Fat Mannequins Show Up On Reddit, Users Argue Over Obesity

Reddit users are known for rallying around marginalized groups and giving them support. This week, several fat mannequin photos showed up on the social link sharing website, and, as expected, fat and obese users were out in droves to support their lifestyle choices. However, this newest Reddit post was met not only with group support but also comment attacks as the post pitted fat people against healthy users.

Comments on the site ran the gamut of disgusted to angry but also included presumably fat and obese people attempting to make excuses for their own lifestyle choices. A typical comment on the thread reads as follows:

“I actually LOVE that they’re doing this now, though this one is very bad. I work for a higher-end department store, and was in the “Women’s” department for a while, as in, the big ladies. There is nothing worse than having to say to a large woman “No, I’m sorry, we don’t HAVE dresses/suits/bathing suits/ sassy undies…etc” other than pointing to the size double0 mannequin and suggesting that I find THAT item in her size… the first time I saw the new big-lady mannequins, I squealed in delight. Ours are actually realistic looking, with tummy rolls and all! The one issue with them is they’re actually more of a 12-14 than an 18-20. (size 12-14 is considered “misses” sizes and not plus size.)

tl;dr BIG MANNEQUINS ARE WIN!”

Another supportive comment reads:

“I was actually pleased when I saw a fat lady mannequin in Canada. I think I might have even clapped my hands a little to see a plump mannequin with some curves showing off some lingerie.”

Not all Reddit users were kind about Obesity in their comments, one user wrote:

“Not sure why you got downvoted, you’re absolutely right. Our society is making obesity out to be normal which is not okay. It’s a health problem that, while having genetics involved, is no excuse to be 300+ pounds of fat. We absolutely should be telling people to get help if they are obese just as we should be telling people who are severely underweight to get help.”

Another Reddit user writes:

“Y’know, I find humor in the fact that body acceptance people insist that it’s literally impossible for a fat person to lose weight, yet they always insist skinny people need a sandwich…”

We have of course heard the fat argument numerous times, for example, every single time a fat person can’t fit in an airplane seat and then believes they are entitled to a free second seat at no charge. However, in this particular case, there is no inconvenience to skinny people; in fact, the mannequin may very well be located inside a Big & Tall store as the mannequin towards the back of the photo appears to be taller than normal.

What the photo showcases is that skinny and averaged size people are still at odds with their fat and obese counterparts and that hatred or disgust extends beyond situations that inconvenience skinny people.

The entire fat mannequin debate on Reddit raises a lot of interesting questions not just on the fat vs. skinny front,but also from a marketing standpoint. For example, do fat people want to buy clothes shown on a fat mannequin? And would a fat mannequin scare other buyers away from a regular department store? We all known that department stores sell more plus-sized clothing than ever before, but fat mannequins could leave regular sized shoppers feeling as if they have entered a “fat person” store.

Where do you stand in the debate between fat and skinny?

You can read the full Reddit discussion HERE.