Why Is It OK to Fat Shame Guys?

Few parts of our celebrity tabloid culture feel surprising or offensive anymore.

We’ve seen it all, we’ve heard it all, and we’ve learned to weirdly accept it and ignore it at the same time.

We deconstruct stars’ bodies because we put them on that pedestal, we made them that money, we built them up, and we can tear them down.

RELATED: When fat-shaming happens to men, it’s particularly harsh

But the headline “Oversized Rob Kardashian Sneaks Out of the House to Get Burger,” brought with it an unexpected wave of sadness. “Oversized.”

Oversized is a hell of a word to call someone, especially someone like Rob Kardashian, who despite his Kardashian-ties has not sought the spotlight in a long time, and whose battles with depression are well known.

In October, a website wrote, “Jonah Hill Is Fat Jonah Hill Again.”

In the spring of 2014, TMZ headlined a story, “Leonardo DiCaprio’s Fat Beach Body - Leolardo DiFlabrio.”

When This is 40 came out, Men’s Fitness asked, “Is Jason Segel Believable as a Personal Trainer?”

In January, Howard Stern said Sam Smith’s “an ugly motherf**ker. He’s fat.”

And years ago, in an Esquire cover story, the magazine describe Vince Vaughn thusly: “His face is full, puffy enough to make him sometimes look as though he’s fighting to keep his eyes open…His shirt is open at the collar, probably because it has to be. It’s also open at the waist. Even from across this crowded restaurant, it’s possible to see a jumbo slice of Vaughn’s naked belly. It’s too much to ignore, this great golden acreage.”

And here, depending on who they are talking about, we decide whether the media is being unfair or not.

Everyone loves crooner Sam Smith, so we might say “Ugh, Howard Stern, like you’re so handsome!,” but maybe with someone like Vince Vaughn, who always comes off as a bit of a douche (we can’t tell if it’s typecasting or not), we just read it and chuckle inside, “Well, he’s telling it like it is,” we might think of the writer. But all through this, a part of me feels like, well, the guys are finally getting the same treatment as the girls do. Equality!

Sure, except not really. Because weight isn’t really a factor when it comes to the professional success of these “fat” celebrities called out in the media.

We can make fun of Leolardo DiFlabrio, because regardless of the girth of his belly, he will continue to cavort with models half his age on a boat somewhere in Spain or Italy.

When we ask whether Jason Segel is “believable as a personal trainer,” it is because Jason Segel already got the job, filmed the movie, got paid, and is now promoting it. There is nothing a man can do that will take away his value, his desirability, his marketability (no really look at Woody Allen, Chris Brown if you have any doubts).

For men, talent, money, status, credibility trumps all.

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For women, meanwhile, their weight is the end-all, be-all of their value.

Kim Kardashian makes the news because she’s fat, even though she was pregnant; Carrie Underwood makes headlines because she allegedly “wears a size 2/4 dress” three months after giving birth.

But of course, Underwood is not afforded the luxury of not losing that baby weight immediately. Underwood needs to wear a tight dress to perform, to make the money to support that baby. Underwood’s body, even when birthing another life, is not truly her own.

RELATED: Former Fat Girl Becomes Beauty Queen

We ask, when will women be treated like men?

When will they be asked important questions on the red carpet rather than what they’re wearing, when will their bodies be allowed a natural progression into older age, knowing full-well that perhaps this time will never come.