Thin is Not Necessarily Fit

(This letter was sent to Scarsdale10583 by Lainey Hellman of Scarsdale) The carousel of storefronts at Depot Place has taken another turn; now, we have been given "The Skinny Buddha" to try and taste and see if it will live up to the standards of the train station's true stalwart, Dunkin Donuts. As we walk to our cars from our Soul Cycle classes or wait for the commuter line to Grand Central, we are greeted by a Buddha with a six-pack of abs telling us that we, too, can become Skinny Buddhas! Ignoring, for a moment, the blatant appropriation of a sacred cultural symbol (more on that later), what is the message that a so-called "fitness" oriented cafe is sending when it's logos, mottos, and decorations are all of or related to thin people (or thin Buddhas)? Simply, that thinness is fitness; thinness is health. Simply, that is not true.

Everything about the way The Skinny Buddha presents itself is inherently fatphobic. The name and message imply that you must be thin to be interested in fitness and healthy eating. Adorning the store windows are silhouettes of thin ladies on exercise balls, cleaving to the harmful and incorrect prejudice that fat people are always unhealthy or unfit and that thin people are the picture of good health. Are you allowed in The Skinny Buddha if you are not skinny? Business sense says yes, of course, but the cafe is clearly not a welcoming place for those who might be interested in eating healthfully but don't fit the body standard that is literally thrown in customer's faces before they even walk through the door. Thanks, but I'll take my iced coffee at Dunkin Donuts, judgment free.

The Skinny Buddha is one of the many misinformed voices telling the public that being fat is wrong, that you cannot be both fat and fit, and conversely, that being skinny always means being at the apex of physical health. In addition to actively perpetuating these myths, the cafe uses the Buddha to do it. I don't know much about Buddhism, but, as one of the world's major religions, I am pretty sure that it does not exist for one of its sacred symbols to be misappropriated by a Westchester fitness cafe. Moreover, the cafe physically contorts Buddha into the Western standard of a fit man. Again, I'm no expert, but I do know that Buddha is not famous because of his well-documented love of Cross Fit, kale, and tight abs. Cultural symbols are not to be molded like Play-Doh and used on a whim- Buddhism deserves as much respect as we give Western religions. Maybe people would care more if the cafe was called "The Sexy Moses" or "Jesus's Six-Pack".

As a final note, I have no problem with what The Skinny Buddha, at its core, is trying to do. Providing healthy, on the go options is a great idea. I probably would have found myself there plenty of times if it weren't for the name and marketing. It's great to have choices of what to eat, and providing another, healthier one next to our old friend Dunkin is a wonderful idea. However, we should never be judged if we decide to go with a donut instead, because thinness is not health. Being fat does not equal being unhealthy or unfit. Being fat is not a personal flaw. Here is something that is a flaw: creating an environment where only one body type is acceptable, and callously appropriating and distorting a historical and cultural symbol.