Plenty has been written about the fat husband/hot wife dichotomy on TV sitcoms. The critique usually consists of disbelief that a fat man would be able to land a “hot” wife. Now, in these shows, like According To Jim, King of Queens and Still Standing, the behavior of the husbands is also often undesirable. But the main thing people seem to be outraged about is that the husbands and wives are not of commensurate attractiveness. These men are also often referred to as “ugly,” and their “ugliness” appears to be directly tied in to their fatness. While the men on these shows are fat, I would argue that their looks are at the least average if not slightly above average. But, as has been demonstrated in the comments on this blog, people are often perceived to be less attractive if they are viewed as fat.

I mainly deal with fat women in this blog, but in this case I feel that fat men and fat women are being discriminated against with this dichotomy and I wanted to offer a different framework in which to discuss it. In the case of fat women, there are virtually no examples of shows that feature a fat wife and a “hot,” thin husband, so the problem there is lack of representation. On the other side, the disgust expressed by so many writers at the idea that an attractive woman would marry a fat man speaks to the disgust so many have for fat in general. I agree that casting an attractive woman opposite an ill-behaved fat guy can be unrealistic in many ways and in most cases probably expresses the fantasy of the male sitcom writers that fat “average Joes” have a chance at a model-pretty woman. In reality, these pairings are probably few and far between. My point is that although fat men are being represented in these shows, they are still often typecast as slobby, unintelligent and undesirable to most women except their wives. Fat men face discrimination as well, but as so many fat male celebrities are also comedians and comedic writers, they are gifted with their own TV shows and are able to write characters for themselves. However, they are still expected to play off the stereotype of the fat male slob.

Of course, the few times fat female comedians have been gifted with a show, they’ve usually derided as being unappealing and abrasive, as in the case of Roseanne Barr. Although her show was extremely popular she as a person was less so. And shows featuring fat female comedians certainly do not allow the comedian to express any serious sexual desire, whereas fat men are at least shown lusting after women other than their wives. The similarities between how fat women’s sexuality is treated and how fat men’s sexuality is treated lies in how their bodies are portrayed—as comic relief. There are plenty of jokes about weight on these fat male comedians’ shows.

As we well know, men have access to a hell of a lot more privilege than women do. But fatphobia still affects them as well, they just have an easier time with it. So although there are many more positive representations of fat men in pop culture, there is still a fatphobic framework in which they have to work—which is why fighting fat hatred should not only be a feminist issue but an issue of social justice across the board.

One of my favorite sometimes cringe-worthy shows is Louie on FX. I’ve long been a fan of Louis C.K., while I will admit his humor is sometimes problematic. So his new show, naturally, is hilarious and sometimes problematic. I haven’t had a big problem with it so far, but the last episode (I don’t know what day it was actually on because I TiVo everything) was full of fail on so many different levels it’s amazing. I’m not going to go into detail on every level of fail. Other sites have dealt with that. What I am going to go into is the very last part of the episode when the above screencap took place, because this is a blog about representations of fat in pop culture. Yes, Louis went there. He made it with a fat black chick. A very vigorous fat black chick.

My beef with this is that the short scene in which the making occurs basically reinforces every stereotype about fat women’s sexuality and in particular fat black women’s sexuality. Louis has spent the last half of the episode pursuing a black woman ostensibly to go black and not go back. At the end, she rejects him and goes into her house. He’s all sad because he didn’t get to dip into that. But out comes another black woman, a fat black woman who leers at Louie and smiles suggestively. You know, that creepy sex-crazed smile and leer that fat black women are CONSTANTLY shown as affecting in every damn representation of fat black female sexuality. Cut to the next scene, said woman is on top of Louie, rocking the bed, making exaggerated faces indicating extreme sexual pleasure, and Louie is just under her looking bewildered.

Now how you’re going to get pleasure out of a dude laying there underneath you not doing shit I don’t know. But fat black women are portrayed doing this pretty much every time they’re shown having sex. Apparently we have some kind of animalistic desire bubbling under the surface that’s just waiting to envelop some awkward but eager guy. And apparently we harbor this desire for any paunchy balding guys we see hanging out creepily next to our doorways.

I’m not going to say fat black women don’t get buck wild sometimes because we do. Of course, pretty much every woman does at some point. But when we’re shown doing nothing BUT getting buck wild in a humorous way, well, that’s a harmful representation. It feeds into the “black women are oversexed freaks” stereotype as well as the “fat women are desperate for sex” stereotype. I mean, basically if you wanted to name a stereotype involving fat women and black women, that two-minute scene was a great mashup. It was extremely disappointing, and that’s saying a lot because however it may appear, I am not easily offended. But I had to say something at that point because the episode was iffy as is and then that was just the cherry on top of the shit sundae the viewer was served.

This is why we must critique the pop culture we consume. You better believe if I’m going to watch a show that I love but can be problematic—I’ve got to analyze the problematic elements and recognize them when I see them. Like I said, I’m a fan of Louis C.K. But that doesn’t mean I can give him or his show a pass when he produces something like this last episode.

While there are endless examples of fat female characters portrayed in an unappealing light on television, fewer and farther between are positive portrayals of female fatness. When you come across one, even if it’s on an otherwise dull show, it’s refreshing to see. I’d like to take in a few of those breaths of fresh air here, for your reading pleasure.

Grey’s Anatomy: Dr. Callie Torres (see above picture)
Played deftly by Sara Ramirez, Callie is a strong, complicated, nuanced and gorgeous woman of color who happens to be fat—a characteristic that doesn’t hamper her ability to get it on with some of the hottest people on the show, from Dr. Mark “McSteamy” Sloan to her current love interest, an attractive, thin blonde woman by the name of Arizona. This relatively recent development in Callie’s love life earned her the adoration of legions of queer women (myself included). Her character proves that fat female sexuality can be portrayed in a tasteful, positive light without the partner of the fat woman being positioned as a “chubby chaser” or in some other way a fat fetishist.

Grey’s Anatomy: Dr. Miranda Bailey
Chandra Wilson’s Emmy-nominated portrayal of Dr. Bailey presents us with a petite powerhouse of a Chief Resident. Commanding despite her diminutive stature, the fact that she’s fat doesn’t detract from her authority or ability to be taken seriously; so many fat black female characters on TV are forced to play off their fat in comedic or Sapphire-type roles. Although she doesn’t get involved in the sexual antics of her co-workers, it’s not because she’s considered unattractive, it’s because she’s no-nonsense, married, and not the type to buy into the soap opera nature of her colleagues’ personal lives. Dr. Bailey is a wonderful example of how a black female character can be written as assertive and at times aggressive but maintain a level of vulnerability and sensitivity that jibes with the overall nature of her personality.

Roseanne: Roseanne Conner
While some may say Roseanne, with her caustic wit and sarcasm, is not a positive portrayal of a fat woman. I beg to differ. On the show, she is not weight-obsessed and her fatness is not positioned as a Big Issue in regards to her interpersonal relationships with co-workers and other family members or her romantic relationship with her (also fat) husband. She is portrayed as an average, realistic working class woman. Many average working class women are fat. She’s simply playing a character that represents a large number of USian women, and being as how she is the lead character and her fat is not something that is constantly brought up with a lot of hand-wringing surrounding it or subject to cheap jokes playing off it, I’d say she’s a pretty positive representation. In and of itself, seeing an average working class fat woman on a top-rated sitcom every week was a positive development.

Gimme A Break: Nellie Ruth “Nell” Harper (see above picture)
Honestly, Nell Carter’s character on this show was the first character I thought of when I started thinking about positive portrayals of fat women on television. Yes, she’s playing a stereotype—the black housekeeper of a white family—but folks, this was 1981 and any black woman, especially a fat black woman, on TV not screeching at her husband or wearing a kerchief was a milestone. Nell Harper was attractive, pulled together, funny AND had a love life. She dated, had a boyfriend, and was sexual without it being a joke. The show was not immune to playing off her weight, but it at least did so along with playing off the weight of the male lead on the show, Police Chief Carl Kanisky. Nellie was a positive character, as nuanced as you’re gonna get for a fat black woman on a sitcom in the early 80s, and was played expertly by the Tony-award winning Ms. Nell Carter.

Disparate as these roles are, they all have something in common—they’re not caricatures, they’re real characters, something very rare and very special for fat women on television.