BWalters to Gov.Christie } You are so Fascinating and Fat
Barbara Walters has chosen NJ governor Chris Christie as one of the 10 most fascinating people of 2012. Her interview with him was interesting and illuminating—until she asked him about his weight.
When Barbara asked him why he’s overweight, Governor Chris Christie, who described himself as “more than a little [overweight],” said,
If I knew, I could fix it. Barbara, I’ve had more diets and lost and gained back more weight in my lifetime than I care to count.
His weight is apparently something that’s a matter of public fascination and concern: when doing a Google search for this article, “Chris Christie weight” is the first search term that comes up in autocomplete. Barbara did say she felt uncomfortable asking the question (as she should have and as she said she did when she discussed his weight on The View), but that didn’t stop her from asking ”What do you say to people who say you couldn’t be President because you’re so heavy?” Governor Christie replied, “That’s ridiculous.”
I’m not a Republican or anyone with any strong feelings towards Chris Christie in general, but I couldn’t agree with him more that the idea that his weight would hinder him from doing the job of President (should he decide to run) is completely and utterly ridiculous.
I’m sure many people will disagree with me, but I really don’t think that weight has any bearing on someone’s ability to do their job as a politician. As a policeman? As a firefighter? As an EMT? By all means; those people need to be fit and ready at the first call. But, as Chris Christie’s proved in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, being overweight does not affect a job as a policymaker or as a politician. He says he’s been doing 18 hour days since the hurricane hit, and that his weight hasn’t affected him at all. And I believe it.
This is just another example of the rampant fat-shaming that continues to permeate our culture. The assumption here seems to be, “Well, if he can’t even control what he eats, how can he control the country? If he can’t lose weight, how will he have the self control to be a politician? I don’t want someone who is careless, unhealthy and gross to represent me in office.” Being overweight is not “a character defect” or a “an evidence of a lack of self-control.” The infantilization of overweight people is shockingly prejudiced and wrong; I think it’s incredibly offensive to imply that someone’s body weight has any correlation with their personality or intellectual abilities.
Governor Christie is the boss of his own body. He, as a white male in a position of power and privilege, enjoys a level of bodily autonomy which many others in the US do not. And he should enjoy his bodily autonomy, whether he’s 150 lbs or 350 lbs…because no one has a right to dictate what other people should do with their own bodies. (I could argue that I wish he’d do more for the bodily autonomy of women, considering he’s pro-life, but that’s a rant for another day.)
Sadly, Governor Christie’s privilege does not extend not to being left alone by the prying, supposedly-concerned eyes of the America media (yes, that means you, David Letterman). Yes, I’m sure his weight puts Chris Christie at a higher risk of health problems like heart attack or diabetes. But let’s not forget that, as a person in a position of power, he likely has access to some of the best medical care, nutritionists, weight loss coaches and personal trainers around. I have no doubt that he’s tried all sorts of ways of losing weight and that he wants to do so so he can improve his image in the eyes of the public. But regardless of how “concerned” people might be, Chris Christie’s weight is not up for discussion. His body is not the public’s nor the media’s nor the pundits’ nor the constituents’ business: it’s nobody’s business but his own.
Photo: Andres Otero/ WENN.com
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