By Briton Underwood of Punk Rock Papa
Nicole Arbour, of internet fame(?), has gotten herself in hot water as of late. Her YouTube video, Dear Fat People, caused such an uproar that her YouTube channel ended up getting shut down.
Talk about pissing off some fatties.
I am joking!
She pissed off skinnies, too.
One friend described her routine as reminding them of the cool kids in high school who thought it was so funny to bully people.
Wow, talk about triggered.
Going as far as calling out “fat-shaming” to be an excuse for obese people to continue to live unhealthy lifestyles, she sort of pissed off everyone who felt her message was hurtful and, maybe more importantly, mean.
My upset and angry friends, I have actually gone over this before. Let us breathe for a second and repeat our grade-school mantra: “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
Feeling better? I didn’t think so.
Here is the problem with attaching the word “shaming” to our insecurities: it sort of makes you an asshole.
“Oh, I don’t like that.”
I really don’t care what you like. Taking a comedian seriously enough to launch a campaign sort of makes you an asshole. Move on. Scroll away, hashtag warrior, scroll away. What is startling is the ridiculously high percentage of obesity in America. Was she accurate?
Holy Haagen Daz, she was.
The problem with the move to make everyone’s insecurities off limits is we end up taking a comedian seriously enough to be upset by her words. Upset enough to try and silence those hurtful words because we can’t take a joke.
We want to be the judge of what is funny and not funny based on personal life experiences. Personal.
Personal.
P-E-R-S-O-N-A-L
Meaning keep that shit to yourself.
What I find funnier than Nicole Arbour is that the same people upset by her comic bit continue to go unfazed by the constant use of the word “retard” in other comedians’ stand up bits. It’s okay, because to them it would be retarded to get upset by that.
When it comes to “shaming,” or better yet, not being able to take a joke or scroll on, you can’t have grey areas. This is where you are an asshole. Who gives you the right to be absolute decision maker on what is acceptable to make fun of and what isn’t?
It really is an all-or-nothing type of thing. You don’t want your feelings stepped on? Then don’t step on other people’s feelings. Hand in your funny card and go sit at table nine with the social justice white knights who are drafting up the Articles of Political Correctness.
Or you can move on with your life and realize that some things might just not be funny to you, and it is okay. The thing is, whether it is Nicole Arbour or Jim Jeffries, these comedians are not talking directly to you. Nicole didn’t sit there and personally call you a fat piece of shit; she was speaking in generalizations about things she finds to be ridiculous, such as hashtag movements and not being able to walk the length of a Walmart parking lot without sweating a slurpie.
I know there are people who have dealt with bullying their whole lives and have just overcome that only to have their self-esteem crushed by a stranger’s YouTube video, and I am sorry. I am sorry you weren’t able to find the pause button or the exit browser icon.
Is that going too far? Yes, it is, but that’s what you get when you attach the word “shaming” to anything that makes you not feel good. Your decision to pick and choose what people should be allowed to joke about has made you the Kim Davis of comedy.
Look, I am one of the most self-deprecating people there are, but making fun of people can be pretty funny. I know stereotypes are wrong in the hands of the uneducated who are too stupid to differentiate between a joke and reality.
She didn’t cut a fat person open and watch the skittles fall out. Because fat people aren’t filled with skittles, you dirty fat shamer.
Learn to take a joke or respect another’s right to make a joke you don’t necessarily find funny. My kids laugh and shake their heads “no” when I ask them if they love me. I know they are joking and don’t dismantle their cribs and call for an end to parent shaming. I know they aren’t serious. At least I hope not. #DadLivesMatter.
I guess what I am saying is, let’s stop calling the feelings police on everyone that upsets us.
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About Briton Underwood
Briton Underwood, better known as Punk Rock Papa, is a parent above all else. When he gets sick of being at their beck and call he likes to escape to his page or site. He writes about any and everything he wants, but mainly about his twin boys or his newest addition- another boy. He also would like the world to know he has a beautiful wife, because the couch isn’t that comfy.
Blog- http://punkrockpapa.com
Fb- https://www.facebook.com/PunkRockPapa
Twitter- https://twitter.com/punkrockpapa1