GQ UK's Jonathan Heaf wants to make sure everyone knows he's an A-hole, so has written a piece on why we shouldn't call plus-sized male models—like Zach Miko, above—anything other than “fat.”
Really? So in order to make sure we are all striving to be healthy (a noble goal), the only way to do so is to use a pejorative description of anyone who isn't achieving what medical professionals consider to be a safe weight?
Does that mean when describing someone who is 60, we shouldn't refer to them as older or mature, but just old?
A man who isn't 5'9" or more should be called short?
To use examples of things that people can change about themselves, we shouldn't say someone is battling drug abuse but just cut to the chase and say they're addicts?
Most of the words I've listed are totally acceptable, depending on the context. There's nothing wrong with politely referring to a category of clothing/larger models as plus-sized; it would also be stupid to market clothing to people who are overweight by putting them in the “fat” section, modeled by “fat” people.
I haven't read GQ in years (how much longer will a print edition even exist?), but I feel confident that if I looked through it, I'd find plenty of articles that mince words. It's called being polite and respecting social niceties. To throw that away all the time is a great way to let everyone know you're a toxic jerk with a big, fat mouth.
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