Diet culture in the 2000s was so wild, we believed these women were fat

Looking at where we were this time 20 years ago, the change in attitudes towards different body sizes has been dramatic to say the least. We now live in a world where the mid-size movement is making women feel like it’s okay to not be a size six – and body positivity activists are working overtime to make fat people feel seen, heard and included. 

We didn’t have any of this back in the 2000s. For (at least) 10 years, we were constantly consuming media which told us there was a “right” and “wrong” way to look. Essentially, if you weren’t seven stone and under, you weren’t allowed to feel worthy. 

This is, in no small part, due to the way women were portrayed in films and TV. The characters we grew up with – the ones we were taught to see as “fat,” “plain” or “undesirable,” were usually a size 12 at most. They warped our self-esteem and taught us that *fat* is a bad word; an awful thing to be, and a physical representation of a questionable personality. 

So, let’s have a look at all the 2000s film and TV characters Hollywood tried to convince us were plus-sized:

Bridget Jones

One of the first things we hear Bridget talk about in the film series is that her New Year’s Resolution is to “obviously lose 20 pounds.” This is after we see that, in fact, she only weighs 136 altogether. The fat jokes don’t stop there. When we discover Daniel Cleaver is cheating (but also… were they ever really together?) on Bridget…