We Need To Talk About The Fatphobic & Queerphobic Treatment Of Sam Smith

sam smith fatphobia harry styles

Friends, we simply must talk about the internet’s treatment of Sam Smith recently. Everyone’s fatphobia and queerphobia are jumping the hell out and I’m tired of it being so normalised online.

Since the release of their track “Unholy”, Sam Smith has been in the spotlight a bit more than usual. Let’s get one thing out of the way: the song isn’t very good, and gained quite a bit of attention for being “annoying” and overplayed, especially on TikTok.

Bad song or not, Sam Smith doesn’t deserve any kind of hate online for their appearance.

Sam Smith recently wore a silver jumpsuit while performing at iHeartRadio’s Jingle Ball 2022 and folks took a total of zero seconds to not only compare them to Harry Styles but shame them for their body.

https://twitter.com/intrsxtionl_abc/status/1603032294805094401?s=20&t=F2npTSAVva05_cSTTpCRMg

https://twitter.com/mathbzzzz/status/1602831098731446273?s=20&t=F2npTSAVva05_cSTTpCRMg

When Harry Styles dons similar looks to Sam Smith, he’s heralded as a “queer icon” and the king of breaking down “gender stereotypes” and “toxic masculinity”. When Smith does the same they’re fat-shamed and ridiculed for their appearance. Make it make sense.

Fans may not like what Smith is wearing, but reconsider why it is that the instinctual reaction to seeing a fat person in something glamorous is to guise fatphobia as “outfit critique”. This isn’t Fashion Police, nobody asked for your opinion.

And besides, if haters want so desperately to criticise Sam Smith’s outfits, surely they’d have similar opinions of Harry Styles’ wardrobe as well, right? Most of the outfits that man wears are ridiculously awful — he just gets away with them for being stereotypically attractive and thin.

Let’s stop pretending that we hate Sam Smith’s music and outfits when what fuels most commentary about them is fatphobia and queerphobia.

https://twitter.com/wherescloudy/status/1600862533417832449?s=20&t=F2npTSAVva05_cSTTpCRMg

Unfortunately, the fatphobic treatment of Sam Smith is nothing new in the queer community. Fatphobia is a rancid issue that plagues multiple facets of LGBTQIA+ life to the point where queer people can feel isolated from their peers based on nothing but their body type.

Let’s leave Sam Smith alone. We need to unlearn our fatphobic biases and “preferences” and reflect on why an artist (who was once thin and arguably more popular) is suddenly “cringe” and “unfashionable” when their body changes.

Preference isn’t something you’re born with, it’s something that’s learned. Just admit you feel uncomfortable seeing a nonbinary fat person expressing themselves and move on.

If you winced at the idea of a fat person feeling comfortable in their skin and presenting themselves in a sexy way, why did that make you feel uneasy?

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