Headline: Fat people discovered to have sex lives; world aghast.

[pauraque_bk]

ani_bester complains of InexplicablyThin!Peter, and I quite agree with her. Let him be fat. Let Neville and Dudley be fat as well, while you're at it. When you write these characters having sex, it isn't necessary to excuse yourself by pointedly noting a convenient over-the-summer weight loss.

That is all.

Comments

possibly irrelevant commentary

[millefiori.livejournal.com]

I think the description/conception of a person as 'fat' in a society as weight-obsessed as ours (and presumably the WW's, as well) is kind of relative.

I remember thinking I was huge and fat as a girl (huge b/c I started puberty early and absolutely towered over my classmates in elementary school--I *still* think of myself as being tall, even though I'm only 5'4"), and my family and friends seemed to agree with that self-assessment. I didn't suffer any cruel jokes or comments, but my family definitely supported the idea that my dieting or losing a bit of weight was a good idea. My younger sister (Melanie) *did* suffer cruelly, and was often called 'Melephant.' (Reminds me of 'Snivellus' actually). The thing is, *neither* of us were fat! Looking back at pictures taken during that time, we were healthy young girls, not skinny, no bones showing, but we weren't overweight by any stretch of the imagination. I would say we were closer to the line between normal and overweight than many of our peers and (given our weight obsessed culture), "you're fat" becomes an insult that can be used against anyone in that position.

So, for me, reading the HP text, I don't read 'pudgy' or 'round-faced' as fat--I read it as a kid who's not skinny (which may be splitting hairs, but I think you'll know what I mean). And I think because of my personal history, this is kind of my mindset with all written characters, unless the author specifically describes evidence of true obesity (as JKR does with Dudley).

Of course, all this has nothing to do with the idea of Skinny!Peter! My personal view of Peter is one of those kids who's just a little too plump to be 'normal.' (Perhaps because he's noticeably heavier than his constant companions.) It's like he's put on the pudge that many boys do in preparation for the massive growth spurts that come with adolescence, and then just didn't have the genetics to use it up. Given his description, I think writing or drawing him thin in order to make him more attractive is just another symptom of our weight-obsessed culture. And putting forth a 'makeover summer' to explain the changed appearance falls into the category of Hermione finally learning to tame her bushy hair into attractive ringlets, or Snape suddenly appearing with straight, white teeth and clean, silky hair, revealing that he's been disguising his appearance all this time. (My response to which is generally *laugh--yawn--backspace*.)

Re: possibly irrelevant commentary

[pauraque]

Melephant

God, that's horrible. It's bad enough how shabbily those who are *actually* fat are treated, without this trip that's laid on girls that anything more than "skinny" *is* fat.

I definitely get your point about how to take descriptions like "round-faced", and when there's vagueness like that, different reading are certainly valid. My opinion is that Neville (at least at the time of PoA) actually is fat, not because of the "round-faced" descriptor, but because when Harry imagines Peter (the "fat little boy"), he sees him looking like Neville. I think there are often euphemisms at play here -- people we like are round-faced, people we don't like are fat.

Of course, with JKR, you never know. You also have to take into account the vagaries of Harry's narrative voice.