# Feederism (?) in Mary Worth!!



## BeakerFA (Apr 17, 2006)

I wouldn't have known about this if it weren't for the invaluable Comics Curmudgeon who reads the funnies so I don't have to. It seems that the moribund and utterly unreadable soaper strip Mary Worth has kicked off a little tale about a "fat" woman who must improve herself (diet) for fear of losing her looks and her control freak husband who insists on telling her that she looks fine the way she is (gasp!) and shoving forkfuls of greyish-yellow food substances towards her face (ick!). I think we all know where this is heading. The husband is one of those vile caricatures straight out of early 70s classroom films that comes with a laundry list of "warning signs" permanently superimposed over him. The biases and assumptions inherent in the strip's writing would be laughable if they weren't held by 85% of the American public. Almost as worrying is the notion that two people are earning a good living writing and drawing a strip wherein more than a week's worth of installments feature three people sitting around a table emitting brief bursts of empty, hackneyed dialogue.

The strip is being archived at the Wasington Post site. Read it and weep.


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## WouldBeFeedee (Apr 17, 2006)

I had high hopes of a story line of this type when it cropped up in some dire lunchtime medical series on BBC One. It began with the woman (played by an exceptionally cute SSBBW actress) being encouraged to overeat by her partner. Her protestations of already being too fat were met with assurances that he liked her the way that she was.

Anyway, it turned out that this caricature of a bad tempered, controlling, jealous partner was trying to keep her fat so that no-one else would find her attractive. In the end, she dumped him and decided to obey doctors' orders and lose weight. Most unsatisfactory.

The moral of this story?... 
*1. *Every fat woman would rather be thinner. 
*2.* Everyone who says they prefer a larger partner must have some sort of personality disorder. 
*3.* If someone says they like your current [large] shape, they're only saying that to keep you fat so that no-one else will want you.


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## Timberwolf (Apr 17, 2006)

WouldBeFeedee said:


> *1. *Every fat woman would rather be thinner.
> *2.* Everyone who says they prefer a larger partner must have some sort of personality disorder.
> *3.* If someone says they like your current [large] shape, they're only saying that to keep you fat so that no-one else will want you.


 
 :doh:  I always get the reps... err, creeps when I hear these kind of prjudices. I could get mad hearing this. 
Personality disorder? Yeah, they mostly call it a "mother complex". If this would be right, those guys preferring those skinny chicks with no figure at all might be secret paedos, or what?  
Ok, now I feel better. I just had to get rid of it. This has been tormenting for years now. 
   :bow:


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## Boteroesque Babe (Apr 17, 2006)

This is hilarious. Thanks for hipping us, Beaker. I didn't know Mary Worth was still alive. And you're right about the husband. The open collar and slicked back hair are a dead giveaway. In future episodes, he'll surely be sporting an ascot and a maniacal laugh.

And dig how they (and most media) portray "the fat woman." They just give her baggy clothes and an unhappy expression. No real fat can be visible.

That chick needs to be Sonntagged. For THAT, I'd read Mary Worth.


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## missaf (Apr 17, 2006)

Boteroesque Babe said:


> This is hilarious. Thanks for hipping us, Beaker. I didn't know Mary Worth was still alive. And you're right about the husband. The open collar and slicked back hair are a dead giveaway. In future episodes, he'll surely be sporting an ascot and a maniacal laugh.
> 
> And dig how they (and most media) portray "the fat woman." They just give her baggy clothes and an unhappy expression. No real fat can be visible.
> 
> That chick needs to be Sonntagged. For THAT, I'd read Mary Worth.




Yeah, Ned would do wonderful work with Mary


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## TallFatSue (Apr 17, 2006)

Gadzooks, I haven't seen Mary Worth in ages, and I'm probably not missing much. I'm approaching 50 at alarming speed (well, 49) and this reminds me of another comic strip in the dim recesses of my memory. Does anyone remember *Robin Malone* in the late 60s or early 70s? Maybe I have it wrong, but I seem to remember a plotline about Robin Malone's plump lady sidekick who sold her soul to the devil to be thin. Everyone raved about how great Lady Sidekick looked, but then somehow she broke the pact and instead of losing 100lb, Lady Sidekick gained 100lb all in one comic and ripped most of her clothes! I would have been between 10 and 14 years old then, and grappling with my own weight issues as a girl at that awkward age. Wish I'd saved that comic, because it's been in the back of my mind ever since, especially a few years later, when I began to feel empowered by my size instead of ashamed of it. Kinda like: yeah I'm big and fat, but at least I have my own soul now.

Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Maybe somebody out there can set me straight.


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## Mini (Apr 17, 2006)

Boteroesque Babe said:


> This is hilarious. Thanks for hipping us, Beaker. I didn't know Mary Worth was still alive. And you're right about the husband. The open collar and slicked back hair are a dead giveaway. In future episodes, he'll surely be sporting an ascot and a maniacal laugh.
> 
> And dig how they (and most media) portray "the fat woman." They just give her baggy clothes and an unhappy expression. No real fat can be visible.
> 
> That chick needs to be Sonntagged. For THAT, I'd read Mary Worth.



Sonntagged = Teabagged, but by Ned?


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## NintendoXcore (Apr 17, 2006)

Hmm. Perhaps its a sort of roleplay!???!?!??? Dun dun dunn.

She: the innocent yet abused fat girl falls in love with an older male. Only to find out that he enjoys her size and attempts to get her to love it! And only by coaxing and displaying his outright love for her shape is able to do it.

Nah, that'll never be media worthy.............lame. 



-This post braught to you in-part by viewers like you.


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## Jack Skellington (Apr 17, 2006)

I'm just surprised Mary Worth is still being done.


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## Jes (Apr 17, 2006)

Jack Skellington said:


> I'm just surprised Mary Worth is still being done.


yeah, but only by that creepy guy 20 years her senior!


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## Jay West Coast (Apr 17, 2006)

Jes said:


> yeah, but only by that creepy guy 20 years her senior!



*chuckles*


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## Ned Sonntag (Apr 17, 2006)

John Sanders, son of one of the original writers of the strip, died last year after writing MW for decades... Karen Moy, the lovely:smitten: assistant of Jay Kennedy who oversees all King Features strips, took over and has been trying some very interesting avenues. Joe Giella inked Silver Age GREEN LANTERN for DC Comics starting during the JFK administration, as well as BATMAN when they updated the look a few years later... it is awesome that he's still working. So Karen may very well have the Nedster in mind ... she's a petite Chinese-American but I always flirted with her:wubu: ... Giella may actually be drawing himself here, having never met me... so that could be why Feeder Guy looks rather 'mature'...


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## EtobicokeFA (Apr 17, 2006)

Mary Worth is still going?


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## herin (Apr 17, 2006)

Mini said:


> Sonntagged = Teabagged, but by Ned?



Ok, am I the only one who got that? Or am I the only other sicko in the room? :doh:


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## Zoom (Apr 17, 2006)

While this has been going on, Brenda Starr's Gabby was dancing yesterday with a chef who is apparently a murderer or something.
http://www.comicspage.com/comicspag...0416csbsr-s-p.jpg&code=csbsr&dir=/brendastarr


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## Littleghost (Apr 17, 2006)

Boteroesque Babe said:


> That chick needs to be Sonntagged. For THAT, I'd read Mary Worth.



Or Beaker'd. Or... nevermind, I'll quit while I'm ahead.

Still believes Family Circus must be stopped before it kills again,
--Littleghost


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## MADGator (Apr 17, 2006)

Ugh, this is another example of why I now call it the comics page, despite an inborn desire to call them the funnies. I prefer seeing reruns of Calvin and Hobbes to a lot of the crap out there. There are a few good ones still, some old, some new. I wish Aaron McGruder would hurry back and make more Boondocks. Quite a few "classics" need to go, Mary Worth included. I was glad to see Gasoline Allley go, I swear it was like the strip had Alzheimers....and took every holiday off! We should all write our local papers and ask them to can Mary Worth. We should also write Gary Larson and beg him to bring back the Far Side. He quit for fear of becoming mediocre...but his mediocrity would be a diamond in the rough among the slag that fills the comics page. If there is anyone who can stick up for our lifestyle, though, it's Garfield. Does anyone else find it prophetic that this strip ran 2 days after I was born?

http://www.garfield.com/comics/comics_archives_strip.html?1984-ga840216


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## NintendoXcore (Apr 17, 2006)

Heheh I just showed that garfield comic to my girlfriend. She loved it. :wubu:


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## falloftroy7 (Apr 18, 2006)

NintendoXcore said:


> Heheh I just showed that garfield comic to my girlfriend. She loved it. :wubu:



Indeed i did


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## Jack Skellington (Apr 18, 2006)

Jes said:


> yeah, but only by that creepy guy 20 years her senior!



That actually took me a couple of hours to figure out.


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## Jes (Apr 18, 2006)

Jack Skellington said:


> That actually took me a couple of hours to figure out.


awwww. sweet little jack. sweet, dumb little jack.


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## Buffetbelly (Apr 18, 2006)

Zoom said:


> While this has been going on, Brenda Starr's Gabby was dancing yesterday with a chef who is apparently a murderer or something.
> http://www.comicspage.com/comicspage/main.jsp?catid=1147&custid=69&file=20060416csbsr-s-p.jpg&code=csbsr&dir=/brendastarr


 
He's also an FA with a memorable feeder line: 
http://www.comicspage.com/comicspage/main.jsp?file=20060411csbsr-a-p.jpg&refresh_content=1&component_id=3&custid=69&catid=1147&dir=%2Fbrendastarr


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## Wilson Barbers (Apr 19, 2006)

Just caught up with this strip - perhaps the strangest aspect of it is the way Kelly Stirling's hair color keeps changing from weekday to Sunday installment. Perhaps she's some chameleon/human hybrid?


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## BeakerFA (Apr 19, 2006)

Why, Mary! You catty old hag!






Lou _doesn't_ want his wife to slim down? A MAN who DOES NOT WANT his WIFE to be _SLIM??_ That's _CRAZY talk! _ I'm sure that can't be it. Nope. No way. Nuh-uh.


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## Jes (Apr 19, 2006)

He looks another 5 years older than he did yesterday! eek.
Maybe there's some sort of fairy tale spell that's been placed--the fatter she gets, the younger he looks--and he's goin' for broke!


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