Photo by Richard Sabel
There must have been an article or something because I got 5 e-mails today asking me what I think about weighing people like luggage to determine the cost of their airline ticket.
Sure, some particularly muscular and/or tall people would likely flip out, assuming that this wasn’t meant for them but was only supposed to be a means of punishing fat people. And obviously you can’t tell whether or not someone will fit in a seat by their weight so it wouldn’t do anything for people who complain that about having to sit next to a fat person. But those aren’t the real reasons that it’s not ok.
The real reason is that it’s not luggage. It’s my body.
It’s not a representation of greed or capitalism. It’s my body.
It’s not a picture without a head to accompany yet another OMGDEATHFAT article. It’s my body
It’s not a stand-in for my true health and well being. It’s my body.
It’s not for you to judge. It’s my body
Do you get it? It’s my body. So back off.
My body is far too valuable to be treated like a car whose worth is lowered because of some wear and tear. It’s far too astounding to be a metaphor or a political statement. It’s far too complicated to run on the same formula used to fuel a lawn mower. It is far too profound to be reduced to a ratio of weight and height. And it is far too amazing to be judged by anyone.
Because it’s my body.
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I am absolutely terrified of the day that this might happen. Flying is already humiliating enough for someone my size…I hold my breath till the plane’s in the air just praying that no one’s going to force me to buy an extra ticket (which I couldn’t afford, so I’d be forfeiting my trip entirely). That doesn’t even touch on seat belts, the arm of the chair, fitting into the bathroom, getting plowed in the arm by the beverage cart, the bad attitude and constant squirming of the person who gets “stuck” sitting next me, etc. If they start weighing me I may never fly again. :-/
I have been on helicopter flights where we were all weighed in order to seat us in such a way to distribute total weight of the craft optimally for smooth flight. We stood on a scale set in the floor, the only person who saw the weights was behind the desk, no discussion of weight. After all in a group were weighed thus, we were given our seat assignment. Everything was handled politely and with discretion.
No one paid extra, no giggling over size. In this situation it makes sense to ensure the small craft has weight evenly distributed in the craft.
Outside of weighing for proper distribution of total aircraft load, I see no reason to weigh people for transport. Mainly because of the shameful way I envision the airlines handling such information. I could see them displaying the number for all to see. I could see them loudly proclaiming that the ticket price for such a “load” increased ticket price by $xxx. I could see them turning people away completely.
I’d say they’d handle it with class and tact as they want customers to come back, then I look at the TSA complaints, I suspect you’d have a mixed bag with some really good people being shouldered out by people who couldn’t get a job anywhere else with their personality files…
Of course some countries would be better than others and they’d have to persuade all countries it would be a good idea. European Human Rights would have a field day with it as you couldn’t just apply it to one group without being discriminatory and you’d have to charge extra for a wheelchair bound person or take them out of their seat to weigh them, not to mention all the tall, broad shouldered guys who work out would have to pay a fortune, so thankfully I think weighing people (except in legitimate circumstances) is infeasible.
There’s also a difference between weighing bags, where a person can be told “ooh, your bag is ten pounds over, can you take some stuff out of it?” and then you move ten pounds into your carryon and you’re done, and weighing you, yourself. “Ooh, you’re sixty pounds over. Could you see about removing a hip or two? How about an ass cheek?”
That actually made me laugh. Thanks!
What a bunch of b——-! what is going to happen when they come across a person barely 5 ft. and weighs 160lbs and a 5’8″ who weighs 160 lbs.? Will they charge the short one for being overweight but not the tall one? Im sure this will never “fly” but who knows in todays world. Lets hope not.
Careful! “particularly muscular and/or tall people would likely flip out since they would likely assume that this wasn’t meant for them but was only supposed to be a means of punishing fat people” Why would you assume that?
I am particularly tall, my fiancé is even taller, and we’re both used to being judged by our height. We are used to being forced to pay more for larger clothes/furniture/cars/motorcycles to accommodate our size. Being forced to pay more to fly would be infuriating, but not new, and not something for which I would project fault on the obese.
I understand why you use tallness as a comparison in these cases, but a couple of remarks lately have started to sting. The tall experience is different from the fat experience, for sure. A lot less abuse, for one thing. But people feel free to comment on our tall bodies, & make projections on who & what we must be like based on it. I don’t expect that from SA types. I have been reading your blog long enough to know that you probably don’t have a lot of animosity towards any body type. I understand you’re angry about the way fat people are being treated, & we all should be. Please just be careful you’re not projecting it onto the tall subjects of your comparisons.
Thank you, I agree that being tall is not the easiest thing in the world either. Both me and my partner are the unfortunate combination of tall AND fat. Clothes cost a fortune (but on the upside: they so rarely make them in our sizes at all… I nearly cried when I finally found a pair of jeans that was both long enough and came in my size after 25 years of wearing too short pants). Shoes cost a fortune. Having the seat adjustments fixed in our car so my partner can fit his legs in cost a fortune. I do so not look forward to the day when I have to pay extra on a flight to have my legs crushed in a seat that not only barely fits my hips but also doesn’t accomodate my length.
OMG! Exactly. A fat body isn’t a metaphor. Not for society’s ills, Not for over consumption. Not for anything. Period.
I’m going to print this and put it on my bathroom mirror: “My body is far too valuable to be treated like a car whose worth is lowered because of some wear and tear. It’s far too astounding to be a metaphor or a political statement. It’s far too complicated to run on the same formula used to fuel a lawn mower. It is far too profound to be reduced to a ratio of weight and height. And it is far too amazing to be judged by anyone.” BEAUTIFUL!
This discussion came up recently. My mom works for SWA and was telling my grandmother about a large woman who they required to buy an extra seat and a seatbelt extender!! This was all at check-in. My mom described how the woman was mortified and exclaimed how embarrassed she was. My mom told her, “You should not be embarrassed, you’re beautiful.” At this point, while listening in on the conversation, I stopped my mom and got on her case. Telling someone they should not be embarrassed because they had to buy an extra seat and a seatbelt extendor is complete crap. This is coming from a woman who is a size 2 and thinks she is obese at a size 8. She has no right telling some woman how she should feel. She has no idea what fat discrimination feels like. Then my skinny husband pointed out that this entire issue boils down to corporate greed. Airlines have made seats smaller to put more seats on a plane. That way they can fit more bodies on a flight. Airline seats are really, really small! Even an average person struggles to fit into a seat comfortably. We’re being made to be uncomfortable and embarrassed over this issue all so airlines can make more money. Then my husband completely went off about the seatbelt extender! He said that entire idea is unnecssary and he believes it is done for the purpose of making people feel bad…well…and money because the extender has to be purchased. But how hard is it to make larger seatbelts standard in a plane? But you know the argument will be “why should the airline have to make larger seatbelts when you could just stop eating and lose weight.”
Airlines used to go out of their way to accommodate people who were differently shaped. The exit rows were nearly always reserved for people who were particularly tall, for example. They wouldn’t tell you this, but many airlines didn’t allocate those rows until they’d seen the passengers. But then airlines realised they could charge more for those seats.
Before airline deregulation, airlines couldn’t compete on price, so they competed on other things – like offering a comfortable flying experience, food, etc. Post-deregulation, they can compete on price. As a result, flying is a lot cheaper, but if you want the other stuff, you have to pay separately for it.
Your mother may not have an idea how size discrimination feels, but if I had been the other woman in that situation I would have been SO thankful for someone like your mom coming up to tell me that I am beautiful and I don’t need to feel embarrassed because of someone else’s behavior or attitudes. I would have needed that reminder and would have been so glad not to feel alone in that situation.
I don’t see it as your mom telling her how to feel, but pointing out that someone else’s attitude doesn’t have to limit her, which is absolutely true. Our feelings are valid, but we don’t have to let them dictate to us how we think about ourselves, and it sounds to me like that’s what your mom was trying to say. I see what your mom did as a real gift to that woman.
I guess you’d have to know my mom. I know her attitudes about heavier people and what she really thinks. You’re right though, this woman doesn’t know my mom so maybe it did help her.
Flying has gotten ridiculous anyway. I have an insulin pump for type 1 diabetes, and i’m always getting padded down and dusted for anthrax or whatever because of it. The last time i flew, i disclosed it ahead of time, and it did nothing to speed the process along. In fact, it took a little longer, and was still just as humiliating. I think it sucks that flying has become a vehicle for humiliating people, either by the airline or by the TSA, for their bodies. And i definitely don’t feel any safer.
Train travel. Seriously. Cheaper and bigger seats.
I SO AGREE! I recently to an Amtrack from Ft. Worth to San Antonio. The train was so relaxed & comfortable. I could have checked up THREE bag up to 50 lbs. Each & three carry obs up to 50 lbs. Each!
I completely agree. I have to travel periodically for my work, and after very nearly getting kicked off a plane because of my size, I’ve put my foot down and insisted my company send me by train. Yes, it took longer, but I was *comfortable* the entire trip. Also? Not packed into the train like sardines.
I actually have been really anxious about an upcoming family wedding that will require me to fly. I haven’t flown in years and am very worried that I will be asked to buy an extra ticket or kicked off the plane. It comes down to how badly I want to see my nephew’s wedding and whether it is worth the risk. Sad, but true.
Julie, Im so sorry you have to be stressed about flying. I am a little more concerned than I used to be. I hope all goes well for you.
This is with regard to the civil rights violations that attend “safety”, rather than those which specifically apply to body shape and size; but it’s part of the larger discussion about the extent to which a corporation, or a culture, has the right to judge and invade individual bodies.
Regarding the pat-down, the X-ray, and the scatter X-ray machine controversy, you all probably know that pilots are scanned like passengers. Well, you know, whatever…except that pilots don’t really need a shoe-bomb, or a bottle of eyedrops, to crash the plane; they can just head for the ground. (This has happened.) There’s usually even a hatchet there, very handy for bashing the other pilot before proceeding as above. So…at least some of this scanning is security theater, right? Because scanning the pilots doesn’t make us safer. Know who generally isn’t scanned? Ground crews, the people who are in and out of planes all day, working at rather lesser wages for much less prestige. The people who, if they happen to have a possibly-justified grudge and to be feeling murderous, have quite an opportunity to do something about it. It’s really kind of wonderful that, as far as I know at least, none have. (If you’re a ground crew member, by the way, thanks for peaceably doing your job and not exploiting this huge hole in airport security. You rock.)
So: next time someone argues that judging or groping or deep-scanning your body is integral to the safety of the flight, you might want to point out that safety clearly isn’t the primary concern here–appearances are. Just as with the rep at the gate who gets to decide who’s “too fat.” Go figure.
I’ve also read that only a small percentage of commercial freight is scanned – because they don’t mind inconveniencing citizens but don’t dare piss off large corporations.
I would be surprised if an airline actually implemented such a policy. I think they are probably fine with the way things are. They charge by the ever-smaller seat and the fear of being called out and charged double will keep the larger passengers from making a fuss. So officially they haven’t alienated customers and passengers can squabble amongst themselves about whose fault it is that there is no elbow room.
I’m thinking maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to charge by weight if it were consistently applied. Why I think it will never happen is that if larger folks(tall, fat, broad etc) were paying by the ounce, they might well be emboldened to demand a seat that fits those pounds. Using the baggage analogy, if you pay extra for a bigger bag, they have to make room for the bigger bag. They can’t just collect the extra dough and throw the heavy stuff out.
What I’d really like to see is clarity about what the ticket is purchasing- a seat, a fare, transit for x-number of square inches or pounds. An if they absolutely must continue with the policy of “If your ass fits in the seat…” then the dimensions (all of them) for said seat should be front an center on the reservation screen