Fat shaming vs. skinny shaming: Two Slate writers debate body image and beauty standards.

Is Body Shaming Always Terrible? Because I Hate My Boyfriend’s Unibrow.

Is Body Shaming Always Terrible? Because I Hate My Boyfriend’s Unibrow.

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Aug. 20 2014 5:00 AM
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Please Allow Me to Be Grossed Out by My Boyfriend’s Unibrow

 Listen to two Slate writers revisit a discussion about body image and body shaming.

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Illustration by Charlie Powell

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Illustration by Charlie Powell

“I’m on a real body positivity streak,” says “Outward” writer Mark Joseph Stern, “but I have some caveats.”

Last week, Stern and national correspondent Will Saletan revisited a debate about whether all gay marriage opponents are bigoted. This week, Stern revisits a discussion about body image with Slate’s Katy Waldman.

Stern wants to know if it’s ever OK to criticize other people’s bodies. Sometimes, Stern admits, he uses “fat” to help complete a description of a lazy and nasty person. He knows it’s irrational, but he says was once grossed out by his ex-boyfriend’s unibrow and asked him to pluck it. And he wonders if there’s a double standard in some progressive circles that makes skinny-shaming more OK than fat-shaming.

In this Slate Plus podcast Extra, Stern takes his conundrums to Waldman, his “moral compass” on discussions about beauty norms.

Here are a few of the links mentioned in their discussion:

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