It's hard to believe that in 2024 the star of a ground-breaking television drama is being singled out for derision because of her size - because she's curvy and can probably match her male co-star kilo for kilo on the scales. The hot affair between Lady Penelope Featherington and posh Colin Bridgerton in Season Three of the hit show has been described as a 'mixed weight romance' and tagged 'implausible' by some critics.
JANET STREET-PORTER: Once, again, a famous woman is being discussed like a lump of meat in a supermarket It's as if the sight of a larger woman shedding her clothes in impulsive lust with a slimmer man is not just unbelievable, but somehow threatening. In the latest issue of Forbes Magazine, body mass expert Virgie Tovar says the drama's coupling 'unveils unsettling truths about human relationships' adding 'the truth is thin people desire, love and marry people who are larger than they are all of the time'.
For decades, the stereotype has thrived in countless TV shows that slobby men can pull slender women, and nobody finds that odd. Could it be because most TV networks were run by fat white men of a certain age, who probably managed to date younger glamorous women because of their power rather than their looks?
Nicola Coughlan has burst onto our screens and turned convention on its head. Is she really a fat icon? Hardly, the girl usually wears a size 12 and plus sizes start at 16, but she is several sizes larger than most leading actressesHomer Simpson was a revolting slob with a normal-sized wife who deserved better.
If you find the relationship between Penelope and Colin unsettling, what does it say about you? According to Virgie Tovar it means you are Fat-phobic. Tovar even started a campaign on social media with the hashtag #LoseHateNotWeight.