Why Katie Hopkins Must Be A Very Unhappy Woman

Why Katie Hopkins Must Be A Very Unhappy Woman
Katie Hopkins at the Oxford Union.
Alamy
Katie Hopkins at the Oxford Union.

Katie Hopkins must be the happiest, most content woman on this planet. How could she not be? A woman so perfect, so omniscient, so utterly unassailable on any issue she surely must float through life on a cloud of fragrant joy. But I am worried about Katie, for she doesn't seem quite as ecstatic as her self-appointed position atop a pedestal of righteousness should make her.

I don't know about you, but when I am happy I am all smiles, filled with an infectious joie de vivre that can't help but spill over into the rest of my life. I am the first to admit when insecurity bites I can be pretty unpleasant, but when I'm on top of the world I am nothing but sweetness and light. Hence my deep concern for Katie.

You see she seems to celebrate her own unarguable achievements by dishing out contempt, hatred and disgust to those less fortunate than her. When I lost six stone a couple of years ago, following that same path from size 18 to size 8 that Hopkins has trodden for her new TV show on TLC, it never occurred to me that an appropriate reaction would be to pour scorn over the poor fatties I had left behind.

When asked for advice by those who wished to use my own weight loss as an inspiration I would share the 'secret', such that it is, of my success. Just as Hopkins is so eager to point out, it really is just a simple matter of eating less and moving more. But unlike her I know that what looks easy from the outside, can be like climbing Everest in slippers from the inside.

Hopkins seems to think that pointing out how simple the science behind weight loss is provides the perfect stick with which to beat anyone who fails to maintain that perfect size 10. A strange and warped logic from a woman who I now fear might not be quite as happy as I first imagined.

Why does it bother her so much that others are too stupid to follow her example? Why does it get under her skin so much that while she is so wrapped up in her outward appearance that when overweight she was unable to have sex as her fat body disgusted her so, others might not suffer the same insecurities? Why does she think her own success gives her the right to pour vitriol over those who continue to struggle?

Maybe it is because she knows she has so little to offer beyond a slender physical exterior that she is so keen to kick those who don't appear to prize looks as highly, or who fail to agree that being slim makes you a better human being.

The vast majority of people aren't stupid or lazy. Perhaps they do take the path of least resistance, by indulging in a takeaway at the end of a hard day more often than they should or opting for a slice of cake and latte rather than a three-mile run. Yes, perhaps all of these normal people could do with a bit of a kick up the bum, or some inspiration to change their habits for the better, but who appointed Hopkins as the judge, jury and executioner in the case against the fat?

The concept of her show is that we must all subscribe to the idea that she is somehow a superior being, a woman who we should all aspire to. That she can show us the path to a better life by proving how simple it is to cast off our lard laden bellies and emerge as sleek butterflies just like her.

The problem is that if I think about my life I wonder do I want to be slim, but bitter, vindictive, harsh and filled with hate for those ordinary folk who don't live up to my ideals? Do I want to look beautiful and desirable on the outside, but on the inside have a heart filled with malice and cruelty?

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Do I want to be a nasty piece of work, who looks fantastic in a designer dress?

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Or would I rather be a bit fatter, perhaps a bit uglier, a bit less desirable, but with oodles of empathy on the inside? I have been slim and I have been fat. Yes when I was slimmer I did look better on the outside, and perhaps I was healthier, but was I better, cleverer, superior? No, I was just the same imperfect being, because no matter what the haters might have us believe, fat people are just the same as slim people, they just weigh more.

I simply don't buy the line that being slimmer makes you somehow superior and after looking at the evidence presented by Katie Hopkins, I am now entirely convinced it doesn't make you happier. But I am prepared to revise my opinion if Katie could do one thing to prove that being so slim and so clever makes her a better person. All I ask is that she illustrate her greater intelligence by obeying the wise adage 'If you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all'.

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