Trying to Throw Their Weight Around

No one is for fat shaming. Ever. But the latest foul cry from the Hillary Clinton campaign over remarks Donald Trump made 20 years ago should be seen for exactly what it is: a hollow, desperate attempt to rally female voters in the waning days of the 2016 presidential campaign.

If they’re being honest, most female voters would admit that they, too, have made blunt comments and rendered harsh judgments about other women and their weight — not to mention their appearance, clothing, hair, makeup, and more. In some circles, it’s a game.

She admitted she had unhealthy eating habits, if not an eating disorder, before the pageant.

Literally 20 years ago, Trump — already a highly successful businessman at that time who later purchased the Miss Universe beauty pageant organization — made comments about the 1996 winner of the pageant, Alicia Machado, who had gained weight after she won the crown.

Most American women can identify with weight gain — just as they can understand that a beauty pageant winner must remain, well, beautiful. However, Machado — 18 at the time — breached her contract with the pageant organization by gaining all the weight she did. She needed to get back in shape to uphold her duties as Miss Universe.

There’s tremendous irony in Hillary Clinton’s crass attempt to make this a political issue. The Clinton campaign ignores its own serial abuse of women unlucky enough to find themselves in the Clintons’ path, for one thing. It also ignores — indeed, tries to hide, deny, obfuscate, and blame others for — Bill Clinton’s numerous affairs with other women behind his own wife’s back.

Related: 10 People Under the Clinton Curse

Those who take part in global beauty pageants are typically expected to maintain a certain weight range. It’s something Machado signed up for. She admitted she had unhealthy eating habits, if not an eating disorder, in preparation for the pageant, according to her own quoted remarks in a May 16, 1997 article in The Washington Post.

“I was anorexic and bulimic, but almost all of us are … When I was preparing for Miss Universe, it was an obsession for me to not gain weight,” she told The Post. “By the time I won, I was actually recovering. But the year leading to it, I didn’t eat at all and whatever I ate, I threw up. I weighed 116 pounds when I won. I was skeletal,” she added in the article, which was entitled, “Miss Universe, Sizing Up Her Reign.”

This was her own doing, prior to any involvement by Donald Trump. No one wishes an eating disorder on anyone else, of course. But people are responsible for their own behavior.

Working in the media as an on-camera television presence for much of my own career, I can speak to the expectations that come with these positions. Essentially, if you want to keep your job, you must take care of yourself. If you don’t, ratings are at risk. And if ratings are at risk — your shift, your salary, and your job are also on the line. It’s very simple: Advertisers aren’t willing to pay for spots if no one is watching your show.

It’s the same with beauty pageant winners.

Related: CNN Mocked Beauty Queen

On top of this, a new study out Wednesday highlights the fact that women in general still face weight-based prejudice in the workplace — even when their body mass index (BMI) is within the healthy range. Researchers from the University of Strathclyde in Scotland recently asked participants to rate people on their suitability for jobs in the service sector, based on appearance. They found even marginal increases in weight had a negative impact on female candidates’ job prospects.

“Many organizations in the service sector, such as shops, bars, and hotels, seek to employ people with the right ‘look,’ which will fit with their corporate image,” said Professor Dennis Nickson, with the university’s Department of Human Resource Management, in a statement.

Related: Plaintiff in Landmark Sexual Harassment Case Voting Trump

A key element of people’s appearance is their weight. Workplace discrimination against those of anything other than “normal” weight is not new — many studies have highlighted how people who are obese or overweight suffer from bias when looking for work. Is it right? Of course not. Is it reality? Think about it.

Pilots have to have perfect eyesight, even if corrective lenses would restore them to 20/20 vision. Is that “ocular bias”? No — those are the rules. And those with glasses need not apply.

The mainstream media and others jumping on the anti-Trump bandwagon for the Machado non-story must look no further than their own work contracts or employment agreements to see how similar the expectations are for them.