounds like 'Good message, poorly delivered, and delivered by the wrong person."

9

I don’t even see the point of thinking it needed to be brought up. Banning leggings, I’m all for it - because just as the name of the garment says, they’re not pants.

There was a girl who worked here and her standard work outfit included black leggings. She was trim and looked good in them. Doesn’t matter. They’re still not pants and as far as I was concerned, she was dressed inappropriately most of the time just due to the leggings.

Yes, they’re comfortable, but so are slacks/pants/jeans that are not skin tight, or that have 3% spandex in the fabric.

Maybe it’s more appropriate to ban garments that are more than 3% spandex or something like that instead.

And then, there’s the question of what’s “appropriate” any more anyway? Garments come in so many different forms/fabrics/lengths/cuts, how do you define appropriate dress before someone dresses inappropriately? I went to schools that required uniforms, and for upper class kids, a VERY strict dress code. We didn’t have to wear the uniform, but what was allowed was worded strictly enough that violating the dress code without knowing it was fairly impossible. (Solid colors, slacks or knee length skirts in navy or grey only, tops had to have collars and arms covered 3/4 to elbow. No unnaturally colored leg coverings, socks and covered toe shoes. Pretty simple.)

10

The principal was perpetuating perceptions of unattractiveness that are awfully arbitrary. I don’t think we can entirely get away from being arbitrary in assessing looks, but there can stand to be less pressure based on it and fewer extreme forms of it; and in the context of her job she should be able to lay down the rules without being arbitrary. From observation it seems the internalized colonization of teens, young women esp., with arbitrary standards of what is and isn’t attractive is a significant cause of mental health issues. I would look into the literature and what mental health professionals have to say if that seems dubious.

11

The principal herself was fat-shaming and setting up kids to be shamed and bullied by others, even if they are a size 0 or 2 and wore leggings. If the principal has an issue with leggings, she should ban them for all students. The principal, instead, should discipline students who bully and tease other students. Reducing bullying and teasing is an important job for the school administration and they should take it seriously. Discussing fashion choices based on body type is not an appropriate role for the school administration.

If a fatty size 4 (someone hideous like Beyonce or Jennifer Lopez, or Jessica Alba after a couple of kids) wants to wear leggings, and they are allowed to do so per the code, they should feel comfortable wearing that, and anyone who teases or bullies her should get into trouble.

12

Apparently, Brooklyn Decker is a size 4: Celebrity Sizes That May Surprise You [PHOTOS]

God, it would be just disgusting to see her in leggings.

13

(Sorry for the triple post!)

Why is it a good message in your opinion? Is it because girls who are a size 6 or 8 should only wear loose clothing and hide their bodies? That they literally should be ashamed of their body size? Or is it that if they wear the leggings and are teased, they were basically asking for it?

Because, other than fat-shaming or victim-blaming, I don’t see why it’s a good message. I’m curious, genuinely, why you think it’s a good message because I’m not seeing it.

And, to avoid a quadruple post, where was the message for the heavier boys to wear loose clothing? Why is it only the girls who should be careful about what they wear lest they get teased? Is it OK for the offensive linemen on the football team to wear tight t-shirts?

14

Reasons why what she said is dumb:

  1. Not everyone thinks fat is ugly. And not everyone is worried about being perceived as ugly. Maybe some of the girls she was talking to actually love their curves. The principal is entitled to her opinion regarding the attractiveness of fatness. But that venue isn’t the best place to share such an opinion. It would be like if the principal had told the boys to stop wearing fedoras because most of them are too dorky to pull the look off. Maybe they do look dorky, but it is not an authority figure’s place to say something like this.

  2. I think it is reasonable to draw a line at leggings-as-pants if the dress code is explicitly “business casual”. I’m firmly in the camp that leggings shouldn’t be worn all by themselves unless you’re working out or lazing around. But everyone should be held to the same standard. If the fat girls will catch hell for wearing leggings by the administration, so should the skinny chicks.

  3. I don’t believe she was doing this to prevent bullying. That’s rich. For one thing, I doubt girls who are confident enough to be wearing leggings are being bullied for being fat. And if there is a problem with anti-fat bullying at that school, I really doubt the principal’s lecture will stop it. If anything, it will just encourage it. I can hear the taunts already. “Your fat ass isn’t supposed to be wearing leggings! I’m telling the principal!”

15

“Also, all girls have to wear paper bags on their heads because there are some real uggos out there. That is all.”

16

It’s not a principal’s job to prevent students from fashion choices that make them look fat. And as has already been pointed out, the OP’s argument becomes a bizarre standard if it’s to be taken seriously.

17

What would have happened if a student raised her hand and politely pointed out, “You know Mrs Morrison, my grandmother wouldn’t be caught dead in public with your hairstyle”?

18

Imagine some “fatty” size 4 student who is wearing leggings, sitting there listening to her principal tell her she “looks fat”. That’s an eating disorder in the making.

I’m glad she’s coming under fire for what she said, she deserves it. Girls struggle enough with body image, they don’t need someone like Principal Bitch setting them up for a lifetime of self-loathing.

I wish I was a size 4 fatso!

19

I recommend that school administrators follow the advice of Superintendent Chalmers from The Simpsons: “I’m a public servant, and not permitted to use my own judgement in any way.”

20

Do you think people with that high level of IQ would ever be a school administrator?