Subscribe to Breaking NewsWithers: Some (corpulent) people should not wear certain t-shirts
Let’s say you are a little pork chop (if you are insulted by fat jokes move on, Boo. Move on). Let’s also assume as a bigun, you need a motorized cart to get to the potato chip aisle. If these things are true, it seems prudent your big booty should not be wearing a t-shirt with homophobic crap.
The above pic was taken from the bestest internets site People of WalMart. The photo of “too fat to walk Mr. Homophobe” was taken in Nebraska. As a rule I care little about sartorial choices, but the clothes of my large clan do bring pause. Lycra bike pants are terrible for those with ham hock thighs, and bigoted t-shirts should not be worn by those with too much blubber to defend themselves.
What unnerves me though is that this handicapped butterball, too lazy to even walk, got up one morning and thought it would be nice to wear an anti-gay shirt. Doesn’t he have family who can give him advice? We know he has no friends. Who would want to freely associate with such a little disgusting roly-poly?
I’m sure husky man is never online (his fingers are too chubby to type), but if you are out there, drop by and explain yourself sir. Ex-gay? Bitter over love lost? Sodomized by your best high-school friend—he was the star jock of the school—and loved it so much you freaked out? And what’s your favorite potato chip? I’m guessing Ruffles (which is a good choice).
Yes, I agree with Craig in AZ,
I think that Withers articles and blogs are not much worth reading anymore. I think that many times it seems that he writes something just to have a reason to argue with or put down the commenter. I’m sure we will see a rebuttal soon, probably in the form of an argument or a put down.
PS. Also, Mr. Withers wrote to Jake H – (Mmmmmm. Did you catch at all the digs at myself for being a porkster?) I don’t read where Mr. Withers is putting himself down at all unless you include this ONE sentence – (As a rule I care little about sartorial choices, but the clothes of my large clan do bring pause.)
Every so often, I will read Wither’s comments, and then remember WHY it was I swore off his pieces in the first place. Sorry to see he is still at the bottom of the barrel and digging…..
Oh, dear. I seem to have missed the memo that said that being a catty bigoted bitch was an acceptable way to fight bigotry.
It is not so extreme to verbalize what every LGBT thinks when he or she sees this picture.
That is so double standard life. I’m proud deaf and gay. If I wore the gay “any comments” T shirt, I would get attack from homophobic and right religion people. Now that guy wore that shirt, “I hate Queers” with disable appearence. We, gays, suffered silence!!!! Give me, gay, a break!!!
“Ableist”? Please tell me that wasn’t said. Better yet, can we for a committee to set up a working group to schedule a charette on the subject of mobility and which type is shown preference?
So many of you are willing to play devil’s advocate. You don’t get the age we’re in. I don’t like saying this, but instead of looking for some deeper and exculpatory element, how about this? What if this is a true and unretouched picture of some fat homophobic fuck cruising around Wal-mart on a scooter? Maybe some of you have spent too much time with herbal tea and checking Flickr for pix of the Dalai Lama, but do any of you know that this stereotype not only exists, it exists enough that it’s routine fodder for at least one cartoonist? We live in ugly times, and the only way the ugly is gonna be beaten back is NOT by noble silence or introspection, but by being at least as much of a loutish bully.
Truth is, I find this post pretty goddamn refreshing. Disability isn’t funny, but–again assuming it’s a legit pic–neither is a cripple who thinks s/he can be a bigot and get away with it because of physical disability or limitation. It’s an attempt to use disability to shield bad acts. Nobody is above civility and respect. Nobody has the right to be an asshole without taking responsibility for the consequences. If you live in Walmart-land, then don’t try to tell me that you’ve NEVER seen something with at least some of these elements.
Flame me if you want. Point is that the cultural war being waged today IS NOT won by all the gays being nice and friendly. Sad to say–and it is a very sad commentary that I have to spell this point out–but if Matthew Shepard had been 6′1″, 225, and harder-looking than the trash that met him in that bar, there’s a good chance he woulda beaten the shit outta both of them instead of being killed. A life of cheap shots and immunity from consequences is a shitty life, but understand that the people who hate us are gettin’ a pretty good pass on accountability. You can be a diplomat, but you can’t win if sometimes you don’t hit your enemy harder than he hit you. That’s all some people understand. Even fat cripples on a Walmart scooter. Even they STILL have a sense that there’s somebody “beneath” them. Don’t enable that shit.
So, some people called you fat. That still doesn’t change the fact that any outsider looking at this (and plenty of the regulars) probably wouldn’t find you any more enlightened than the guy pictured above (who is still more likely than not just some disabled shopper who had words Photoshopped on his back as a joke). And who knows, perhaps someone called him a queer a few times and he has a free card like you …
BTW: I could care less about fat jokes in general (or gay jokes, etc), and I even make them myself from time to time, but this read to me as nothing but a useless personal ramble that went a bit overboard; especially for being a post on a site that I believe still portrays itself as a semi-legitimate news source (even if this was under the Blog section). I obviously don’t condone shirts like that, but being just about as bad right back isn’t right or productive either.
Do you remember being taught that if you can’t say anything nice not to say anything at all? I’ll give you a good example why this applies here. My stepmother used to use one of these scooters to shop. She was a plus sized woman until the chemo robbed her of her appetite. It was a bizarre twist that her weight gain, instigated by the the tumor in her brain and all the downtime she had recovering after two surgeries to try to remove the cancer, would be relieved by the pharmaceutical treatment for her illness. She also had several incidents of wardrobe malfunctions such as putting on underclothes on the outside, wearing mismatched shoes and trying to wear my sister’s clothing (which she was too big for). Yes, she lost a lot of weight as she lay in bed babbling incoherently until she lost consciousness and never came back.
It’s a different tale when you have more information, isn’t it?
If you’re insulted by fat jokes move on, Boo…
I wonder what kind of reception it would get if the ilne was “if you’re insulted by gay jokes” or “if you’re insulted by black jokes”…
I am gay and I do not think this gives me license to mock other gay people with impunity.
Sorry, Mr. Withers. This is a fail article pure and simple.
On the surface, this shirt is offensive and the wearer deserves to be ridiculed. But as anyone can see, this picture is only being viewed in a vaccum and out of context. What does it says on the front? What is going on in the store or even when was the pic taken? As for the man’s weight issue or possible other handicaps caused by or in addition to his weight, the picture doesn’t even begin to give enough information. The pic is sensational because it is easy to put a really homophobic slant to this caption….The point is…don’t be so easily lead to conclusions of haste and ignorance. That is what our opposition does. I would hope that the GLBT community is better than our opposition.
“Live and let live…karma has already gotten him…he is in a mobile chair and is over weight. LOL”
Other then a bastardization of how karma works, there seems to an abelist assumption that using a mobile chair is some sort of divine punishment and that the only reason anyone would use one was because they are to lazy to walk and not because they may, you know, actually need one.
As a former Nebraskan, photo-shopped or not, this photograph does not surprise me. I must say though that Omaha, the largest city in Nebraska is pretty accepting. All in all, trying to belittle this person is ridiculous. I don’t belittle others that wear stupid t-shirts and he is entitled to his opinion, however shallow it may be. Live and let live…karma has already gotten him…he is in a mobile chair and is over weight. LOL
Jake,
Mmmmmm. Did you catch at all the digs at myself for being a porkster? As a member of the bigun tribe I can mock my fellows with impunity. Especially the ones who are bigots.
Sincerely,
James
I ran across this days ago, and it looks like an OBVIOUS Photoshop job (there is a higher res version on the original site. Just look at the letters on the left side and how they should be following the wrinkles of the shirt …)
BTW: Even if he did wear that shirt around, I probably find your article more offensive than the shirt. Don’t scream “bigot” an pull BS rants like this. It just makes you (and by assosiation the rest of us) look bad.
What a bad shirt and disgusting article.