Far-right YouTuber Sydney Watson has left many outraged after she demanded "reparations" from American Airlines for having to sit between two "obese" people on a recent flight.
Watson's YouTube channel focuses mostly on anti-feminism and a seemingly outright obsession with transgender people. But she's also dedicated plenty of space in her feed to mocking racial justice and decrying the fat acceptance movement.
Watson combined those last two for her rant about her recent flight, which went viral on Twitter and even elicited a response from the airline.
See her tweet below.
WARNING: fatphobic language
\u201cI am currently - literally - WEDGED between two OBESE people on my flight.\n\nThis is absolutely NOT acceptable or okay. If fat people want to be fat, fine. But it is something else entirely when I'm stuck between you, with your arm rolls on my body, for 3 hours.\u201d— Dr. Sydney Watson (@Dr. Sydney Watson) 1665443285
Watson began her thread by saying:
"I am currently - literally - WEDGED between two OBESE people on my flight."
"This is absolutely NOT acceptable or okay."
"If fat people want to be fat, fine. But it is something else entirely when I'm stuck between you, with your arm rolls on my body, for 3 hours."
Of course, an easy fix for this problem is to simply pay the extra money to request a window or aisle seat when booking your flight.
But in fairness, sometimes we have to fly last-minute, and the already shocking dearth of personal space on planes, let alone a middle seat, is vexing to say the least.
But Watson's rant seemed to be more about hating fat people than hating planes, mainly because at no point did she complain about planes' tight quarters in general.
She opted instead to just hurl insults at overweight people.
\u201cI don't care if this is mean. My entire body is currently being touched against my wishes. I can't even put the arm rests down on either side because there's no fking room.\n\nI'm sick of acting like fatness to this extent is normal. Let me assure you, it is not.\u201d— Dr. Sydney Watson (@Dr. Sydney Watson) 1665443285
Going on to say "I don't care if this is mean," Watson then set about attacking one of her pet obsessions on her YouTube channel, the notion of fat acceptance.
She tweeted:
"I'm sick of acting like fatness to this extent is normal. Let me assure you, it is not."
What credentials does Watson have to make such a claim? None that we could find—though she refers to herself as "Dr. Sydney Watson," we were unable to find any evidence she even is a doctor, let alone what kind of doctor she might be.
That didn't stop her from offering her mean-spirited advice to fat people anyway.
If you need a seat belt extender, you are TOO FAT TO BE ON A PLANE.
Buy two seats or don't fly.
— Dr. Sydney Watson (@SydneyLWatson) October 10, 2022
As you might guess, Watson's Twitter thread sparked outrage among decent human beings and votes of support from conservatives.
Emphatically not on her side, however?
American Airlines, who responded to her thread thusly:
\u201c@SydneyLWatson Our passengers come in all different sizes and shapes. We're sorry you were uncomfortable on your flight.\u201d— Dr. Sydney Watson (@Dr. Sydney Watson) 1665457565
The airline wrote:
"Our passengers come in all different sizes and shapes. We're sorry you were uncomfortable on your flight."
Pretty sure that's corporate PR speak for "pound sand, jag-off."
Of course, Watson wasn't about to take the backlash sitting down.
Instead, she took the opportunity to add her other expertise—mocking racial justice—to the discourse by doubling down and demanding "reparations."
\u201cSo we are clear -\n\nI stand by everything I said. And have come to find out what happened to me went against American Airlines own policies regarding overweight passengers.\n\nI'd like some reparations pls.\u201d— Dr. Sydney Watson (@Dr. Sydney Watson) 1665804586
She tweeted:
"So we are clear -"
"I stand by everything I said..."
"I'd like some reparations pls."
If you were looking for a perfect encapsulation of right-wing ideology, you'd be hard pressed to find a better one than a white woman comparing being inconvenienced for a few hours on a plane to the 400-plus years of slavery, economic marginalization and racist violence to which Black people in America have been subjected.
Her defiance did very little to tamp down the dragging she got on Twitter.
\u201cReparations? Jesus tone deaf much.\u201d— Gabriel Power (@Gabriel Power) 1665826434
\u201c@SydneyLWatson I would think a doctor could afford first class. But maybe there was no first class available LOL. So you had to endure what us poorer folks get to put up with. I\u2019m playing the world\u2019s smallest violin \ud83c\udfbb\u201d— Dr. Sydney Watson (@Dr. Sydney Watson) 1665804586
\u201c@SydneyLWatson "What happened to me" - what a drama queen you are.\u201d— Dr. Sydney Watson (@Dr. Sydney Watson) 1665804586
\u201cReparations? Hahaha get over yourself and grow up\u201d— Joey (@Joey) 1665870861
\u201c@SydneyLWatson They can't discriminate. Next time, take a first-class ticket.\u201d— Dr. Sydney Watson (@Dr. Sydney Watson) 1665804586
\u201c@SydneyLWatson I think the real problem isn't the fat people, but the airlines making the seats ever-smaller to squeeze a bit more profit out of the flights.\n\nIf American's position is that passengers come in all sizes, then their seats should be designed to accommodate those sizes.\u201d— Dr. Sydney Watson (@Dr. Sydney Watson) 1665443285
\u201c@SydneyLWatson Interesting choice of words\u2014reparations. Are you sure their weight wasn\u2019t the only reason you didn\u2019t want them touching you? Careful, don\u2019t let all your bigotry show at once.\u201d— Dr. Sydney Watson (@Dr. Sydney Watson) 1665804586
\u201c@SydneyLWatson Wow she's horrible and stands by it. Wondering what happened to her at some point in her life that broke her like this. .\u201d— Dr. Sydney Watson (@Dr. Sydney Watson) 1665804586
\u201c@SydneyLWatson @SydneyLWatson lady, if space and luxury is so important to you why not fly first class? Why didn\u2019t you speak up and asked to be moved in the first place instead of complaining on social media. People are so entitled nowadays.\u201d— Dr. Sydney Watson (@Dr. Sydney Watson) 1665443285
\u201c@SydneyLWatson I mean, you prolly could have gotten yourself an aisle seat. I would never buy a middle seat. \nI work in aviation, you could have also spoken to flight attendant prior to take off. \nI always just travel southwest and preboard, they have open seating.\u201d— Dr. Sydney Watson (@Dr. Sydney Watson) 1665443285
Luckily, American conservatism has an easy solution for Watson, since she's Australian.
If she has a problem with America's fat people she can always just leave and "go back where she came from," like right-wingers always tell anyone else who complains about America.