I was sat on the bus this morning happily listening to my podcast, enjoying the lovely sunshine and generally content with my journey to work. I happened to glance over at the woman sat in the chair on the other side of the aisle who was reading a newspaper. I could immediately tell it was The Sun. The Sun is a quasi-tabloid, not-to-be-taken-too-seriously, so-called-voice-of-the-people, associated-with-builders, teetering-on-what-could-be-honestly-classified-as-a-newspaper paper. I looked over at one point and it was an article about girl group Girls Aloud. I looked over a few minutes later and it was the Woman pages.
That’s when I saw this headline: “So fat I feared I’d be mistaken for Yank” I immediately began to seethe and foam at the mouth just a little. There was a picture of a lovely blonde lady who, clearly, the article was about having lost loads of weight. The whole reason for this weight loss? So she wouldn’t be mistaken for an obese American while on holiday in Florida.
The first thought that popped into my head was a headline for Americans: “Teeth so bad I could be mistaken for British.” There is a stereotype that Brits have bad teeth and, indeed, many of them do, primarily from the older generations when dental care was not as prevalent. The thing is I’m sure the same went for America in those days. Additionally, I’m sure there are many poorer Americans or those in very rural areas that do not have access to dental care today. The point is, it’s a stereotype and it should not be propagated. Not all Brits have bad teeth; therefore, not all Americans are fat.
Now, there is a large majority of Americans that are obese; but so are a growing number of British men and women. I used to say there didn’t seem to be as many fat people here in the UK, or at least in London. I did used to visit the US and go ‘wow look at those elephants.’ Now, I can go to my local Asda (aka Wal-Mart) or even just up to Wimbledon town centre and say the same thing. If you look at the picture of this girl in the link above you will see that, yes, she was overweight but she was by no means as obese as some people I’ve seen both in America and here in the UK. To say that she would be mistaken for an American is downright inflammatory. And who cares if you’re mistaken for an American? I get mistaken for Canadian and even, occasionally (don’t ask me how), for an Australian. Just being fat does NOT make you American any more than having bad teeth makes you British. I’m glad she sorted herself out but that comment just burns my biscuits.