Riding crop costumes go bye bye

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by €uroMeinke

The word deserves bothers me - I don't think anyone deserves to be ridiculed, though some ought to expect it. "Deserve" is far to judgemental and creepy a term for me.

I stick by the word as I (intentionally) didn't say HE deserved to be ridiculed, I said his SIZE did. Just as by my public posting can be criticised, judged, maligned, that the picture is publiclly available leaves room for that man's size open to criticism. To be honest, I posted it more for the humourous impact (which some found in poor taste), but the response drove my own comments.

Originally Posted by €uroMeinke

And that's great - for you. I think it's clear there are people who feel otherwise.

I didn't claim to speak for anyone. I very clearly deliniated that the opinions were my own. I stated them knowing that others would not agree with them (though not BECAUSE they would).

And conversly, I stated that my size problem is my own doing. While I can blame it on the depression I often fight, the extreme stress I endure at work, that "my metabolism is slow" or any other factors, I ultimately know that I am the only one responsible for the state I am in. And I believe that many people, instead of accepting responsibility for themselves, prefer to pass blame to someone/something else. Alcoholism, drug addiction, propensity for murder, et. al. is not the fault of society - it is the fault of the person afflicted by it. Some chose to take responsibility for themselves and do something about (AA, counseling, seek help in any way, etc.) and others chose to blame others and/or wallow in their own depths.

Originally Posted by €uroMeinke

If you want to talk about the declining health of America due to the increased obesity of it's population great, start a thread - but to pin such things on a redesign of a Disney Costume is ludicrous.

While I did not specifically bring in the American obesity problem to this thread, I can see how you might believe that I was making such an association. However, this thread long ago ceased being just ABOUT Disney's move (and Al Lutz's commentary on it) and DID become about human physical size and perceptions thereof. I simply attempted to point out the core basis that probably exists behind such perceptions and how they may not be *quite* as shallow and baseless as might be thought. Our biology, our natural insticts, contribute to our perceptions.

For the record, I know many "larger" people whom I like much more than some thin and healthy people I know (and conversely I know many thin and healthy people whom I like very much and some fat people who are complete imbeciles). I chose my friends based on whether I like them; not on what dress size or pants size they wear.