Tyra Banks recently added a whole new meaning to the phrase, “walk a mile in another persons’ shoes.” In this case, the shoes were those of a 350 lb. woman.
Banks, former supermodel for Victoria Secret as well as creator and host of her new talk show, “The Tyra Banks Show,” chose to go undercover in a fat suit to get a first-hand experience of daily life for an obese person. “It was one of the most heartbreaking days of my life,” Banks stated in an article by the Associate Press.
According to People magazine, Banks immediately noticed a reaction after leaving the studio. ” I started walking down the street and within 10 seconds, a trio of people looked at me, snickered, looked me right in my eye and started pointed and laughing at my face…I had no idea it was that blatant.”
In addition to riding the bus and shopping, part of Banks’ experiment was to go on three blind dates. Banks told the Associated Press that after asking one of her dates what their parents would say if he brought her home, the man responded, “they would be like ‘what’s wrong with you?'” After Banks revealed her true identity to the man, he was shocked, but admitted that he would not have dated her as a 350 lb woman.
On her show, which aired Nov. 18, Banks shared several thoughts on the experience. “Obesity seems like the last form of open discrimination that is OK.” She continued by saying, “There is no excuse for rudeness. There is no excuse for ugliness. And there is no excuse for nastiness and that is what I experienced.”
“I think what she did was cool,” stated Emilie Smith, a senior at Plymouth State University. “She was willing to see the other side of things and most people don’t care.”
Going undercover in a fat suit is just one of the segments Banks has aired on her show concerning her body. Earlier in the year, she underwent a sonogram. Soon, Banks plans on having endermologie performed on her behind for the show. Endermologie manipulates the epidermis (skin) by pulling, suction, and massage to reduce the appearance of cellulite.