The Uneasy Truth About Traveling While Fat

Thrillist.com ^ | 9/15/23 | Cheyenne Davis

[JonPreston]

In 2019, on a trip to the Bahamas with my mom and sister, my flight turned into an uncomfortable ordeal. My seat belt wasn’t long enough to fasten, and a fellow passenger's visceral reaction added to my discomfort. I repeatedly asked the flight attendant for a seat belt extender and was ignored until takeoff, leaving me feeling disregarded and disrespected.

And this wasn’t the first time I’ve dealt with this particular kind of travel stress. I went to Paris in 2014, and found the city cramped and unwelcoming. Narrow staircases, tiny chairs, and compact showers were just the beginning. Throughout my time there, I endured constant staring, rude comments, and fetishistic remarks about my body. But these types of roadblocks aren’t limited to Paris or my flight to Nassau—Society has an anti-fat bias, and you can encounter it anywhere.

Living in a world fueled by fatphobia creates unnecessary barriers, from limited clothing options to discrimination in medical care, employment, and relationships. According to the NIH, more than two in five adults live in a large body. And yet despite this fact, we continue to face daily challenges—including in travel, where inequities like the ones outlined below so often deny us access to the same life-changing experiences available to others.

[Bob434]

[[Normalizing morbid obesity as “body positivity” is wrong]]

Exactly- it should be “High Cholesterol Positive”, not “Body Positive”

[Delta 21]

[Dilbert San Diego]

Discrimination in relationships????

Meaning some men may not find a heavier woman attractive???

There’s a subject which will be tough to deal with......

[JonPreston]

[TheDon]

Reality is sending a message to the author but she’s not hearing it.

[Political Junkie Too]

“We are still waiting on the FAA to give dimensions for standard seat sizes for each aircraft,” he says. “We hope that they listen to us and make seats wider.”

I've watched enough of the Smithsonian Channel's Air Disasters show to know that one common reason for crashes on take-off is an overweight aircraft.

The FAA's average weight was 175 pounds for males and 145 pounds for females. A plane with too many overweight people won't be able to generate enough lift to take off, after including the weight of the fuel and all of their luggage and cargo.

-PJ

[Bob434]

LOL- Carry the pipe that Tanya Harding’s boyfriend used works too

[Jamestown1630]

It’s funny how she jumps to ‘fatphobia’ instead of simple practicality. (I wonder how many really fat women - like the ones pictured - she saw in Paris...)

[alternatives?]

When the global warming crowd gets absolute power, she will look fondly upon how she used to be treated.

[ConservativeInPA]

Gluttony and sloth are deadly sins for a reason. I don’t accommodate sin.

[cgbg]

Many years ago I wrote a satire of the left arguing that good looking people should be required to mate with ugly people in the name of equality....which today would be called equity.

Fat people are not equal—and the left is starting to use them as cannon fodder in the ongoing march through the institutions.

[Responsibility2nd]

Her seatbelt wasn't long enough? My, my.

[Delta 21]

Thats way too funny. I am officially laughing out loud. We are all going to hell now!

[bigbob]

I’m old enough to remember when everyone wasn’t fat. In fact, when fat people were pretty scarce.

[Political Junkie Too]

Theme parks also present the problem of not being size-inclusive. V, who loves roller coasters, recalls an upsetting experience where, after waiting in line for two hours to ride a coveted Cedar Point coaster, the park’s staff told her that she wouldn't fit. “I was mortified,” she says.

She must not have studied Isaac Newton, or she'd know that an object in motion stays in motion at constant velocity and direction unless acted upon by an external force.

Imagine what a roller-coaster would have to look like to contain her mass on tight curves and dips, especially if three or four more people who look just like her are also on the same coaster.

And what about the slides at water parks? A water slide collapsed many years ago in Concord, CA during a senior day when the kids tried to do a stunt by clogging the slide with as many kids as possible, killing several students.

-PJ

[hdbc]

Fatties United - FU. - Mark Levin.

[freebilly]

I’m 20 lbs overweight and pre-diabetic. My doctor said lose the weight to lower my blood sugar. Can’t imagine being 100+ lbs overweight....

[Responsibility2nd]

Throughout my time there, I endured constant staring, rude comments, and fetishistic remarks about my body.

How does one say "I'd Hit It" in French?

[KrisKrinkle]

“My seat belt wasn’t long enough to fasten...I repeatedly asked the flight attendant for a seat belt extender and was ignored until takeoff...”

Did she get it before or after takeoff? If before, what’s the problem...that the attendant didn’t ignore other passengers/responsibilities to tend to her right away?

I too would want her belted in...I wouldn’t want her flying around loose in the event of a crash.

I notice she didn’t give her height and weight.

I might enjoy basketball if the nets weren’t too high for my skill and stature.

[kaila]

Not much said in the article that they should purchase two seats, or get a window seat so they can lean against that. I was on a two hour flight ( thank goodness not longer) sitting in the middle seat. An obese lady was in the aisle seat. Her upper body was in my space, I was so cramped. So I gave her a few elbow shoves, and she got the message by pulling her shoulders in. If she was in a window seat, she could have leaned against that and not be in someone else’s space. I notice the obese tend to take the aisle seats, when it should be the window seat.