Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 18, 1993 TAG: 9305180193
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: MICHAEL PRECKER KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
"I experienced what I'm ashamed to say is terrible discrimination," she says. "This is the last acceptable prejudice in America and it has to change."
Lampert, lifestyles editor of the Ladies' Home Journal, wrotes about her experiences in the May issue. The article has landed the author on lots of radio and TV programs and generated a new stack of mail every day.
"Most of them have said, `You wrote about my life. Please help us do something about it.' "
Complaints by fat people about how they are treated are hardly new. But having them documented by a thin person suddenly crossing over to the other side added a fresh perspective, and perhaps more credibility.
A special-effects artist fitted Lampert with a "fat suit" that padded her from neck to ankle, and sent her out into New York City.
"One morning I gained 150 pounds, and my whole life changed," she wrote. "My husband looked at me differently, my kids were embarrassed, friends felt sorry for me and strangers were shamelessly disgusted by my presence. The pleasures of shopping, family outings and going to parties turned into wretchedly painful experiences."
She was regularly insulted, laughed at and stared at. And the paranoia of a person who feels ostracized and ridiculed made even innocuous comments and actions seem degrading.
"I take up 1 1/2 seats [on the train] and, yes, I feel embarrassed," she wrote. "Yet shame takes a back seat to the resentment I'm feeling. How dare these people judge me on the basis of my dress size?"
There were a few reassuring moments.
She was treated well at a fitness clinic and a beauty salon, and by a sales clerk. "Other fat people were very nice to me," she says. "They'd smile knowingly, like they knew what I was going through."
But those were exceptions. Adults giggled or sneered. Children pointed. Teen-agers taunted. And nobody thought twice about how their targets feel.
"People who wouldn't think of participating in racial or religious discrimination have no problem with this," she says. "I wasn't a sloppy, disgusting, heavy person. I dressed nicely, I was well-groomed, and I still met with this disdain."
Lampert believes the hostility stems from "a society that covets control. Large people symbolize people out of control. People think if they can't control their bodies, how can they control their lives, their homes, their families?
"That's a misconception, and like other misconceptions it leads to prejudice. Like any other prejudice we've had to fight, the answer is get out there and make people know it's unacceptable."
Lee Martindale, publisher of Rump Parliament, a newsletter for fat people, and a forceful advocate of size acceptance, says Lampert has helped accomplish just that.
"She's done us a great service," says Martindale. "I know it's not easy for most people to understand. This is a woman who probably never believed this could happen, but here's the proof. I was amazed she was able to express what it's like so well."
But Martindale also challenges readers to flip through the entire 230-page issue of Ladies' Home Journal and find a picture of a fat woman besides the snapshots of a padded Leslie Lampert. You won't, she says, and that's part of the problem: The emphasis on being thin leads to intolerance of those who aren't.
Adding to the anti-fat message is an article featuring 22 "real women" from a Minnesota mall wearing "the most slimming swimsuits ever!"
The headline on the magazine cover proclaims, "Swimsuits that hide your figure flaws."
"Flaws?" asks Martindale. "Why are they flaws?"
by CNB