Anna Wintour in Minnesota: People Are Little Houses Here

May 18, 2009

"I'd just been on a trip to Minnesota, where I can only kindly describe most of the people I saw as little houses. And I just felt like there’s such an epidemic of obesity in the United States. And for some reason everyone focuses on anorexia."

On 60 Minutes last night, Vogue editor Anna Wintour recounted a recent trip to the Midwest and her "concern" with America's obesity crisis. It might surprise Anna that Minneapolis, MN, was ranked America's third most fit city, while New York City came in fifth on "the top fattest cities" list.

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45 Comments

biarose 3 years 31 weeks

She is really quite ugly.

3 years 35 weeks

Hahaha yeah its true there are a lot of fat people here, but I don't think its fair to say most of us are "little houses". I'm one of the size 2's here in Minnesota, but I don't think that someone who looks like a corpse should be saying anything about anyone.

3 years 44 weeks

ROFL go anna!

3 years 50 weeks

Wow... the horror she would have felt in some of the states where obesity is truly an epidemic. This Minnesotan, who apparently is as big a house, would like a little bit to fall on her. Do you think I'd then become the owner of her Jimmy Choos?

3 years 51 weeks

I also live in Minneapolis and would like to know where Ms. Wintour was in our fine state. To say that "most people" here, or anywhere, are overweight is pretty silly. Minnesota is consistently voted in the top three healthiest states of the nation, but maybe Ms. Wintour doesn't understand the difference between "healthy" and "fat." Just because someone isn't a size zero doesn't mean she's the size of a little house.

lickety split 3 years 51 weeks

i don't think being editor of vogue means you get to say rude things and pass judgment on an entire state. isn't she who the main character in devil wears prada was based on? she also told oprah to lose weight. i'd have hung up on her ass. hey anna; go have another latte and chill.

3 years 51 weeks

I think that an article that focuses on healthy eating, exercising and weight does not address the deep rooted illnesses of eating disorders and addictive personalities. It is too simple to say that if you are fat -- you need to do this or, If you are too thin -- you need to do that. There are programs and specialists that deal with these people and their baffling diseases every day. Maybe an article that says if you try these things over and over and are not getting anywhere, If you are too scared to try, because you instinctively know you will fail, if you feel that even trying is too hard for you, THERE ARE PROGRAMS for people like you. 12 step programs, hospital programs, eating disorder clinics etc. It is too simple to say that the things that would work for someone who does not have an eating disorder would work for an anorexic/bulemic/compulsive overeater. Many times they don't and the constant beating down from discouragement wears away at these people who are suffering in silence. They are living in that house without a prayer that there is a way out... show them real alternatives not hype that works for normal eaters--that stuff is in the media every day. GIVE THEM REAL HOPE.

dd sugar 3 years 52 weeks

Ha! I had that same haircut when I was five! (over 40 yrs ago!) I live in LA's melting pot and you just have to be accepting of everyone to get along. Work to change it if it bothers you. I try to get involved at the kid level 'cause that's where you can make the most impact.

angell23 3 years 52 weeks

Wow...I live in Minneapolis and am pretty sure I've seen just as many obese people in New York and everywhere else in the country. I agree that obesity is a huge issue and needs to be addressed, but for someone like Anna Wintour, being the editor of such an iconic fashion magazine, she would do more good focusing on anorexia, a serious problem, especially in the fashion world. (and not insulting Minnesotans!)

katherinev 3 years 52 weeks

I think she's got it backwards?

kurniakasih 3 years 52 weeks

She's irrelevant to me. Yayy, 1 point.

beautifulmel 3 years 52 weeks

Well done, Anna.

cupcakers 3 years 52 weeks

I live in Minnesota and people here are not all obese, obese ppl ARE everywhere and in NYC, but of course Anna lives in a bubble with her NYC circle so...they all prob are like her. I don't care for her because what she says is irrelevant.

Symphonee 4 years 9 h

why does she continue to speak without using the natural filter of tact? She makes a half-a$$ed valid point, then again everyone else would look like a house to her since she is about the size of paper.

ShelleyHFan 4 years 12 h

Transgenerational therapy deals with the past of anorectic families. It is believed that anorexia can develop out of beliefs that a family has held over generations. In this type of family, daughters are expected to fulfill the role of a devoted and sensitive person. In bulimic systems, therapy centers on particular treatment for perfect, overprotective, and chaotic families. In this type of therapy, an alliance is created within the family (Killian, 1994). One model for treating bulimics is the transgenerational model. In this model, the family legacy is examined. Purging is seen as a symbol for rejection of the family's love or other intangible things. Object relations/family systems model looks at what is termed ego deficits. Ego deficits occur when the mother was insufficient in giving loving care. Therefore, this therapy aims at correcting the ego deficits. The internal family systems model looks at parallel interactions within the family. It examines the internal and external pieces of the family and the individual simultaneously (Killian, 1994).

ShelleyHFan 4 years 12 h

The dynamics of a family are also related to the onset and continuity of anorexia and bulimia. Minuchin et al. found that enmeshment, rigidity, lack of conflict resolution, and overprotectiveness contribute to eating disorders. Heron and Leheup have found that anorectic families tend to be characterized by enmeshment. However, bulimic families report that they are less involved with one another as well as perceiving themselves as less cohesive. Kog and Vandereycken found that eating disordered families show more stability and less openness when discussing conflict between parents and children. Root et al. has identified three types of families that contribute to eating disorders. These families are the perfect family, the overprotective family, and the chaotic family (Killian, 1994).

ShelleyHFan 4 years 12 h

I know she is talking about weight but when she says "little houses" I can't help but think she is reffering to their clothing. It's generally very cold in N. Minn and people bundle up. Other than that no one is saying Anorexia isn't important but it's very different from obesity and people act like it's something you catch from sneeze when in fact it's deeply psychological and anorexia has, I'll go out there for ya here, NOTHING to do with fashion. Yes, some or a lot of fashion people are obssesed with weight or dieting and fitting an ideal but there is a serious difference between that and a full on eating disorder.

4 years 15 h

Wow is all I can say. An apology is in order. To point out what specific state you were in and call all the people there "little houses" is unacceptable. I have lived in MN my whole life and I don't see obese people everywhere, it is just like every other state, there are people of all sizes. I'm glad I don't read Vogue and now I never will. If anything maybe this will keep people away from the great state of Minnesota, and I am fine with that.

blondie829 4 years 16 h

she's just a huge b!tch. i think i'm done buying vogue.

RachLA 4 years 1 day

I <3 MN! Anna Wintour can suck it.

Blackwood 4 years 1 day

she might be right, but there are certainly better ways to say it. it's funny that living in NY she didn't notice it earlier... it's probably because she's used to deal with extremely thin people at work and once she's is at a place where's she's out of the fashion world environment, people must suddenly appear huge in her eyes. I'm sure some of the people she thought were big were actually in their healthy weight. I'm not saying she didn't see genuinely obese people, or that she doesn't have a point though.

tarall10 4 years 1 day

I agree as well choochoo, both extremes need to be addressed, because neither are healthy (or attractive for that matter). I lived in MN (Minneapolis) for 5 years, and I would hardly describe the people living there as being so big as looking like little houses. My guess is to her though, anyone bigger than a size 4 is the size of a little house.

dm8bri 4 years 1 day

Agreed, choochoo. People on either side of this argument have a valid point, but overall we need to be health conscious on a spectrum - if you're starving yourself it's unhealthy, if you're binging, it's unhealthy.

CHOOCHOO 4 years 1 day

Why not just focus on the fact that being too big OR too little is unhealthy? It's sounds like this coming from her: "Don't pick on anorexics!'

telane 4 years 1 day

HAHA TammyO!!! She really does look like a gelfling!!! Back on topic, I am guessing that Anna lives in some sort of bubble filled with fashion industry waifs and doesn't get out much, otherwise she would know that this is and has been a real problem throughout the ENTIRE country for quite a while now, and people and the media have been focused on it for quite a while as well. It's not just Minnesota, it's not just the Midwest. It's California, it's New York, it's Florida, it's Illinois, it's everywhere. You have to step outside of the normal places you frequent if you say that it's not the case in your state. There are both fit/healthy as well as chronically overweight/obese people scattered throughout the country. Just because there aren't many (or any) fat people in her gym/office/parties/social circle does not mean that there are fewer where she lives. This comment makes her sounds really ignorant, in my opinion. I also agree that she is an extremely overrated and quite frankly, sounds like a complete b*tch.

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