Sexist, Fatphobic Quote of the Day
The monster was blocking the whole length of the entranceway to the building. His back was to me, his front facing the window-paneled door. (I guess so he could watch the traffic?) I say it was a he, but that was only a hypothesis. I just could not imagine any self-respecting female–monster or not–ever getting as pudgy as this thing was.
(From Death’s Daughter by Amber Benson. Which is actually a terrible book all around. I’m glad I picked it up for $.39 at the Goodwill so I don’t have to worry about actually spending money on this crap.)
That book was awful! And full of quotes like that. I bought it for a fluffy read on a road trip and…I wish I could go back in time and tell my past self not to buy it. On the plus side, I’m having a bonfire tomorrow and could use some kindling.
Ugh, after all the crap she took for being “fat” during her Buffy days? That’s disappointing.
Sheesh… what a disgusting paragraph…
Seriously… they should’ve paid you for taking it.
Dehumanizing, sexist, what else does one need to be convinced the author should step back and rethink the world around them before putting pen to paper again?
Is this Amber Benson the same Amber Benson who played Tara on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and was seen as fat, even though she is skinny (just not as skinny as the other actresses on the series)? Geez, Amber Benson. What have you been internalizing?
Oh, no, Amber Benson?! I want to believe she’s cool and smarter than that.
Wow, I didn’t know she got crap for being “fat” when she was on Buffy. That does make the whole thing worse.
There’s another paragraph about how her boss, who is “a gorgeous size 20 and reasonably proud of it,” clearly only buys nonfat lattes for show and must use them to water her plants while she secretly stuffs her face with chocolates. But that one was too close to home to type up without raging; this one was verging on the ridiculous enough to be funny.
This article touches on the Tara weight stuff:
http://www.popeater.com/television/article/amber-benson-buffy-twilight-comparison/438976
I had remembered her seeming a little more body-positive than she seems here. There’s a difference between wanting to see more “normal-sized” people on TV and embracing a full range of body-diversity. I guess this seemed really progressive to me in my pre-FA days. :-)
As frustrated as the make me, is it really fair to assume that Benson’s characters thoughts=Benson’s thoughts? Is it easier to leap to that conclusion because this is a fluffy chick lit/genre book than it would be if it were a “serious novel”?
Becca: I don’t think it’s entirely fair to assume that Benson’s character’s thoughts = Benson’s thoughts; however, I cannot imagine a body-positive author writing such a statement without any kind of challenge or counter to it.