CaliguBulimia

In a recent DJ, Bruni got at the question of how New York's skinny white women stay that way:

Once Jennifer and I got to our table at Comme Ça, I noticed that almost everyone around us was quite thin, underscoring a paradox of the restaurant scene in many cities* right now.

Fatty, hearty comfort food is in, but the people ostensibly supping on it have bodies that have clearly been protected from it, at least most of the time.

Unfortch, there's no book deal in the offing, 'case New Yorkers stay skinny the old fashioned way -- not eating:

...it’s the special trick of the ultra-skinny person who likes to project an image of not caring or having to worry about his or her weight. This person oohs and aahs to excess over the existence of incredibly decadent dishes on the menu; orders the most decadent one; makes a big flurrying show of utensil movement, doing lots of vigorous (and calorie-burning?) cutting and forking and spooning.

But when you look closely at this person’s plate as it’s being removed, you realize that most of the food is still there; it’s just a jigsaw-like Picasso of its former form. You nonetheless hear this person moan, “Oh, I am so, so stuffed!”

Not many folks seem to care that this is like seven different kinds of wrong forming into a Voltron who coming to tell us that these, indeed, are the Last Days - Caligula-steez. And there's enough blame for one and all. A culture that encourages conspicuous consumption, Thorsten, hollering atcha, lawya! Restaurateurs who serve unfeasibly large portions. A culture that demands women who look like youth soccer players (dirigibles moored to chest optional), and the women who accede to this pathology. The result is food that gets thrown away, and that makes me mad, and La Depressionada fucking pissed. To clarify, it is the simulation of conspicuous (caloric) consumption that is the problem here. Bruni indicates that the process of simulating a hearty appetite renders the dish unviable as a leftover, or that asking for a doggy bag would reveal the lack of a meal consumed. It is disingenuity, stemming from conflicting social pressures (Eat! Be Skinny! ) that produces the deliberate waste of food. Where have you gone, Lillian Russell?

*I stand by my New York modifier. Bruni's borrowed the Maddencruiser for the winter, but across the board, your Kansas City featherweight is your NYC bantamweight, at least.

Comments

[Marco]

These people should bag their food and give it to a homeless shelter. Then food banks wouldn't be so stretched out.