Chloe Marshall

Have you heard of her? She's the size 16 Beauty Queen Contestant from Great Britain.

Inside Edition*, that bastion of Pulitzer-quality journalism, ran a story on her today. Following are some narrative and quotes from the story that were available on the Inside Edition website. As best I can tell, none of the commenters have ever met the girl, and yet feel free to presume to be experts on a number of things, including her eating habits, her character, and in one instance, even make predictions with a certitude that puts Sylvia Browne to shame concerning the girl's future size:

Airdate: 4/8/2008

She's a far cry from your average bikini-clad beauty queen. Chloe Marshall tips the scale at 176 pounds. Even so, her knockout smile and fuller figure helped her win first place in a beauty pageant.

But now she's triggered a savage debate about her presence in the world of beauty contests, a world almost exclusively ruled by the slim and shapely.

One pageant expert says, "Chloe ought to own up to the truth. She is fat, and she got that way by overeating."

Chloe, who is studying to be a beautician, is 17-years-old, and stands 5'10" tall, with a 38DD bust.

"I'm very happy about the way I am, and my weight, and my body size," says Chloe. She insists she eats healthy meals and exercises. She was heavy even as an adolescent, and now describes herself as "an ambassador for curves."

But Chloe's claim that she is a role model for larger women has triggered an astonishingly personal attack by a former Miss England judge. The woman, a dietician, wrote in a newspaper: "Chloe is a terrible role model. If Chloe is so overweight at barely 17, one shudders to imagine just how fat she will be a few years down the line."

A reader commented, "It makes me mad when people like Chloe are allowed to glamorize obesity."

Like my granny always said, there's just not much you can do with stupid.


*I watch Inside Edition. I like Deborah Norville. Sue me.