I also attended Western Michigan for two years and lived in the dorms. At both schools, the campuses were so big, all we did was walk, walk, walk. I actually was bigger than then ( I was
a size 26/28) I am now.

What can I say about my college experiences? Let’s see,
I made a TON of friends both thin and fat, I had 4
boyfriends (two were okay, one was lousy and one
was great–I actually met more guys there!) and although the seats were small, even at that size, I was able to fit in the chairs.

I actually encountered more RACISM than fatphobia. Talking
with other people, and because of the whole affirmative
action hoopla, there was more divisiveness among black
and white lines. I am shocked that this is even an issue.

I’m in graduate school now at a predominately women’s
college and met people from all walks of life. My size
has never really been an issue until the American media
made it an issue. It’s sad that the 50-billion dollar diet
industry puts so much pressure on women.

And can anyone say Camryn Manheim, who has a master’s
degree from NYU?

Of course, I wasn’t fat when I applied for college and I can understand why a fat person would be anxious about the motives. With some cause, obviously, because I’m sure a lot of interviewers would give bad marks to a fat applicant. I know I had high school teachers who said they advised bright fat students in the past to avoid interviews out of fear that they would be judged by their body and not their academic merits.

Sorry, I’ve never heard of such a thing. What possible justification could there be for denying admission to an educational institution on the basis of an illness or disability? (And how could it be legal to do so?)

Despite my freakishly “normal” life, its attendant honors and kudos, and my seemingly unusual high esteem (that is, for a fat girl), when it came time for me to go to college, I did fear that my weight would interfere with the process. I was afraid that I would be rejected by the schools where I applied, that the required physical would somehow be used as code to discriminate against me, that the other students would all be perfect size 8s and incapable of understanding/accepting my never-size-8 self.

Thankfully, that period of insecurity was relatively short as I was accepted to every college where I applied, the weigh-in at my physical apparently didn’t disqualify me, and I found a campus full of individual people with individual body types and all sorts of their own individual insecurities. I immediately fell back into try-everything-at-least-once-and-do-it-well mode, and can happily say that, with rare exception, my college experience was as rich and varied and interesting — and happy and fulfilling — as my fortunate primary and secondary education had been.

That said, it’s frustrating to think that that blip of insecurity I encountered becomes a full-blown obstacle to higher education for some women. Given my own experience (the only light through which I can view the situation), it seems to me a massive effort to improve the overall self-esteem of teenage girls is in order.

Thanks for letting me extrapolate on this thought. Kate, I completely dig your blog, and respect and cheer your voice on this soapbox. It also appears that you have exceptionally insightful commenters, which makes reading SP all the more fun. ::enthusiastic applause::

I am currently doing postgrad study and have several undergrad degrees. However I have done all my study by distance education.

Keep up the good work Kate!

Of course, I had worse things than fat to be made fun of for sometimes – I was an agnostic in a Bible Belt town and vocal about it, I didn’t have a boyfriend – not because I’m fat, but because I preferred older men (“ewwwww gross!”) and I was also a quiet bisexual (“ewwww grosser!”), I was in a single parent family receiving SS assistance since my father died (“lazy immoral cow!”), and since I was more studious than other kids in my classes, they used me for homework because they figured I’d give up because I was desperate for attention.

And sometimes I did, just because I felt like it was expected of me. Just like college was expected of me. But after that was done with, I never wanted to be in a classroom again. And that was the worst thing – admitting I didn’t wanna go to college lost me my real friends, my teacher friends who I’d bonded with, and it brought more. I guess I am a stereotype of a fat girl who didn’t wanna go to college and wasted her life away. In some ways, it is wasted. But tomorrow’s my six year anniversary with my wife who I moved to MA to be with, and even though I’m disabled now I don’t care if people call me a lazy cow sponging off the government. I’ll never have to be in that abusive environment again.

Also, I can get scholarships now to go to school, and I’m gonna do it soon. I won’t be with those classmates who hurt me; I’ll just be the older girl with the cane in the back row doing her work and ignoring the haters.

I guess it just has to be the right time for everyone. Even fat girls.