Watch this: news anchor takes down man who calls her fat

Jennifer Livingston is a news anchor for WKBT-TV in Wisconsin. And she is awesome.

Earlier this year Jennifer received a letter from a viewer who took issue with the fact that Ms Livingston is overweight.

“Obesity is one of the worst choices a person can make and one of the most dangerous habits to maintain,” the letter said. “I leave you this note hoping that you’ll reconsider your responsibility as a local public personality to present and promote a healthy lifestyle.”

Helpful. Yup. Thanks for that.

Now there are a myriad of ways Jennifer could have responded to that email. She could have taken to her bedroom and cried, she could have laughed it off publicly and kept how hurt she was to herself… but instead Jennifer chose to be: awesome.

Take a look:

If you can’t view the video then here was our favourite part of what Jennifer said:

“The truth is I am overweight. “You can call me fat and yes, even obese on a doctor’s chart. To the person who wrote me that letter, do you think I don’t know that? Your cruel words are pointing out something I don’t see?”

“You don’t know me. You are not a friend of mine. You are not a part of my family, and you admitted that you don’t watch this show so you know nothing about me besides what you see on the outside — and I am much more than a number on a scale.”

Exactly. All of us. Each and every single one of us is so much more than a number on a scale.

Wise words from a wise woman. And a responsible public personality if we’ve ever seen one.

Do you think women on television are subjected to too much scrutiny about how they look? Do women face more scrutiny than men?