It has been clear for years now that many academic elites are just political activists in disguise, but conservative commentator Steven Cr...
It has been clear for years now that many academic elites are just political activists in disguise, but conservative commentator Steven Crowder just proved how easy it is to gain approval in the ivory tower.
On Monday, Crowder released a video recorded in 2020 that documented his journey to become an admired scholar in the prestigious field of “fat studies.”
While this may sound like a fabricated subject, Crowder said it is a real discipline, and experts hold an annual conference at Massey University in New Zealand.
In order to expose the lunacy of this entire field of study, Crowder disguised himself as an obese “genderqueer” person named Sea Matheson and wrote an essay entitled “Embracing Fatness as Self-Care in the Era of Trump.”
Crowder sent the essay to the organizer of the conference, Dr. Cat Pause, and she accepted his satirical report. She scheduled Sea Matheson to speak at the conference, which was held virtually due to coronavirus restrictions.
Crowder’s speech was about former President Donald Trump’s supposed “fatphobia.”
“Trump regularly engages in attacks on fat bodies, individuals,” Crowder said. “Trump is known to target women with his attacks, referring to women as having faces that are ‘fat’ or ‘ugly.'”
Crowder went on to make the argument that instead of letting these attacks get them down, obese women should embrace their fatness as a “distancing mechanism” from Trump and his supporters.
He made up a story about a man trying to fondle him when he was in college, and he said his fatness provided protection from the aggressor. It was this experience, Crowder said, that taught him to embrace his obesity.
“Fatness, embracing a fat identity, ensuring one is always already perceived to be a fat individual subject — these actions become performative acts of resistance.”
Obviously, this entire premise is ridiculous, and Crowder was presenting it as a joke at the expense of today’s academia. He figured the jig would be up following his speech and people would realize he was not a serious “fat studies” scholar.
“So imagine my surprise when this absolute joke was not only accepted to a prestigious academic conference, but Sea Matheson was met with rave reviews, ” Crowder said.
“Esther Rothblum, Ph.D., even reached out to Sea Matheson after the conference to peer-review a paper on — you guessed it — fat studies. Look, ma, I’m an authoritative source!”
On the surface, this is all hilarious. The fact that a conservative comedian was able to assume a fake identity and become immediately lauded by leftists as an academic expert is inherently comical.
However, when Crowder delved into the deeper implications of this saga, it looked a lot more serious.
“The problem isn’t just that lunatic ideas like fat pride are accepted and even peer-reviewed at institutions as cleverly designed ruses to boost scholarly book sales, but the problem of education doesn’t exist in a bubble,” Crowder said.
“Think about it for a second. What happens to the students? What happens when they grow up and become lawyers, doctors or, God forbid, teachers themselves. Today’s ivory tower quackery is tomorrow’s gospel truth.”
Crowder explained how untrue ideas about gender started in universities and slowly became ingrained in popular culture. He said if the same thing happens with “fat studies,” it will cost lives.
“It’s not just that these ideas are insane, it’s that they are unfounded, they are unverified and most of all untrue, which makes them seriously harmful,” Crowder said.
“When doctors are being pressured by academics to praise the beautiful bravery of their 350-pound … patients, lives will be lost. Life expectancy will be traded to preserve the fragile egos and financial interests of academic elites.”
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