This is not a good week for Cintra Wilson. The rage against the “Critical Shopper” columnist has hardly subsided since she wrote in the Times on Wednesday that the mannequins at Manhattan’s first JCPenney were “obese” and that she couldn’t find a size 2 on the racks. Because while Manhattan may be full of outspoken snobs, the middle of the country doesn’t have quite as many. And guess what? They still get the Times there. Wilson has apologized on her personal blog three times, but WWD rakes the issue over the coals again today with a roundup of thoughts from Middle America.
A business writer at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel saw the piece, and wrote, “We should invite her [Wilson] to the Wisconsin State Fair and force-feed her a cream puff!” Meanwhile, a blogger at the Houston Press responded with an article, “Times Writer Dumps on Texas’ JCPenney, Because We’re Just So Damn Fat Here.” Writer Richard Connelly said, “It’s difficult to take in just all the sneering aimed at us corpulent, tasteless slobs between the coasts, but we’ll try.”
Wilson tells WWD she has learned a valuable lesson.
“It is interesting — if a big [sic] frightening — how much rage this article generated,” Wilson added. “It did show me that weight issues in America are far more intensely painful for people than I ever previously realized. This hot button is so freakin’ hot, it is thermonuclear.”
Oh, critics. She’s gone from analyzing JCPenney to analyzing the fat. Yesterday was a good time for her to stop talking, but today is even better.
Earlier: Times: JCPenney Is for the Fat and Tacky
Cintra Wilson Apologizes for Scathing JCPenney Review [Updated]
