The Queering of Reality

Notes and commentary from beyond the frontiers of sanity and reality, courtesy of the normalisation of 'auto-diagnosed fat stigma' (my term)

Bear with me on this one, there’s a bigger point below in the Bottom Lines.

Translation, emphases, and [snark] mine.

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More weight: ‘What is unhealthier, the weight itself or the devaluation by society?’

People who are overweight are very present in our society - but if people talk about it at all, there is usually a lot of devaluation involved. A conversation with a director and an actress about fat in the theatre, social stigmas and their own struggle with the kilos

By Pia Kruckenhauser, Der Standard, 29 April 2025 [source]

14,000 kilos—that’s what the new play at the Kosmostheater is about. Pictured are the performers, from left: Samantha Ritzinger, Johanna Sophia Baader (interviewee) [the woman with the blue leggings], Jesse Inman, and Ina Holub. Picture credit: Appolonia Theresa Bitzan

Body weight and society is a complex relationship—on all levels, and none of them are relaxed. People who are overweight in particular experience this on an almost daily basis. They are often accused of being lazy and it is automatically assumed that they lead an unhealthy life [note the extra-woke emphasis on ‘lived experiences’ of overweight people]. This is reflected in critical glances in the supermarket, stupid comments in restaurants, for example, and in medical care on a massive scale.

At the doctor’s, fat people are almost automatically given the unsolicited advice that they should lose weight [curiously, MDs who pushed the modRNA poison/death juices must not be questioned, and Ms. Kruckenhauser was one of the worst Covid Hawks]. It also happens that the cause of a medical problem is not adequately investigated and is blamed on weight. Der Standard has reported on this here [it’s on topic and if you’re up to it, go for it—while there are some points that aren’t totally off the reservation (such as, fat people with a broken bone are also told to lose weight), yet the interviewed MD (internal medicine), one Bianca Itarui, is quoted as follows: ‘how we deal with obesity is a failure of medicine’, and at no point things, such as the additives in food, mostly sedentary lifestyles, and the increasing tendency to prioritise feelings over facts are mentioned]. Virtually every overweight person can report one or more such experiences.

Because the topic of fatness is so omnipresent on the one hand, but on the other hand is always a bit hushed up, especially in the cultural sector, the Kosmostheater in Vienna-Neubau is now taking care of it. From 30 April, ‘14.000 KILO: Ein Abnehmkampf freely adapted from MOBY DICK’ [roughly translates into ‘14,000 Kilos: A Struggle to Lose Weight, freely adapted from Moby Dick’] with a heavy-weight [orig. mehrgewichtig] ensemble is shown. Der Standard spoke to director Maria Sendlhofer and actress Johanna Sophia Baader about weight discrimination, internalised stigmas, and a lack of public presence [I think this entire piece is satire, but I fear it is not].

Der Standard: How did the idea for this play come about?

Sendlhofer: I’ve often noticed that I’m usually the only person in theatre productions who doesn’t carry a normal-slim [orig. normschlank] body into the room. That’s absurd, as theatre claims to be a mirror of society. In most other places, for example when I’m on the underground, I’m rarely the only person who is overweight. We want to make the topic of fatness discussable. There are many positions on the subject of weight that claim to be objective and neutral. But that’s not true. Different voices need to be heard, especially those of people who are overweight [and thus the woke-ification of culture™ progresses: I’ve read literally the same claim (it ain’t an argument) in tons of woke papers].

Der Standard: What would such seemingly objective and neutral statements be?

Baader: Whenever there’s a report about excess weight, models who are overweight are shown and you read the comments, you always hear that excess weight is simply unhealthy. And that it’s not good when something so unhealthy gets more visibility. In reality, however, this is only a fragment of the issue [that’s a fair point: we should be talking about other things, such as paying taxes, subsidy payments for military contractors, and the like]. If we are going to use the health argument, then we should talk about what is actually healthy and unhealthy. People smoke, and that is unhealthy. The same applies to alcohol [both fair points]. Eating ready meals all the time is unhealthy [yep, that it is: I’d now would expect a follow-up question à la, ‘do you do any of these?’] And even driving a car can be unhealthy if you have an accident [that’s a stupid argument; yes, driving is about the most dangerous thing people do on a regular basis, but it’s also something where one is able to exercise caution etc.; if society would spend even a fraction of the time it does on driving on other issues, such as alcohol, processed foodstuffs, additives, cosmetics, or pharmaceuticals, I suppose that health would go up].

Der Standard: And people don’t immediately say it’s unhealthy [this is about the single-most inane follow-up question imaginable…]

Baader: Exactly. It’s just so obvious when it comes to weight. It’s often conveyed that it’s your own fault. That's a shame, because it’s a major social issue [so, you mentioned driving, drinking, smoking as something that’s also ‘unhealthy’, but when you do any of these, it is, to a very large, if not exclusive extent, one’s own fault] and excess weight affects many people. That’s why it’s so important to deal with it outside of the health issue [yes, it’s also about personal responsibility, I mean, who’s preparing your breakfast?]. People are not just made up of their weight, they all have strengths and weaknesses and their own personal story. That’s exactly what we show in this play. It is also intended to show how one-sided the health argument is [as far as sane comments go, this is about it; is it too repetitive to bring up the personal responsibility aspect again?].

Sendlhofer: There is a study from the USA in which doctors were shown blood tests and asked to assess how healthy the people behind the results were and how much weight they had. There was a strong correlation that poor blood values were associated with excess weight, while good blood values were equated with normal weight. It then turned out that this expectation often did not correspond to the facts, but this is precisely the attitude that many people have towards overweight people [as far as arguments go, fair enough—but since the paper in question isn’t referenced, here’s what I found doing a quick search: a qualitative study™ with 15 participants doing interviews and there’s a ton more falling in the category of ‘more of the same’; I do point to this mainstream piece with the essence being the quote, ‘Blood tests also can help find potential problems early, when treatments or lifestyle changes may work best. Blood tests can also assess individuals’ risk of acquiring diseases, for example, risk of getting diabetes or heart disease’, and I suppose this sums up why doctors—who’re often also quite far from the norm with respect to their lifestyles—often tell people to lose weight anyways]

Der Standard: We have often reported on this attitude, and the forum comments on it are often…difficult, to say the least.

Sendlhofer: Yes, because weight is often immediately assumed to be the cause, doctors may not take a closer look at the actual causes of symptoms [so, if weight is a symptom, what may be the causes? On the face of it, over-eating and little-to-no physical exercise come to mind, which I consider as proxies for related issues, such as the functional illiteracy of most adults due to having stopped reading books after having gotten their education™]. People who are overweight are often not taken seriously with their concerns and therefore receive poorer medical care.

Baader: Of course, being overweight is a possible cause of health problems, but not for everything [lol, this is simply too stupid—and the interviewer should have intervened here: since we know from the Covid Mania, though, that Ms. Kruckenhauser is one of the most ardent Branch Covidians, it’s obvious why she doesn’t: blinders and a refusal to accept reality-as-is]. And in this discussion, one question gets lost that I find extremely important, namely where the extra weight comes from in the first place. It’s not your own fault [that’s the core premise here: you overeating and being irresponsible isn’t your own problem; to grasp the insanity of this proposition, think about getting in a car, driving, and having an accident—all the while claiming to police later on that it’s not your own fault, I may have been too sick to drive, have mental issues, and a tummy ache that is linked to me running over a bunch of pedestrians], it can be due to an illness, it can have psychological causes, and we now know that the microbiome in the gut is linked to it because it affects the feeling of hunger. But nobody thinks about this, instead it happens again and again that you are insulted by a complete stranger. We need to talk more about that [I suppose we don’t; what these people are doing is playing a deceptive word-game: one’s own actions are due to someone else (society, the patriarchy, Mr. Putin, or whatever ), hence it’s also someone else’s duty to fix them: it’s merely yet another expression of Peter Pan Syndrome]

Der Standard: Can you tell us about such an insult?

Baader: Recently, a woman in the supermarket looked me up and down, you could tell she wanted me to see that. But she didn’t expect me to ask her why she was doing that. She then said it was an impossible demand given the way I looked and tried to talk her way out of it. At least I got the impression that she was uncomfortable being confronted. But you would actually have to tell her that her upbringing is an imposition [there it is, the iron law of woke projection: someone looked at you, big deal (no pun intended), and immediately, you move to declaring his or her upbringing, incl. the parents, to be the problem? All I’m saying is this—if someone looking at you makes you feel uncomfortable, you may have issues…also, what was in your shopping cart? My own experience here is that overweight and obese people often buy junk ‘food’, which also, to a large degree, explains why they are overweight in the first place, apart from a ton of other issues, such as lack of physical exercise etc.]

Der Standard: As a person who is overweight, you also deal intensively with the topic. What effect does that have?

Baader: You’re in a stalemate. My story explains it quite well. I had a traumatic experience as a child and my body is a protection for me, a kind of house that I built for myself as a safe haven [it’s all in your head, Ms. Baader]. But now this house is under attack all the time, from the outside, but at some point also from yourself [see what I mean? Might it be your own body/consciousness telling you to lose weight, too? Better not think that…], and you can't defend yourself against that. It’s a paradox, because on the one hand you need this protection, but on the other it takes all your strength when you’re attacked from all sides. What was once a loving act for your own needs is now completely the opposite [well, there might be some mental illness connected to this, but what do I know…]

Der Standard: That sounds very stressful.

Baader: It takes away your security and you can’t do anything about and from such insecure feelings. You deconstruct yourself, the inner voice says you should be slim and look normal, you should do it under your own control, you shouldn’t take medication or have stomach surgery, that wouldn’t be honest, you should do sport and, and, and. How are you supposed to develop a huge amount of strength to change this? Nobody talks about that [two things: as I said above, those who have, shall be given more, the Gospel holds—and I’d propose it also works in the other direction, i.e., a (negastive) feedback loop; what Ms. Baader describes is this feeling of acquired helplessness, i.e., ‘I’m fat, no-one likes me, I know I should do something, but I’m too weak’—and the only resolution known to work is something that AA figured out long ago: admit to your failings, seek the help of others suffering form the same issue, and get some (mostly spiritual) help to gain enough courage to start doing things (incidentally, this is the point made frequently by Jordan Peterson who, given his increasingly erratic behaviour of late, should perhaps consider doing so, too].

Sendlhofer: If we are already talking about the unhealthy aspect of excess weight, then we should also ask whether the unhealthy aspects of what excess weight means in this society are perhaps much more important? [why? being excessively heavy is, on the fact of it, an individual issue—and this is one more classic theme of activism: deflect from your own issues and blame ‘society’]. If you are constantly in a situation in which people, objects, and spaces speak to you and communicate, ‘You are not wanted here’, ‘You are not considered here’, you have to put up with it [another indicator of mental problems: ‘objects’ and ‘spaces’ don’t ‘speak to you’]. The health argument seems like you mean well. But you are structurally perpetuating a blatantly discriminatory act. And that has a physical and psychological impact [if you haven’t figured that out, well, here you go…].

Der Standard: How could something be changed here?

Sendlhofer: By developing acceptance and appreciation for bodies with more weight [I’m kinda o.k. with you being overweight, by the way; please don’t force me to ‘appreciate’ this situation—for your freedom ends where mine begins and vice versa]. That would resolve many of the unhealthy aspects of this relationship that have nothing to do with fat or weight [I’m not following the ‘argument’ here…].

Baader: It’s not as if you’re not aware of the fact. You are constantly confronted with the problem, from the appraising glances in the bakery to the fact that you have to shop online because you can find little or nothing for yourself in the shops [this also affects very tall individuals, and I cannot find them complaining, or given such a forum]. Nevertheless, many people feel they have to point out to you that you are overweight, that you should change something [I do see that point, but then again: aren’t you clowns engaging in the same thing right now? Ah, you see, that’s different…]. Then you could, for example, go on a cycle tour with friends. But what if you were in a wheelchair? [that’s not what we’re talking about] Then nobody would think of saying, ‘Why don’t you change something about your situation?’ [there’s also a kind of research™ on this, e.g., Alexandra Baril, ‘“How dare you pretend to be disabled?” The discounting of transabled people and their claims in disability movements and studies’, Disability & Society, 30., no. 5 (2015), 689–703, if you’re up for that rabbit hole, to cite but one example…]

Sendlhofer: A German survey shows how paradoxical this all is. People were asked about their weight, and an enormously high proportion said that their body weight was a constant concern, especially because they were worried that they might put on weight. Now our bodies have this marvellous opportunity to change. At the same time, many people with this potential for change harbour the fear of putting on weight. How can a multi-weight body be viewed neutrally in such a constellation? For these people, it is always a confrontation with their own fear. And with the possibility of finding themselves in such a marginalised position [put yourself into a corner is the first step to resolving issues, a wise donkey once quipped].

Der Standard: In other words, fat people make some people realise their own fears—and that’s where the assessment comes from? [lol]

Baader: Yes, and that also shows how many hidden patriarchal structures still exist in our society [of course, the patriarchy™ must be blamed, too, for it’s the fault of men who lust after slim, young women, as opposed to midddle-aged, overweight ones, isn’t it?]. Women must always be beautiful and fulfil the ideal. Although this is no longer talked about openly today, it resonates strongly beneath the surface. If, as a woman who is overweight, I allow myself to simply eat, it is also an attack on the abstinence from food that many people go through all their lives in order to maintain their slim figure. It is an insult, so to speak, if someone does not adhere to this unwritten law. It is then perhaps easier to devalue the fat person than to question your own ideas [another one of these woke projections: talk about self-devaluation rather than questioning the absurd ideas you have].

Der Standard: However, there has been a strong body positivity movement in recent years, with multi-weight models being shown in adverts and campaigns, for example. Do you have the impression that this has changed public perception?

Sendlhofer: Yes, it has had the effect of making people talk more about weight without judgement or devaluation. Otherwise you still wouldn’t see people wearing more than a size 38 on billboards. There are some positive examples here where I have the feeling that they take my needs seriously [‘I have the feeling that they take my needs seriously’—it doesn’t get more personal and absurd than that: I’m fat, hence everything and everyone around me must change; should be use, as a thought experiment, simply substitute the word ‘fat’ with, say, ‘politically incorrect’?]. But the majority of them were hypocritical approaches, for example from brands that don’t even produce clothing in large sizes [that’s the all-too expectable conclusion: once again, my feelings are hurt, hence everyone must change, and if there is change, it’s never good enough; as to the brands that don’t produce whatever is desired, well, why should they? I mean, the one sure-fire thing that kills a company the fastest is gov’t intervention…].

Baader: From my point of view, it has meant that I no longer feel so alone with this issue. As a teenager, I was always the only overweight person, I had such an isolated characteristic. In that respect, I think it’s nice to see that there are others out there [didn’t one of you mention that there’s so many overweight people now?], it’s not just me. It’s great when a model stands proud and strong [shall we mention the objectification of said model here or is that, too, an imposition by society and/or the patriarchy? How is that sentiment different from, say, other models?] It shows me that there are lots of us who have the same struggles anyway. That’s also the beauty of this theatre piece. We all have the same experiences on stage.

Sendlhofer: The play appeals to everyone because the topic is structurally present in our society [another one of these empty woke-nonsensical talking points]. It gives people of normal weight an insight into the experiences of people who are overweight, and people who are overweight can experience an evening of theatre from a perspective in which they may find themselves [but if they already experience this on a daily basis, what’s the point of going to see the play?].

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Bottom Lines

As painful and stupid as this was, I’m reproducing it to make two interrelated points:

First, using Der Standard’s journo™ as an example for legacy media reporting™ and antics, the above piece is as anti-scientific as they come: while Pia Kruckenhauser was among the chief Zero Covid Hawks who went above all-in as regards both mandates and the modRNA poison/death juices, here she’s once again peddling utter nonsense in terms of let’s just all agree your feelings are more important than what either society at-large thinks/does or medical researchers and doctors in particular say.

In other words, it’s a prime example of how ideology—here Fat Studies (don’t laugh, it’s a thing—behold the Journal of Fat Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Body Weight and Society)—trumps both real-world experiences and empirical data. It’s basically like with the Branch Covidians, albeit from an inverse perspective.

If you needed any more evidence that the Covid shitshow was all about ideology—here: vaccines are good, trust the Science™, etc.—as opposed to, well, scientific enquiry and the questioning of herd mentality, there you go.

Fat Studies, however absurd they may be, by the way, are but one manifestation of the degeneration of scientific enquiry by these absurd-fanatic revolutionaries.

If you care to read another fascinating absurdity, I’ll invite you to (re)visit the below-linked piece about ‘trans-ableism’ (also a thing, if you can believe it):

Transgender + 'Body Integrity Dysphoria' = the Next Frontier of 'the Science™' (and Sanity)

So, as stupid and painful the above piece was, consider it cut from the same cloth as everything else connected to, or deriving from, Michel Foucault’s sick and twisted mind.

Speaking of Foucault, here’s the one essential consideration from David Halperin’s Saint Foucault (1995) you need to read to understand the above legacy media piece:

What you see here, dead readers, is the queering (if that’s a word) of ‘body positivity’, obesity, and what society must do about it: since a few obese people feel and experience this or that, everybody must change.

The implications are, of course, as enormous as they are insane, with the Covid Mania serving, once more, as a case in point: there were people who were so afraid of the virus™ that they hid on train toilets (i.e., among the most unclean places one can hide):

Covidistan Annals: Reflections on the 'Lockdown for the Unvaccinated'

So, was the Covid shitshow all about the queering of healthcare, medical research, and, by extension, the Science™?

It does look like it, doesn’t it?