The passages I read from “13 Ways of Being a Fat Girl” really sparked my interest. I particularly enjoyed the moments of unspoken understanding between the story and the audience. For instance, when Lizzie asks her friends if she looks fat, they simply avoid the topic. They answer with “you look mad,” even though that wasn’t what she asked. Later, there was a moment where Lizzie tells her China that she had not disclosed her weight to the boy. As a response, China just looks at Lizzie up and down and avoids saying anything. These awkward moments of silence show that her friends have trouble confronting the idea that Lizzia is fat. I could only imagine that this made Lizzie even more uncomfortable. Her friends should reinforce her by telling her that fat and beauty are not opposites and that she should feel beautiful in her own skin instead of trying to fit conventional beauty standards. Moreover, this part of the passage also reveals how Lizzie compares her to her friends. During the conversation, Lizie looks at her friend China and notes how her facial features are so “cutting sharp,” and also compares her bones to an “elegant origami configuration.” In the same paragraphs where Lizzie talks down on herself about her weight, she also subconsciously praises and admires her friends for being skinny.
Leave a Reply