Kenneth Krause, The Man Who Sent Nasty Email To Overweight Newswoman, Stands By Remarks
Kenneth Krause, the man whose email to overweight news anchor Jennifer Livingston sparked a viral video in which Livingston speaks out against bullying, has come forward to claim responsibility for the missive — and perhaps not surprisingly, he stands by his sexist remarks.
Kenneth Krause is a personal injury lawyer and apparently also a dude who thinks that women are in his field of vision solely to please him — as indicated in his yucky email to Livingston, an email she read aloud in the segment that was soon passed around on Facebook like wildfire.
In his email, Krause makes note that “girls in particular” are suffering from exposure to Livingston’s plus-size body on the news — ostensibly because they may internalize the harmful idea that their existence amounts to things other than meeting the beauty standard of Kenneth Krause.
And in his response to the video Livingston (who, incidentally, is the sister of Office Space‘s Ron Livingston) spoke in, Krause doubles down on his jerkitude, offering to coach Livingston through weight loss and exercise in a proposal that not only expects the newswoman to change her life to fit his standards, but also totally obliterates any idea of privacy or bodily integrity. (Seeing a theme here?)
“Given this country’s present epidemic of obesity and the many truly horrible diseases related thereto, and considering Jennifer Livingston’s fortuitous position in the community, I hope she will finally take advantage of a rare and golden opportunity to influence the health and psychological well-being of Coulee Region children by transforming herself for all of her viewers to see over the next year, and, to that end, I would be absolutely pleased to offer Jennifer any advice or support she would be willing to accept.”
Not to put too fine a point on it, but it seems clear that Kenneth Krause’s ideas do suggest a level of harm presented to “girls in particular” — most notably, girls in particular who are sent the message that no matter how high they ascend in their careers, how well they do their jobs and raise their families and perform in school, if they are not eye candy, they’d better change for the good of everyone. Or something. Why don’t you go put on some lipstick and brush your hair, God!
Do you think Kenneth Krause’s “suggestions” are paternalistic and sexist, or is fat-shaming an acceptable way to get people to lose weight?
