Dear Samantha Brick…
Daily Mail columnist Samantha Brick thinks women hate her for being beautiful. Not true. We hope. This open letter states what we really hate.
This is a written response to a Samantha Brick article published on 18 April 2013 in the Daily Mail. All quotes from Brick are taken directly from that article. We will not be linking to it because the Daily Mail would see that as rewarding their tactics of regularly using contentious opinion to troll us all and boost their traffic and sales.
Dear Samantha Brick…
I’m writing this open letter to you, and to any woman who considers herself to have any sense or self-respect, as a response to numerous columns you have written for Femail, the Daily Mail’s women-centred section.
I wonder, since you’re so keen to stick your rather extreme opinions out there, if you’d take a moment to read mine? I very much doubt it, but for the benefit of the women in the world who aren’t you I’ll keep writing.
Samantha Brick quote:
“When one friend arrived and thrust a hefty box of chocolates into my hands, I rewarded her with ice-cold contempt rather than the grateful smile she was clearly expecting.”
I’m part of a generation of women who couldn’t tell you when they decided they were feminists. We were just raised knowing that everyone deserves equality. And everyone deserves the right to choose how they want to live their lives. If that means donning trousers and tangling with the male-orientated business world or staying at home straightening their hair: let them.
And that’s why, honestly, I couldn’t give a flying monkey about your relationship with your husband. If you are both in a position where you’re happy that you maintain a certain weight in exchange for his continued affection: so be it. But what on earth makes you think that my boyfriend wants the same thing?
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not making excuses because I’m fat and jealous. I’m a size eight, not that the numbers validate my opinions to anyone but a diet-minded biddy like yourself. I could lose weight, I could gain weight, I’d still be healthy and my boyfriend probably wouldn’t even notice, never mind threaten to abandon me.
Samantha Brick quote:
“For three decades, self-denial has been my best friend. And one of my biggest incentives is that I know men prefer slim women. I have only ever dated men who kept a strict eye on my figure. My partners are not only boyfriends but weight-loss coaches.”
Are you saying that our healthy, normal relationship is somehow flawed because I am not afraid of pizza? Because I can get a cold, decide I can’t be bothered putting my eyeliner on and he will put tea on instead of marching out of the flat in shock that I am less than perfect? Who, in your self-serving opinion, is in the wrong here? Should he be frog-marching me to the scales once a week, and taking away my pocket money if I’ve put on a pound or two? Or should I be an inconsiderate cow and throw away any gifts of chocolate I get, making sure to ruin them utterly in case they crawl out of the bin and try to invade my tiny stomach at night?
I am sure that both you and your husband are delighted in your arrangement, and I wish you every hope of happiness for your future together. Now, why can’t you do the same for other women? Why must you insist that our bodies are inferior because we don’t starve ourselves every three months? Why must you demand that we wear skirts at all times, lest our lovers leave us for a more feminine form? Why must you claim that your way is the only way?
Samantha Brick quote:
“I fainted with hunger on one occasion – a minor hitch, eclipsed by the fact that I was being asked out on lots of dates.”
Frankly, my dear, if I knew you personally I’d be having words with that husband of yours. If he was married to any other woman but you, his behaviour would be abusive. You seem to like it, so I’m going to let that slide. But it is clear to me that things are not alright in your world, or in your head. You probably have an eating disorder. You’re not on a diet. You’re starving your body of what it needs to satisfy the voice in your head that says fat is failure. That’s your prerogative, really. But you’re telling other women that putting on a couple of pounds is a reason to deny themselves food. You are dangerous. Your opinions should no longer be published.
The Daily Mail has a reputation for crap anyway. Many sensible people already boycott it. The Daily Mail relies on sensationalist idiocy like your columns to continue their sales. They most likely know that 90% of the readers of your articles are just laughing at you, or condemning you as a dangerous idiot. Do yourself, and the rest of the world a favour. Stop writing this stuff for them. Let them sink without abusing you. And, I don’t know, write children’s stories about princesses.
Just don’t try and tell the next generation to be men-serving self-denying bimbos who live to starve and can’t even accept a friendly gesture.
