Fat-Female Phobia Hits a New Low?

[akirlu]

I don't see anybody noticing or taking this line, but to me, if a guy walks into a Lane Bryant store, takes six women hostage, possibly torturing them, and shoots them all, killing five and leaving the sixth for dead, that sure looks like a candidate for an anti-fat hate crime. Especially since all the reports so far agree that the store was not a good candidate for armed robbery per se.

ETA - If I'm right about the motives of the perp, the fact that the marketing software is putting up Lane Bryant / Caique Bras ads on that last article seems faintly creepy.

ETA 2 - The New York Times fatosphere article mentioned in comments is here, just in case you missed it like I did.

Comments

[batwrangler.livejournal.com]

Who robs a Lane Bryant? There *must* have been something more going on than just the "botched robbery" being reported.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Well, this is my thought, certainly. Nobody robs retail clothing stores -- most of their transactions will be credit, not cash, and so there just won't be much in the till.

[wild-patience.livejournal.com]

All the local paper here reported was bare bone stuff. I thought Lane Bryant an odd choice for a robbery and wondered if it was an anti-fat crime.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

In general, I would think that a retailer likely to be taking the vast majority of its sales in credit/debit charges would be unlikely for a robbery, so yes, at that point I do at least wonder if the fact that it is a Lane Bryant in particular isn't a significant factor.

[lauriemann.livejournal.com]

I wondered about that, but the suspect is listed as being a fat black man.

I bet it'll turn out he was the SO or would be SO of one of the women who was shot. While you always open with some cash in your drawer in retail, usually it's under $100. You can close with many times that in the evening.

[lauriemann.livejournal.com]

Yep.

And the lone survivor is under guard in a hospital.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

I don't think that being fat precludes anybody from being fat-phobic or having it in for fat women. Quite the opposite, really. Fat-acceptance is hardly universal among fat people.

I mean, with the rememberances and commentaries after the death of Bobby Fisher recently, we had a chance to be reminded that virulent antisemitism is not necessarily prevented by being Jewish.

[cluefairy-j.livejournal.com]

Just because he's fat doesn't mean he doesn't hate fat women.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

I hadn't heard of the proposed Mississippi legislature so I googled (I'm about three weeks behind in the paper and it hasn't been in the news). Boy are those guys nuts. Were they planning on paying for the scales at the restaurant door?

[missfairchild.livejournal.com]

That's a terrible story. I do hope that the injured woman recovers quickly, and that they catch - and convict - the murderer.

[cluefairy-j.livejournal.com]

When I clicked on that article to see where the "Mall shooting" had taken place, the photo showed police in front of a Lane Bryant. I scanned a few paragraphs to ensure the shooting did, indeed, happen there and when confirmed turned to turned to nbh and said, "Somebody has it out for fat women."

[jamesb.livejournal.com]

I missed this, you know I listen to news and stuff, but still it hasn't had as much coverage as a school killing would get.

Fat Female Fobia. OK, is it wrong for me to think that's a bit mad. Surely anyone who aims to rob a 'shop' is not right to begin with and the killing and torturing (haven't seen that bit) is extreme for a shop hold up.

Sounds like a loon.

as someone who once managed an Evans http://www.evans.co.uk/
I should point out that just like all fashion stores, they employ people of all sizes, so its not a given that 'only' fat people would be there, also customers especially women can shop in packs, and that doesn't mean they are all the same size.

I imagine this fella is a sicko - but anti-fat... specifically, I don't know. Jeez.

Sad for them families, regardless.

J

Not so sure

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

James-

I don't think you'd know this, because I don't think Lane Bryant has a UK presence at all, but the store in question is a chain of stores that sell only women's clothes, and only larger sizes. To be blunt, it's a store whose core clientelle are fat women. (Well, and fat cross-dressers, I suppose.) And while I am sure Lane Bryant would be willing to hire both men and women of all sizes, in principle, in practice many, many of the staff and management happen to be fat women. Both of these facts are pretty well known in the US. Even the police are speculating that the assailant may have picked the shop in question in order to avoid having to confront any men.

The torture thing is not official; it's based on the reports of the family of one of the victims, because of the distribution of bleeding and bruising on the corpse of the victim. But the reports are conflicting on that -- coroner and survivor report suggests not.

[jamesb.livejournal.com]

I checked out Lane Bryant - hence why I reference Evans, which seems to be the UK version, although unconnected.

As someone who worked in a Fat Women shop, as a manager, I suggest that not all employees are fat women in fat women shops. Obviously. But you are right, maybe it was a soft target.

Dunno. Still seems all rather odd. J

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Yeah, sorry, I didn't follow the Evans link until after posting, but the point about the balance of Lane Bryant employees still stands, I think. That is, whatever the mix is in the UK, in the US, especially suburban, midwestern US, the overwhelming likelihood is that the employees in the fat women's clothing store will be fat women, like their clientelle. And, so they were.

You're right that it all seems rather odd, yes.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Follow ups:

You're right of course, this is sad -- terribly, terribly sad -- for the families.

More info on the event in today's Chicago Tribune here.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

We saw two pictures of the staff on the news last night and they were both fat black women.

[farmgirl1146.livejournal.com]

UPI reports that the murderer made sexual advances to the women prior to the shooting. A link to that article is below.

I have noticed that there have been no fat jokes attendant to the news articles. I didn't think about it until I realized that I was relieved at this.
http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2008/02/05/lane_bryant_shooter_made_sexual_advances/1309/

Re: Fat-Female Phobia Hits a New Low?

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

when i read something like this, my first thought is "he had a serious beef with somebody who worked at that store, or with its management -- there is a personal connection". my second thought is "total loon" (the first is already rather loony IMO, though americans' love affair with guns and the lone rider archetype probably modifies that a little). and i think it's not particularly productive to speculate about the true motives of loons because lunacy has its own peculiar logic which has not much to do with reality.

hate crime only comes in third, and i am sorta iffy on that even then.

let's say he was mad at fat women because he'd been dumped by his last three girlfriends, all fat woman. would that make this a fat hate crime? i guess it sort of is under the general definition, but not the same way as killing by a guy who'd never even touch a fat woman romantically and is grossed out by them. and the latter is how i define hate crime for myself.