The faceless fatty is the new-new fat shaming tool

CW: Fat-shaming/Fat-phobic image shown and fat-phobic messaging discussed with attempts at biting sarcasm.

It’s September 2026. Who knew that The Weather Channel was going to 1) pile on with the fat-shaming; and 2) eschew the traditional headless fatty image, replacing it with the new and not-improved faceless fatty? Not me. But here we are, in September 2026, a time when everyone should know better and act better. But no– the Weather Channel, in the course of offering bland advice for maintaining health during cold weather, blasts us with a picture of a faceless fat person, apparently to convey seasonal fat-despair.

So, what is going on here? Why did the Weather Channel folks think this was an apt illustration for a content-lite article about what to do to maintain health as seasons change? By the way, the advice offered (from an ICU doctor, who, while no doubt well-meaning and skilled, is NOT a fitness expert for non-hospitalized people) includes 1) eat a bunch of protein (with a photo of dead animal parts– they’re not missing any opportunities here); 2) get enough sleep– oh right, thanks Weather Channel; and 3) walk outside, because “walking is magical”!

Yeah, it might be magical if you can walk here.

Back to the faceless fatty photo. I wonder, what message is intended by this image in this article? After extensive analysis, I came up with three possibilities:

• Because they are fat AND the seasons are changing, they know they’re facing certain death;
• They forgot to tell their friends and family that they’re fat, so want to remain unidentifiable in the picture– hence the hand over the face;
• They’re really mad at their agent for sending them to such an absurd photo shoot, so they’re rebelling by shielding their face from view. Litigation is pending.

Here’s the thing: we know that images matter. They convey norms about what’s good, bad, healthy, unhealthy, cool, uncool, what we should aim for, and what we should avoid like the plague. Being fat doesn’t fall into any of these categories, any more than having brown hair or brown eyes. It’s just a feature of some people at some point in time. As a fat person, it’s a feature I have. Having brown hair is a feature I used to have, and now I have grey hair. Also a value-neutral thing.

So Weather Channel– enough with the underhanded attempts to connect being fat with current or impending refusal to follow your third-rate attempts at health and wellness advice! Do what you’re supposed to do– tell us if it’s going to rain tomorrow. That is messaging we would find eminently useful, at any size.