Jennifer Lawrence kicked up a bit of a fuss when a clip of her saying it should be illegal to say a woman is "fat" started making the rounds. The statement came during an interview with Barbara Walters; you can watch below:
Via Jezebel, here's the relevant portion of the transcript:
And the word fat. I just think it should be illegal to call somebody fat on TV. If we're regulating cigarettes and sex and cuss words because of the effect it has on our younger generation, why aren't we regulating things like calling people fat?
Some have suggested that Lawrence was joking, but I don't think she was. Just watch that video. There's no wink wink nudge nudge going on. She seems legitimately frustrated. And—if we're being totally honest with ourselves—what she's saying isn't unreasonable given the current state of the Nanny State.
The Nanny State already tells us what we can and cannot put in our bodies, like trans fats. The Nanny State heavily regulates and taxes products it deems to be bad for us, like cigarettes. The Nanny State has, for decades, been trying to regulate entertainment products deemed to be unhealthy for us, like video games. The Nanny State is currently hard at work defending vulnerable children from words that hurt their feelings, like bullying. One of our closest allies has actually outlawed models who might hurt the self-esteem of little girls, like those who are deemed "too thin."
"But this is freedom of speech, our most cherished principle!" you might be crying. Allow me to play devil's advocate and point out that freedom of speech isn't that cherished. We outlaw fighting words. Neither libel nor slander is legal. We have some sort of nebulous concept of illegality when it comes to obscenity.
And think of all the social science! Oh, there's so much "science." So much, indeed, that we can prove just about anything. You think I couldn't hand the Supreme Court a whole stack of studies showing that "fat-shaming" leads to eating disorders and lowered self-esteem and depression and suicide? Why aren't we helping our most vulnerable by protecting their precious little ears from speech that might hurt them? As I've noted above, the government stops you from hurting yourself in any number of ways. When it comes to hurting someone else—and words can hurt as much as sticks and stones, contra the old saying—doesn't the government have the right—nay, the responsibility!—to step in and do what's right? To help our little girls and boys get through the day without hating themselves? If it saves even one life...
Look, I'm not going to get mad at Jennifer Lawrence for this. She's just a product of our time. And our time is one that is more than happy to restrict liberty if it means protecting those we have deemed to be vulnerable. If you want to get angry at anyone, get angry at the folks who have taught her that it's okay to ban words.