Fat as a Criteria for Parental Worthiness

I know Edna Turnblad is a character and that in the most recent film she was played by a man: John Travolta. But who wouldn't love having a mom as supportive as Edna, even if--or because--she is a little unorthodox. Well, the courts might just say that Edna wasn't a fit mom if she were in a custody battle, simply because she doesn't fit society's criteria of physical fitness.

This is a response to this blog post.

Bringing someone's body type, sexual preference, or religion into things is erroneous and bigoted. As is attempting to use a controlled, functional mental illness against a person. The only thing that should be considered is this: is the person a good parent?

There was a situation I remember in which the children were automatically awarded to the mother when it was apparent to anyone with a grain of sense that the father was the better parent. The mother was always calling the police and trying to get the father in trouble for things that the police themselves knew weren't true, such as the time she claimed he "raped me and threw me from a moving van." There wasn't a scratch on her. These calls were weekly and equally ridiculous each time. His older children knew nothing their mother said about their father was true. The younger ones had no idea what was going on. 

My son is the product of a good divorce. I asked him once whether he had any psychological problems from the fact that his father and I were divorced. He said "no, but I got sick of bouncing from house to house. It was kind of chaotic sometimes." That was all.

To think that the courts think it's okay to use a person's body type as a criteria for whether or not they're a good parent astounds and disgusts me.