May 10, 2007
College Women Regret Titillating Picture, Steal Newspapers
Two women who attend at Framingham State College, in Massachusetts, are accused of stealing copies of the Gatepost, the school's student newspaper, allegedly because a color photograph on the front page made them look fat.
Chris Calzolaio/The Gatepost
The seven women wore brief tanktops and short pants, and had letters and signs painted on their bare bellies that spelled out "I (heart) N O O N A N." Noonan is the name of a player on the FSC women's lacrosse team whom the seven women were cheering on.
The picture appeared on the front page of Gatepost. Not long after that, copies of the paper began disappearing from racks.
The paper's faculty advisor, English professor Desmond McCarthy, says that students told him that women in the photograph thought it made them look fat. The Associated Press story has a quote from one of the two perpetrators, 18-year-old freshman Jennifer Carsillo, but does not directly quote her about her motivation. The other perpetrator is unidentified.
The paper's editor claims that a thousand copies were stolen; both McCarthy and Carsillo claim that fewer than two hundred copies were taken. Carsillo claims she returned the stolen papers to the campus police.
There's a lot to be said about fat-phobia here, whether this was the perpetrators' actual motivation or one that gossip has ascribed to them. At the same time, I just can't let go of Garance Franke-Ruta and the Kennedy doctrine of female regret. Evidently 18-year-old college women can regret the consequences of having their bare-bellied pictures taken at a sporting event, just as they can those of having pictures of their bare breasts taken at spring break. Raising the age of consent to participate in erotic photography is not enough. What do you think, Garance — should all photography of women under 21 who are not wearing modest dress be banned?
(via Joe Decker)
Posted by abostick at May 10, 2007 03:19 PMIm friends with all of these girls, and what is going aorund on the news is not the real story. 2 of the girls stole the newspapers. it was not because of they thought they looked fat in the pictures, it is because they were shocked to even see their picture in the paper. I think if they had been told, and had posed for this picture, than they would not have minded. but to have this picture be taken without them knowing, and kind of unflattering, and being published in the paper, i think anyone would be shocked. If they had been told of the photo, and posed for it, than it would not have been a shock. NONE of these girls are FAT!! Not one of them is overweight in any way shape or form. For the media to be going around and insulting these girls calling them fat and ugly is absoulutely ridiculous. They are all beautiful girls and none of them are fat! Only 130 copies were stolen by two girls, and returned immediately. The news keeps reporting 800-1000 copies stolen and that is definetly not true. The two girls walked by a stack of them, grabbed some, and left. They did not steal 1000 copies. The newspapers are FREE, how do you STEAL something that is FREE? The newspapers are left in stands for the taking around the campus buildings, how can they be "stolen"? What if they took a bunch to hand out to friends? Why should these girls be insulted and prosecuted for anything? It really is NOT a big deal and for all the media to be saying these girls are fat and ugly is ridiculous. Why do you think so many girls have eating disorders or self esteem issues? How can you classify these girls as fat? These girls are all skinny, and normal girls, and nowhere close to fat. These girls have dealt with enough insults from the media, and having their words twisted by the news, and have been made to look like idiots. It is wrong for the newspaper to post such a picture without the girls knowledge or at least asking them to smile for the photo. They did not go out to a highly attended sports event asking for attention. Not many people go to the games, and none of the girls walked around campus looking like that. They did it to support a friend. If the campus was proud of the girls for showing support, ask them to pose for a picture. Im sure they would not have minded. The picture is just unflattering and all of the girls are upset by it and no one was happy with how they looked in the picture. They are all beautiful, healthy, and definetly not fat! and the world needs to get a serious reality check if you want to call them fat.
Posted by: Kait at May 11, 2007 09:00 PM
