I've been contacted by a reporter from ABC News about a story he's working on. Near as I can tell, he saw a link from my Facebook page to one of my rants on how fat people are treated, and though I might be able to help him.

Over the last few years, there's been a new phenomenon that's been occurring, generally among college-age males where they go to bars, get drunk and see who can pick up the fattest woman. In general, the goal is to get laid and then kick her out, humiliating her. What the reporter finds most disturbing is that this is becoming something of a "structured deviant activity" (his words,) and is getting popular enough that people can now even buy merchandise online to brag about their participation. He referred me to an article published a couple years ago in the Cleveland Scene newspaper that explains more of what its all about. I haven't been able to read the whole thing yet - I just keep getting too angry, but what I've read explains what is going on pretty well.

He says that different regions of the country have different names for it, including "slump-busting," "hogging," and "big game hunting"

Right now, he's got a lot of information from guys who engage in it, but he wants to speak to some women who are familiar with it happening or, if they're willing, women who have been targeted this way. He understands that some women will want to keep their identities secret if they opt to talk to him, and says he will respect that.

I talked to him for about 20 or 30 minutes and he seems sincere in his view this as a very negative thing (and pointed out that if the guys are using alcohol to get the girl, it could go from being a deviant practice to a criminal act.) He says he's not comfortable doing the story without presenting the other side of it - allowing the victims of this form of exploitation the opportunity to explain why its wrong. We talked a bit about how some people will justify something like this with the classic "she did it to herself (got fat) so she deserves whatever treatment she gets..." and he indicated he's aware that isn't always the case and that he might also be interested in presenting information as to why that attitude is wrong - that there are other factors in people gaining weight.

Anyway, I not really an appropriate person to appear as part of the piece (mainly because of my age, disabilities and unfamiliarity with humiliating women as some kind of competitive sport,) but I think it's an important story that should be told, and wanted to see if anyone here was more familiar with it, or - Gods forbid - has been a victim of it. He has given me permission to give his name, phone and email to anyone interested in speaking to him, but I'd rather not just post it in a blog. If you're interested in speaking to him, let me know. Like the reporter, I understand that some would prefer to protect their identities, and will respect that also - I'm not gonna go around and tell anyone who asked for his info or anything, ok?

Thanks for taking time to read this, and let me know if you'd be interesting to talk to him, or know someone else who might.

Thanks!!

Kriselda