Outrage after kids asked to wear fat suits for school play

A Regina mother is upset that two kids at her daughter's high school wore fat suits to represent overweight lead characters in the play "Hairspray."

"I would absolutely be offended by them trying to put my daughter or anybody in a fat suit. I find it repulsive," Tricia Leis tells The Canadian Press about Campbell Collegiate's production.

"Something that we tried to point out to them was using a fat suit is pretty much the same as putting a white kid in blackface. Ironically, the fact that nobody recognizes (the suit) as offensive is part of the problem that people face."

Leis insists that her objections are unrelated to the fact that her daughter was not selected for a role in the play.

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"Hairspray" is about a girl who gets rejected from a television dance show because she's overweight, but eventually proves her worth, wins a role and become a celebrity overnight. Taking place in the 1960s, the play also tackles the issue of racial segregation.

A spokesperson for the Regina Public Schools says the use of fat suits was never intended be disrespectful or encourage ridicule.

"The role was never acted in a disrespectful way. It was always done so very sensitively, respectfully, and with all of the intent that the original playwright John Waters had in representing the transformation, the pride and the ability of all people, regardless of size, to achieve their goals," says Terry Lazar.

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Yet Leis notes that while the school carefully considered racial diversity in selecting student roles, teachers did not give the same thoughtfulness to overweight students.

She says the lead role would have been perfect for a plus-size girl because it sends a message to those who may be struggling with low self-esteem and fat-shaming.

While the issue of poor body image among women has historically gotten the royal treatment from academics, the topic has gained further momentum in recent years as young women take to online social networks with self-deprecating "jokes" about their bodies.

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"What happens is that even if you engage in fat talk and don't mean it, the message seeps into your subconscious and eventually, you'll start to believe it," Robyn Silverman, a body image expert and author of Good Girls Don't Get Fat: How Weight Obsession is Messing Up Our Girls, tells Yahoo Shine.

As celebrities speak out against the trend, a few companies have even jumped on the anti-fat-shaming bandwagon.

Special K recently released an ad campaign featuring supermodel spokesperson Tyra Banks telling women to stop the "fat talk."

And earlier this year, Dove released a video showing how women's perceptions of their beauty are often out of step with reality.