So, I was listening to The Bert Show this morning, which I normally love, but I really think they missed the mark today, at least the guys on the show. The issue they were debating had to do with the television show, Louie, which I don’t really watch, but did watch the clips of the show that were in question and I think they COMPLETELY missed the point. During the episode, a waitress and self-proclaimed “fat girl,” Vanessa, her words not mine, asks Louie out on a date, multiple times, and he declines. Mind you, Louie has asked out nearly every other waitress at Vanessa’s place of employment, all of whom are thin and fit. Vanessa is attractive, smart, confident, funny, cool, opinionated, all the things guys say they want in a woman, but Louie doesn’t want to date her solely because of her weight. The Bert Show made this a debate about whether or not guys, or women, have the right to not find someone attractive, for whatever reason, their weight, height, hair length, eye color, etc., and I think that’s not what the show was trying to say at all.

On the show, Vanessa and Louie are a good match. The only reason Louie turned down Vanessa’s many invitations is because she’s overweight, and he thinks too highly of himself to date an overweight woman. He thinks he’s too good for her, despite the fact that they are basically in the same league when it comes to attractiveness. In my opinion Vanessa may have been a bit out of Louie’s league, but that’s another story. It’s just so insulting and such a double standard. He doesn’t want to be seen out on a date with an overweight woman; he doesn’t want his friends to give him grief about dating a fat girl. How many television shows have there been where the husband is overweight and the wife is thin and gorgeous and no one bats an eye? Why is that okay, but not the other way around?

My point is, if a person asks you out and you just aren’t into it, of course you have every right to say no, nicely, I hope, but don’t reject someone you could possibly have a future with solely because you’re afraid of how society will perceive the two of you as a couple. More proof that nothing really changes after high school…

Sarah Baker and Louis CK

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