OpenTube

The never ending humiliation of fat women

Bryony Claire

464,403 views

🌎Get an exclusive 15% discount on Saily data plans! Download the Saily app or go to https://saily.com/bryony Use code bryony at checkout ⛵

Resources if you need them:
https://www.ed.org.nz/
https://www.beateatingdisorders.org.uk/
https://www.eatingdisorderhope.com/

let's connect:
Patreon: Patreon: BryonyClaire
IG: https://www.instagram.com/bryonyclair...
business enquiries only: bryonyclaire.vegan@gmail.com

Timestamps:
00:00 intro
07:40 the fat friend
23:38 fat suits - it's a costume so it's ok
27:51 the "former fattie" and "learning empathy"
37:02 actual fat representation on screen
41:27 final thoughts

There were so many girls and women who we "knew" were fat even if we were never explicitly told. Just like in real life, things were implied, we were shown through the same methods which were employed to police us. Not attractive enough to get the guy. Should always be the best friend, not the main character. Accept less because that is all you should hope for. If you are "bigger" than your peers, you are the fat funny friend, the worst role to get, usually with the worst storyline like Miranda in SATC. A body like yours should wear more clothing and be plain, you have nothing to be proud of. This fear of fatness even on women who absolutely were not got furthered by fat suits as story devices. Like Monica in Friends, they danced, they existed with an accompanying laugh track. The thing which made them grotesque and funny was just their size, which was always pointed out as a massive issue, even when the fat suits worn weren't big like Susan in Desperate Housewives. The message was clear, do something about your size before you become a laughing stock, avoid being the fat funny friend at all costs. When actual fat women have been shown on screen, the role was the funny fat woman, the comedic relief, the sad recluse with no life where every story beat revolves around their body. The woman who is "mannish" with no love life or a benevolent "doddery" old woman. What has all of this done to us?

timestamps:
00:00 intro
07:40 the fat friend
23:38 fat suits - it's a costume so it's ok
27:51 the "former fatty" and "learning empathy"
37:02 actual fat representation on screen
41:27 final thoughts

Videos recommended:
be kind rewind : Miss Piggy, Camp, and the Death of the Mov...
little shop of Ali: This Is Us has a gender problem
maddiezahm

Lauren Hopecrass: https://www.instagram.com/laurenhopek...
TikTok: maddiezahm

tiktoks referenced:
https://www.tiktok.com/@honeybeetenne...
https://www.tiktok.com/@donnatelllo8/...
https://www.tiktok.com/@reubenwoodall...
https://www.tiktok.com/@cheerswithave...

Sources:
https://www.vogue.com/article/lisa-ku...
https://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episod...
https://people.com/danielle-fishel-re...
https://abcnews.com/GMA/AmericanFamil...
https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/sto...
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023...
https://www.salon.com/1999/05/17/camryn/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles...
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/06/06/he...
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-x...

https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/r...

https://www.vogue.com/article/bridget...

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/25/ny...

20 Comments

@BryonyClaire Creator 1 month ago Pinned

🌎Get an exclusive 15% discount on Saily data plans! Download the Saily app or go to https://saily.com/bryony Use code bryony at checkout ⛵

What character affected you the most growing up?

@-NiamhWitch- 1 month ago

A lot of times the "fat friend" in shows was just someone who was at a healthy weight and just had a rounder face. Ugh.

@Kat-V 1 month ago

"you've gained weight, we're writing an episode about it" is absolutely vile

@ronanmchugh2253 1 month ago

At lot of people are stuck at “what were they thinking in the 90’s and 2000’s? These women aren’t even fat, they shouldn’t have been treated that way!”

All people should be treated with dignity, and shouldn’t be assessed based on their ability to be attractive to men

@Ms.Mu73 1 month ago

The beauty standards have always been set by predators. It's a mix of not being able to control a grown woman's body and hating women period.

@Kikisrants205 1 month ago

Rose was fat!? Legit, I never ever thought that Rose from Titanic was fat! She looked like the average body shape to me as a kid. This right here is why we have celebrities becoming walking skeletons! Because if Rose was considered FAT, what is skinny?

@NyxLuna452 1 month ago

I hate, hate, hate the fat and sassy stereotype. This is something that affects me personally. I am quiet and intense, very introverted and intelligent but people want to pin me as some larger than life sassy fat woman. Why do I have to be the comic relief? Why must I be expected to perform my fattness?

@ruthx2614 1 month ago

The fact that Bridget Jones was 136lbs is CRAZY. On what planet is that ‘fat’? She looked incredible in that bunny suit. This is my dream body.

@Scatscar1985 1 month ago

THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH HOW KATE WINSLET LOOKED IN "TITANIC".

@MichelleHartzPhZ 1 month ago

I'm a plus size burlesque performer. Sometimes it's hard to go on stage when I'm feeling insecure. But I also hope that I help people who have bodies similar to mine feel sexy too.

@shatter_glass13 1 month ago

Can't even explain the damage fatphobia has done to my sense of self worth and self esteem. 😢

@stepharoth 1 month ago

As a child and still to this day, that culture of calling any woman over 110lbs. "fat" never made sense to me. I think having a mum who was genuinely fat and who people treated like a normal human being helped to innoculate me against this warped perception, but I hope this new skeletal ozempic trend doesn't bring it all back. It's so harmful.

@seattlegrrlie 1 month ago

Women athletes get fat shamed at the absolutely top of their career because we don't normalize strong, athletic women. Movies or shows that have strong female characters still cast super skinny ones rather than actual big muscles, strong shoulders, and thick thighs. I'm sick of it. Let us look at someone like Olivia Reeves and glorify her body as healthy

@ascrinkleyfellow 1 month ago

Whenever you tell us the name of the “fat” character in the group of key art, I’m always going “who?” BECAUSE THEY’RE ALL SKINNY 😭😭 Holy HELL how did beauty standards get so bad. Well, they still are.. just in a different way

@kissarococo2459 1 month ago (edited)

Not just white beauty standards, Asian fat-shaming is something else. Also European tv is less obsessed with perfection. My mom used to say that she preferred english tv-soaps to american ones because the actors did not look like models.

@zenmaster8 1 month ago

i feel like im going insane. None of these women so far look fat to me. They look a completely healthy weight

@CrippledAnarchy 1 month ago

It's infuriating that not feeling bad about my fat arms and not shaving, while also not denying myself the comfort of wearing tank tops that make me feel sexy, is still seen as a radical feminist act in 2026.

@awkwardlyanxiouslatte7841 1 month ago (edited)

The most insidious part of fatphobia is it’s so ingrained in people that sometimes they won’t even realize it. If a character is described as pudgy or soft bellied, but portrayed as sexy, people will imagine the character to be skinny. The word “fat” is seen as inherently evil and cruel instead of a neutral descriptor which continues the cycle of thinking “if I am fat, that’s bad”. Looking at JKR’s fatphobia, Molly Weasley is plump and the Dursley’s are fat whales. There’s so much fatphobia deeply ingrained in our society and impacts accessibility in so many ways

@Unknowfn89 1 month ago

2:16 this really hits the nail on the head for my frustrations. Hollywood thinks we can't empathize with someone unless they're pretty and thin. So the message in a story about accepting people even if they're a bit different is downgraded

@Its_like_the_T-Rex 1 month ago

As a 'big fat' millennial, I too lived the duff life before the term was invented. But since my mid 30's, I stopped caring what other people thought of me. I took a sabbatical to travel, and as a 270lbs women, I still solo backpacked, hiked up mountains, volcanoes, desert sand dunes, walked a dozen+ kilometers per day, snorkeled, swam, and saw the world. I did not allow my size to minimize my life. The most cathartic moment of my life was in Nice, France. I did a Mediterranean beach day and walked down with my full coverup swim suit. I was the only person. Everyone, be they old, young, fat, neutral, fit, skinny, with perky or saggy bodies, all wore either a bikini or a speedo. No one looked uncomfortable. No one snickered. They were simply wearing their swimming costume. It was body neutral. I realized then that these social standards are completely made up. They're not real. And they probably made up by people who needed some sort of hierarchy to make themselves feel superior because they weren't very good people to begin with. Since then, I don't care about dressing or altering my body for others. It's their hang up, not mine. I will continue to do what is healthy for me, and yes that including shleping my fat butt up mountains. I no longer say, "I AM fat." I say "I have fat." Sure, I'll work with my doctor to pusue better health, but it is only so I can stick around a little longer with a better quality of life. If people judge me for your body, then they're not my people. But what I am is, a strong, independent, intelligent, empathetic, creative, adventurous, passionate, self-starting, fear-less woman.