TikToker Creates Petition Demanding The FAA "Protect Plus-Size Travelers" And Provide Obese People An Extra Plane Seat For Free

It's estimated that 42% of Americans are clinically obese, while 70% of Americans are overweight. Obesity has been plaguing the United States for several decades, but as the numbers get worse, our culture finds new, innovative ways to accept obesity rather than eradicate it. Regardless of how many plus-size influencers and celebrities, like Tess Holliday or Lizzo, attempt to glamorize obesity and shatter beauty standards, obesity is the leading contributor to some of the most common causes of death in this country, from heart disease to stroke to many types of cancer. However, rather than encouraging people to get healthy and reverse the metabolic disorder that affects nearly half of all Americans, we're seeing a rise of influencers and social media campaigns that tell obese individuals to embrace their body, not improve their wellbeing. One TikToker in particular has started a petition to give obese individuals an extra seat on an airplane—free of charge.

TikToker Creates Petition Demanding the FAA "Protect Plus-Size Travelers" and Provide Obese People an Extra Plane Seat for Free

TikToker @jaebaeofficial has 128,000 followers and calls herself an advocate for "plus size travel." Much of her content focuses on flying on various airlines as an obese person who struggles to fit into normal-sized seats. In one recent video, she explained that she wears a 6XL in clothes and can't fit into an economy seat on Southwest Airlines, so she buys two seats and subsequently is reimbursed afterwards by using the Southwest Airlines customer size policy.

In another video, she answers the question of whether a 600-pound person can travel on a plane. "The short answer is yes," she said, adding that she has done "extensive research" into airlines and their policies and she hasn't found that any airline will weigh their passengers before they get on the plane.

One of her recent videos features @jaebaeofficial entering a grocery store using a motorized chair. In the background, she talks about accessibility being for everyone. "Nobody should feel ashamed or embarrassed for using the tools they need to navigate the world," she says.

But in her latest videos, she implores her followers to a new petition she has just created, claiming that obese individuals deserve to be comfortable on a flight, no matter what size clothes they wear.

"So you want to hear my hot take on plus-size travel and why I think every plus-size traveler should get a free second and even third seat on an airplane? Then you better keep watching and sign my petition to make some real change," she says. "Let's just state facts: plus-size travelers need more space, and many people agree that plane seats are too small, even for the average-sized person."

"As a plus-size traveler myself, I know how uncomfortable and unsafe it can be to squeeze into a tiny airplane seat. We are not asking for special treatment or luxury accommodation. We simply want enough space to travel comfortably and safely without fear of being discriminated against because of our size. It's truly that simple," she continues. "Let's work together to make air travel more inclusive and accommodating for everyone."

The link to her petition is available in the link of her bio and it's entitled "Demand for the FAA to Protect Plus-Size Travelers."

The video has been widely shared on other social media platforms, where people are criticizing her demand for airlines to change their policies in order to fit her outlandish needs. Airline seats are infamously small and can be uncomfortable for people who are larger or taller than average, but it's just as absurd for an obese person to demand an extra seat for free as it is for a 6'5 person to request for the seat in front of them to be removed for proper leg room. What's particularly puzzling is she claims that she's not looking for any "special treatment," yet in the same breath she is demanding that airlines give one or even two additional seats to her and other obese people—for free.

Although there's no need to treat people cruelly for the way they look or whatever their health status is, it's ridiculous for "plus-size individuals" to expect a normal society to turn itself upside down and cater to their abnormal needs. If a person needs two airline seats to fit themselves in, perhaps the problem is them, not the airline. Our culture is unfortunately averse to personal responsibility and instead convinces people that society needs to bend over backwards for them.