'Man vs Food' Star's New Show Put on Hold After Instagram Rant

[Cirque du So-What]

Adam Richman, host of of the popular Travel Channel show Man vs Food, went on an Instagram commenting rant about weight and body image. He was unaware that on the other end of the digital comment thread was Amber Sarah. Sarah is the writer of the blog Adipose Activist and self proclaimed "fat activist." After Richman personally attacked both her and her friends, she posted the comments on her blog, and the comments went viral. As a result, his new show, Man Finds Food, which was supposed to debut last night, has been "postponed indefinitely."

The debacle started last week when Richman posted a photo of himself in pants that were too large for him, with the caption "Had ordered this suit from a Saville Row tailor over a year ago. Think I'm gonna need to take it in a little… #Victory #EyesOnThePrize #AnythingisPossible #fitness #transformation #thinspiration."

Some Instagram users took issue with his use of the hashtag "thinspiration." As Sarah argued in her blog post on the matter, "Without context, thinspiration may not seem like a bad word, but a simple google search proves that it was created by a community of people with eating disorders to inspire each other to continue and celebrate their illnesses." There is a large digital community in which, generally, young women support one another to purge and starve, in hopes of being very thin and having a "thigh gap" (or a space between a woman's thighs, which is the result of bone structure in most women, though this digital community believes it can be achieved through starvation.)

One user, @quadcitygirl, commented about the negative association with #thinspiration on Richman's Instagram photo, to which he replied "DILLIGAF?" (Internet slang for "Does it look like I give a fuck?&quot From there, Amber Sarah commented, and reposted Richman's comment, asking her Instagram followers to explain to him the negativity surrounding #thinspiration.

more...

http://www.thewire.com/technology/2014/07/man-vs-food-stars-new-show-put-on-hold-after-instagram-rant/373938/

Warning: misogynistic language at link.

[Drunken Irishman]

1. His rant as awfu - but so were those women.

His use of thinspiration drawing that response from a group of women who advocate for a lifestyle that is just as unhealthy as anorexia is the height of hypocrisy. The movement born out of Fat Acceptance has moved well beyond the idea of just stopping unneeded and disgusting bullying and turned into a real advocacy for an extremely unhealthy lifestyle - just as the anorexic advocate blogs and message boards from the last few years.

His use of thinspiration was probably done without having any clue of its history. His response was disgusting, though - however, so are those women.

It is funny they felt the need to lecturer him about a community who celebrate an illness when these Fat Advocates do just that with obesity...and get just as nasty in their response when you point it out.

But he should know better and not engaged these people in a fight. His response was not necessary beyond the DILLIGAF.