fat

 Well thats the word they use  fat .....so its been used  for  decades  .....but todays  weak minded  people hate the truth .........they like to  have  a  cupcake version of   fat  ....like  rotund.......rubenesque .........bbw......etc .....etc

Article on 'fat' Arab women sparks uproar over body-shaming

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Mideast Fat Shaming Furor

This July 2022 photo provided by Enas Taleb, shows Iraqi actress Enas Taleb posing for a picture. An article in an issue dated July 30, 2022, of The Economist magazine about the prevalence of obesity among Arab women has triggered torrid criticism on social media. Taleb whose photo was used to illustrate how Arab women are more prone to putting on weight wants a public apology has begun legal action against the magazine. (Ammar Albadri/Photo provided by Enas Taleb via AP)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ISABEL DEBRE and MAGGIE HYDE

Wed, August 17, 2022 at 2:12 AM

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — To Enas Taleb, the headline felt like a spiteful punch line.

“Why women are fatter than men in the Arab world,” it read in bold, above a photograph of the Iraqi actress waving onstage at an arts festival.

The Economist article ran through possible explanations of the obesity gap of 10 percentage points between men and women in the Middle East, then cited Iraqis who see Taleb’s curves as the ideal of beauty.

“Fat," a word now considered taboo in much of Western media, was repeated six times.

The article triggered torrid criticism on social media. Twitter users blasted it as misogynistic. Local rights groups issued denunciations. Some writers were appalled by what they described as demeaning stereotypes about Arab women.

Taleb, 42, said she's suing the London-based magazine for defamation.

While analysts acknowledge an epidemic of obesity in the Arab world and its connection to poverty and gender discrimination, Taleb’s case and the ensuing uproar have thrown a light on the issue of body-shaming that is deeply rooted yet rarely discussed in the region.

“If there’s a student who goes to school and hears mean comments and students bullying her for being fat, how would she feel?” Taleb told The Associated Press from Baghdad. “This article is an insult not only to me but a violation of the rights of all Iraqi and Arab women.”

The Economist did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Fat-shaming is offensive enough in the United States that when two sports commentators called some female athletes overweight on air earlier this year, they were swiftly fired.

In the Middle East, the report argued, the desirability of fleshy women may help explain why the region has experienced an explosion of obesity.

But the angry backlash over the article — and Taleb's horror that her photo was used to illustrate growing waistlines of Arab women — contradicts the oft-repeated belief that being heavy is widely seen as sign of affluence and fertility in the region.