I’ve noticed a lot of commercials for a new TV show on ABC Family. The show stars Hairspray star Nikki Blonsky, and Hayley Hasselhoff (yes, David Hasselhoff’s daughter). The show is called Huge, and it’s about overweight teenagers at fat camp, based on the book by Sasha Paley. But unlike shows such as The Biggest Loser which empower overweight adults to lose weight and get healthy, the previews for Huge seem to glorify obesity. It’s all about being happy with your body — a good thing — but previews feature Blonsky’s character earnestly asking why she should have to change if she doesn’t want to. The idea being put forward seems to be that it’s OK to be obese. “Everyone wants us to hate our bodies,” Blonsky’s character says. “Well, I refuse to.”
Should someone who is obese hate their body? Well, no. Hate is an awfully strong word. But the way this show presents obesity as just another lifestyle choice, one that’s perfectly fine to make, is wrong. And it’s especially wrong considering the show is about teenagers, and directed towards teenagers.
Interestingly, Blonsky was interviewed about the show, and she says that her weight hasn’t affected her career at all.
The experience for me has been that it doesn’t really matter if I’m plus-size or not. It’s just been really interesting characters that people either want me to play or think I can play. I’ve been really fortunate that people haven’t put me in a box and said, “Oh, you’re just going to play the plus-size girl.” My new movie (“Waiting For Forever”) that’s coming into theaters in the fall, I play a young mom [who’s] married. That script wasn’t for a plus-size girl. It was just for a very caring person who could play a mom and they thought I was a good match. So, no, [casting is] definitely not based on my weight. It’s based on the weight of my talent and the weight of my heart and what I put into my projects.
I hate to be Debbie Downer here, but that’s a flat-out lie. Her new movie may be the exception, but Blonsky has done very little work in Hollywood besides Hairspray, where she played an overweight teenage girl. Aside from that movie, she has appeared as a guest star in a few TV shows, and starred in a made-for-TV movie called Queen Sized, which is about… an overweight teenage girl. Now she’s starring in a television show about… an overweight teenage girl.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure Nikki Blonsky has been typecast by Hollywood.
I agree with Blonsky on one point from her interview. It is incredibly frustrating that all actresses and models have to be a size 2 or smaller. It isn’t realistic, and I would love to see a more realistic portrayal of women in the media. Glamour has done a great job with this, featuring plus-size models in a normal way. A lot of times, magazines will throw in a token feature about plus-sized women, but most of their clothes and articles feature bone-thin models with their clavicles sticking out. Instead of going that route, Glamour made a commitment to start featuring plus-sized models on a regular basis in their magazine, and from what I’ve seen so far, they’ve held to it. But.
But the definition of plus-size in the modeling world is not exactly the same thing as what Nikki Blonsky is advocating. Plus-size in the model world is usually somewhere between a size 8 to a size 14, and the size 14 is usually on the large end. This is about the average size of an American woman today (size 14). Consider two plus-size models that Glamour has been regularly featuring. The first picture is of model Lizzie Miller, who had the following photo in an article in the magazine — and its the photo that started Glamour on its path to plus-size enlightenment.
Then there’s Crystal Renn, a formerly anorexic model who stopped starving herself and embraced her curves. She’s now at a healthy weight and looks like this:
Glamour also ran a feature on embracing plus-size models that included the following photo:
Renn is the girl in the front leaning forward, and Miller is draped across her back. I thought all of the women in the photo looked sexy and beautiful. Crystal Renn wears a size 12. Lizzie Miller wears a size 12-14. This is normal… and it isn’t unhealthy.
Compare these photos to the size of Nikki Blonsky and the other teenagers in the trailer for Huge. Not only is Nikki Blonsky considerably heavier than the above-mentioned models, but she’s also shorter. She’s only 4’10”, so weight goes a lot farther for her than it does for a model who is 5’10”. Nikki Blonsky clearly seems to be on the obese side of the spectrum, and morbidly obese at that. Why should we celebrate morbid obesity?
This has been happening lately on a disturbingly widespread scale, and it is primarily focused towards women. Women are told, over and over again, to embrace their bodies the way they are, even if they’re overweight. Don’t change! Love your curves! Your boyfriend will still love you even if you gain fifty pounds! Don’t be ashamed, be fat and be proud! You’re beautiful just the way you are!
While fat women shouldn’t be shamed, telling them they don’t need to change doesn’t help them either.
Feministing has chimed in about this show, and unsurprisingly, they’re praising it. Anything that could be construed as a negative comment about being overweight is, of course, anti-feminist and misogynistic because you’re upholding the values of a patriarchal society, or some crap like that. One commenter had the audacity to suggest that we aren’t doing obese women any favors by celebrating obesity:
Being anorexic is no better or worse than being obese, and neither should be glorified. I agree that people of all sizes should be given the decency to be given roles that are not focused on their weight or label them as the token “fat” person. People are people, regardless of their size.
However, I will not get on this feminist kick that obesity, and the support thereof is OK. I find it as being a true disservice to women. I know that there will be people on here who want to argue that they are 50 pounds overweight and healthy, and that is just delusional. It’s not healthy. Why is Nikki Blonsky eating herself to an early grave? That is a FEMINIST question I would like to see addressed.
Acceptance of people of all sizes is one thing…telling women it’s ok to be obese is another. I see a lot of the latter going on on this website. Women are dying in this country left and right because they are obese. How is enabling this feminist?
This common-sense, logical, reasonable thought was quickly and overwhelmingly criticized by the majority of the other commenters. This article, which says that being fat can be healthy, was frequently cited. The blog it is from is about “fat acceptance”, and the author gets her information about how being overweight can be healthy from a blog titled “Junk Food Science”.
Hmm. Color me skeptical.
Here are the facts about obesity. Right now, about 1/3rd of Americans are considered obese. Obesity is currently the number two cause of preventable death in the United States, behind tobacco — and obesity is well on its way to reaching the number one spot.
Some of the health consequences for obesity in adults, from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) include increased risks of the following: coronary heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancers (endometrial, breast, and colon), hypertension, dyslipidemia, stroke, liver and gallbladder disease, sleep apnea and respiratory problems, osteoarthritis, gynecological problems – and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. There’s an even more exhaustive list here and here. Simply put, it’s easy to see that being overweight or obese is not healthy and leads to a much poorer quality of life, if not an earlier death.
And that’s just obesity in adults. Childhood obesity is much worse (and let’s not forget, this TV show is about teenagers). Children and teenagers who are obese are more likely to be obese as adults, and to have much higher risks for numerous health problems.
This acceptance and glamorization of obesity reminds me of how Hollywood used to glamorize cigarettes. Today, of course, smoking is commonly known to be dangerous. People still do it, but it isn’t looked at in a positive light. And while in our greater society fat people are still looked down upon, there is certainly a movement to be more accepting of fat. Does that really help people, or does it just send them down a more comfortable path to an early death? If someone chooses to be obese, then hey, that’s their choice, just like someone can choose to smoke. It doesn’t mean it has to be a choice that’s accepted in our society as just another lifestyle choice.
I can agree that it would be great if we got away from the current anorexic standards in Hollywood and had more realistic representations of women. But that doesn’t mean we need to go to the completely opposite side of the spectrum, and start glamorizing obesity. We’re getting fatter and fatter in the United States, and right now, we need to be promoting truly healthy lifestyles.
Just because you don’t approve of starvation, it doesn’t mean you have to be for gluttony. We aren’t doing anyone any favors by promoting such an unhealthy lifestyle.
Being a feminist nowadays means believing women shouldn’t be subject to any standards whatsoever. Except for those imposed by feminists.
There are at least twelve other ideas about feminism that have become popular, even though people are afraid to give them voice around feminists. If feminists want their movement to be taken seriously, they need to provide compelling evidence destructive to these ideas. Or at the very least, put some energy into doing that.
Not much energy going in that direction. You couldn’t light a 60w light bulb with it. It’s sad.
Awesome post, Cassy.
Lizzie Miller has about two inches and forty pounds on me, and, I’m sorry, that’s normal for her height and is NOT “plus-size” in any sense of the word. (No, I don’t think that we all need to be vegetarian half-marathoners.) So I do sympathise with people who get upset about super-skinny models, because it’s extreme, unhealthy, and stupid. Women’s healthy bodies come in a variety of gorgeous, sexy shapes, and we should embrace that.
But this show isn’t about loving your body, because part of that love is treating it well. Accepting morbid obesity is just as stupid as anorexia, just as harmful to women’s perception of themselves, and just as bad for their bodies.
Excellent post, Cassie.
Every one of those women in that bottom pic are sexy as hell as far as I’m concerned.
Am I permitted to air another beef? This actually came up Friday night when we had dinner & drinks out with a couple of my girlfriend’s former co-workers. This one REALLY chaps my hide.
In the days of Skinny-Elvis — the customer whose ego you wanted to inflate, was not a shrew with latent Daddy-issues or a mouthy little kid, but a straight white man aged 35. James Bond was permanently 35. Superman looked like a boxer or a wrestler, and you just new he had muscles but nobody bothered to pencil ’em in. It was a man’s world.
Women and cars have been morphed over the last 55 years exactly the same way. If a Thunderbird hit you, your body would inflict about as much damage on the car as it would on a freight locomotive: None. You’d be barely recognizable after scraping up against the T-Bird, just like up against the locomotive. It was a big beautiful boat, mostly steel. If you loaded it onto a truck, the leaf springs sank down toward the pavement in acquiescence.
Cars were manufactured and sold and bought to please men.
Women and girls were dressed up in skimpy clothes with their flesh displayed to please men.
Nowadays, cars are tin and plastic things. You get hit by one of these, and you’ll probably fare much better than the car. This after men have been culturally told to go take a long walk off a short pier. It is a natural consequence of that. Nobody denies this.
Women have a body shape I described on Friday night as “a broomstick upturned with two water balloons dangling from the handle.” Yes you’re damn right it’s unhealthy…
Here’s what cheese me off. While everyone is ready to admit cars are being built in an anti-man mold — and isn’t that just so progressive and wonderful — the female body figure that’s ninety pounds soaking wet is all our fault. It is precisely the same pattern of miniaturization, but the one with a woman’s body shape is more craven and cowardly because the entire male sex has to be used as a scapegoat for it.
But most of the men I know, aren’t any more fond of the less-hefty less-curvy less-substantial female physique, than we are of the planned-obsolete gossamer Fisher-Price “bench press it” econo-box automobile. Both of these things were done contrary to our wishes, but we’re being blamed for one of them.
You know why my eyes are bulging out in this photo? http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/4031/no20asscs3.jpg Know what I’m thinking? I’m thinking “Holy mackerel, I’d better not bump this girl up against anything or she’ll probably break!”
Females nowadays are lovely, especially the ones who are too young for me, but most of ’em need to eat a sammrich or two.
I just got back from Vegas. I went to only one buffet and most of the people there were HUGE. Many of them were riding scooters because they couldn’t walk. One guy could have easily needed a cart just to carry his belly. The average weight was probably about 250.
The part that was more shocking was seeing the tourist women in Vegas all dolled up for the clubs. They were spilling out of their tiny dresses. I suppose some of them were just a bit chubby and not unattractive, but their dresses were WAY to small for them. Regardless of how you’re proportioned, you have to dress for your size and not how you’d like to be.
Other women were just bloated and I guess Vegas was the only place they could hook up. Beer goggles for everyone!
Our national average life expectancy is not lower than other countries for lack of health care. It’s a function of our diets, lack of exercise, smoking, alcohol consumption, and genetics.
Here’s what cheese me off. While everyone is ready to admit cars are being built in an anti-man mold — and isn’t that just so progressive and wonderful — the female body figure that’s ninety pounds soaking wet is all our fault.
Morgan,
When Miss Michigan became Miss America, I don’t recall any men pointing out the obvious: this girl needs pizza and ice cream, stat.
Roxeanne,
The hourglass figure of Marilyn Monroe, like the TBird, has become a distant dream for us. We’re generally not allowed to criticize anything female in a public setting, and we have become accustomed to not getting our way.
Speaking for myself, I do recall hearing some comments about Miss A to the effect that a few more pounds would be healthy. And some of them did come from men; we talk differently in the company of our own. At least, my smarter brethren do.
Smithwick says: I visit feministing from time to time for the humor value. And an interesting thing occurred to me: all the stereotypes about feminists that they claim to hate, they themselves fit to a T.
The notion of modern feminists being fat, hairy, manhating lesbians infuriates them. Then they write articles describing how it’s their choice to be “plus sized” (usually upwards of 300 lbs) and to forgo shaving (take that patriarchy!), and of course every other sentence mentions some beef they have with men (to get a similiar level of hate directed at an entire group you’d have to go to a neo-nazi site).
If you don’t like the stereotype then stop reinforcing it.
And yes, they are correct to point out that being anorexic is unhealthy (for that matter I know of very few straight men who prefer that look over a more athletic and healthier version). That doesn’t mean that the opposite (morbid obesity) is healthy. The more I read about these folks the more I get the impression that they are sad lonely women looking to have the behavior that keeps them sad and lonely reinforced. No it’s not your fault that people find you unattractive, no need to put down that cheesecake. Being 800lbs is sexy, the patriarchy just lies to women to convince them otherwise.
That and they seem to think that only women have a beauty standard applied to them. How many morbidly obese men do you see with their shirts off on the cover of magazines? There is a reason we don’t care for that body type: it is objectively unhealthy and evidence of low self-esteem and laziness.
Smithwick says: Sorry for that rant, this subject just happens to irritate me.
Morgan: as for the smarter brethren: yes and no. It’s not smart for men to look at women and start railing on them for being fat (even if the women in question are whales), but, if you were to say that a woman looks like she could use some ice cream, or that a few curves are sexy, then women will be relieved.
We only hear men say those things in passing, and usually only in a context in which it sounds insincere.
Now, as for men not getting their voices heard: sorry, but I’m a capitalist. Just as I refuse to buy Cosmo or any other magazine that treats women like sex objects, men are free to not buy anything that an anorexically skinny woman is selling.
Now, maybe it’s because my very manly father doesn’t seem to mind driving normal sedans and cares more about reliability and fuel economy than about “manliness”, and one of my engineer/motorcyclist/mechanic friends just built a tiny convertible for himself, but your comments about how cars are now “womanly” or whatever is making me laugh more than anything else. Honestly, it sounds a lot like how feminists say that the world is a big, scary, sexist place because tools don’t come in pink.
I mean, how secure in your masculinity can you be if you’re whining like this?
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Lee Cascio says: It is unfortunate that obesity is being glorified like this. I don’t buy for one second it is a question of “loving who you are” as we are able to change our body composition to whatever we want. Every single one of us can do this save a small small few who may have real endocrine system problems.
Hollywood does put out false standards that I can certainly see where feminists would have issues with. And really absolute weight is not the issue, it is shape. The fertile shapes of both men (X figure) and women (hourglass/pear figures) are built into our DNA simply because they represent what healthy fertile individuals look like. So this “be happy about being fat” is not about being yourself, but about not caring enough about your health. And this has more costs than just eyesores. Healthcare costs are through the roof and life expectancies may be dropping. The 1/3 and growing number of Americans who are obese are going to cost a fortune when they get into their 50’s and above and start having bypass operations, diabetes meds, hospital visits, home visits, etc… And these costs will unfairly be spread around to all of us. And why? Just so people can irresponsibly exercise no control over what they put into their mouth day after day.
Melinda P says: I can’t believe women actually think obesity is sexy! Okay, I will admit, I’m one of those women who was born with the metabolism of a teenage boy. I am naturally around 110 lbs, but I eat!!! I hate how these fat women need to feel better about themselves, so clothing companies are making the sizes larger to fit these slobs who won’t put down the cheesecake! I can’t find clothes to fit me right, and I haven’t gained or lost weight. (Okay, pregnancy, but I’m not pregnant right now.)
Not every woman is supposed to be a size 2! Not every woman is supposed to be a size 12! I think the women in the photo that were “normal” looked great! If you met one of those women on the street, you’d think, “Wow, she’s pretty.” Loosing or gaining weight wouldn’t be a thought about them.
I think we need to get to a place where women are happy with the body they have. Sure, people think it’s nice to be skinny because, “you can wear anything”. I’m here to tell you being thin is not all it’s cracked up to be because it’s tough. Women need to wake up and realize that healthy is sexy, not being a size 2!
I mean, how secure in your masculinity can you be if you’re whining like this?
You know, this is how we’ve managed to get so far off course. Man says “Such-and-such has been happening and it doesn’t make sense” and the feminist response is “You’re Whining!” and the man says “Oh dear my masculinity is being challenged I’d better stay quiet so people will go back to thinking I’m strong and silent again.”
Two things I notice about this:
One, to remain silent when silly things are happening, for no higher ideal than to avoid the criticism of strangers, is the real antithesis of manliness. So if this is really where you think I’ve lost any claim to manhood in your mind, then I thank you for the compliment.
Two: Whining is much closer to what you’re doing, isn’t it? Here’s this guy on the Internet whom you don’t know and you’re never going to meet, saying he likes the American automobile and female torso much better the way they used to be made & marketed, compared to now. Odds that this will impact you in any way whatsoever: Absolute zero. But it chips away a little at the victim-status of females, and so here you are with the smack-down, doing your individual incremental contribution to keep the victim racket going.
I just don’t know what to tell you Roxeanne de Luca. I’m a dude, I know other dudes, most of us like big tits and the hips & thighs that go with ’em.
Now, as for men not getting their voices heard: sorry, but I’m a capitalist. Just as I refuse to buy Cosmo or any other magazine that treats women like sex objects, men are free to not buy anything that an anorexically skinny woman is selling.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t know of very many men at all who buy Cosmo. In fact, that supports my point doesn’t it? Cosmo is a chick magazine, for chicks, printed up & sold by chicks…and it’s been about as responsible as any other brand for promoting the broomstick/baggie figure style. So the men are mostly, perhaps completely, exonerated thanks to you. It’s not us, we got a bad rap, thanks for proving my point.
andycanuck says: So this isn’t a thread about Obama from the neck up and the MSM?
Never mind.
Considering just the beauty side and ignoring any health issues: Why do certain people talk as if there are only two possible attitudes toward beauty: Either judging a person totally and solely based on their physical appearance, or not noticing physical appearance at all? OF COURSE it would be wrong and stupid to refuse to hire a woman as an auto mechanic because you don’t like her hair style. But I’m not going to pretend that I don’t notice if a woman is pretty before I ask her out on a date. And anyone who says that he doesn’t notice … frankly, I just don’t believe him.
I’m a bald, overweight old man. I have no illusions that women will fawn over pictures of me. But I don’t claim that they should, nor do I begrudge better-looking men taking advantage of that fact.
Most of us are not great football players or violinists or physicists or whatever. I don’t therefore conclude that being proud of one’s ability at any of those things is necessarily selfish egotism, or that praising someone for such abilities is cruel and insulting to those who are not so capable. Why can’t we each be proud of our own achievements, without denigrating areas where others surpass us?
Frankly, I think the majority of women could be beautiful if they cared enough to make the effort. Sure, some are born with advantages in this area and some are born with ugly deformities. But 90% of beauty is keeping your weight under control, styling your hair, and dressing well. If you don’t think it’s worth the effort, fine, that’s your decision. If other women do make the effort, let them enjoy the benefits.
Robyn says: Cassy great post!! I think those women in the pictures are beautiful and sexy. The video girl not so much…..
Badger Nation says: Certainly there are people with health issues that prevent them from controlling their weight. But that is not most people.
Most people do not keep teenage metabolisms through their thirties, but neither does extreme weight gain “just happen.”
As I get older I see a new type of Freshman Fifteen…call it the Post-College Ponch. I think it comes from people still drinking like they were in college as their body stops acting like it. In women’s case, I can’t overlook the heavy use of mixed drinks, with a double whammy of alcohol and high-sugar juice or soda. Our youths are growing up in a consequence-free environment, so it’s natural they don’t understand where food goes when they eat it/drink it. I wondered if widespread use of birth control might be part of it, but I read that weight gain strictly due to the hormones is rarely above 5-10 lbs.
Badger Nation says: I couldn’t make it through the entire preview. I feel like this is gallows humor, desperately trying to make some humor out of a horrific situation.
Our youths are growing up in a consequence-free environment…
Spot on.
A hundred years from now, the stuff we today call “feminism” will be remembered as an attempt to stigmatize any & all criticism of anything female be it legitimate or not — which is the original subject of this post — while simultaneously anointing the females with authorities and powers of sufficient weight that they are traditionally thought to be inextricably intertwined with such scrutiny and criticism. Up to, and including, declaring babies to be non-human so that they can be killed.
In that time, it will make about as much sense as medicinal blood-letting makes to our era. It will be viewed in the same light as that with which we recall the Eugenics movement of the early 20th century. Rights, responsibilities — they’re inseparable from each other. Nature corrects us each time we presume otherwise.
valerie says: I think it’s good to have images of big women and men for the world to see. Some people do indeed overindulge and get fat. Others, have to deal with the consequences of thyroids that won’t work properly and other such ailments. And when you are one of the unlucky, stuck with a size that isn’t easy to fit, it’s nice to see it up on screen or in a magazine. It’s not glorifying, it’s just about identifying.
I think of John Goodman. He was fat and he was a star and I never once read that he was gross or ugly. There have always been fat entertainers. It’s fine.
Goodman was always thought of as sexy and a good catch. Now, he’s slimmed. Good on him. But I think it’s great to have actors and models who are willing to just do their jobs, whatever their size. Isn’t that what the real world is like? Can you imagine John Candy thin? He was who he was.
Healthy is what counts. Fat is not always healthy, but neither is skinny. People die for lots of reasons and even for no reason. If you live happily and you happen to be big, is that such a problem? Should you spend your life feeling bad about it when there are people out there who can eat all day long and not gain an ounce? Who do you inconvenience being fat? Airlines need to update the seating – it’s based on measurements from the 50s!
I personally would love to see the meds finally work and the weight come off. But if it never does, should I just feel bad about myself until I die? Why should I? So, other people will assume I’m fat because I am a glutton, or lazy, but I know it ain’t so.
If you’ve never been fat, you can’t really have compassion for anyone who is. If you really believe that people are fat by choice, you are blind to human nature, to genetics, and to how culture and society are what we are and not what make us.
Badger Nation says: “If you’ve never been fat, you can’t really have compassion for anyone who is.”
This is simply an attempt to shut down debate…we see this “you don’t know what it’s like!” argument with issues like rape, abusive spouses, autism allegedly caused by vaccines, single mothers, even waiters who complain about their tips. Everyone wants their point of view to be immunized from criticism.
“Should you spend your life feeling bad about it when there are people out there who can eat all day long and not gain an ounce?”
I don’t really really see how “it’s not fair” is a good excuse for the status quo.
“I think of John Goodman. He was fat and he was a star and I never once read that he was gross or ugly. There have always been fat entertainers. It’s fine.”
Yes, but Goodman played a lot of roles where coming off as a stereotyped schlub was part of the role – on Roseanne, Babe Ruth, a con man in Matinee, Fred Flintstone. Sam Kinnison and Chris Farley were big guys and hawked personas of borderline short tempers; in real life they wre disturbed individuals as many comedians are and used hard drugs. They never portrayed themselves as “fine.”
“Goodman was always thought of as sexy and a good catch.”
Really? He’s funny and he’s an actor with the money and status that comes along with it…I doubt Goodman would be considered “a good catch” if he was driving a truck.
mikejene says: And some girls are just taller with a smaller frame and a higher metabolism. Women are like lobsters crawling and scratching over one another to get to the top of the pile.
Smithwick says: “Goodman was always thought of as sexy and a good catch.”
No, he was portrayed as funny.
Morbidly obese men aren’t held up by hollywood as sex symbols. Look at the lists of best looking men they come out with every year. Everyone is in shape and puts considerably more effort in to their appearance than the average male.
Both genders have beauty standards, feminists choose to only see it for women. But that doesn’t make it true. For that matter most of what they believe is untrue.
“I personally would love to see the meds finally work and the weight come off. But if it never does, should I just feel bad about myself until I die? Why should I? So, other people will assume I’m fat because I am a glutton, or lazy, but I know it ain’t so. ”
Or you could, you know, eat less and exercise. For some reason people are only predisposed to being obese in countries where there is ample food and life is easy. If it were truly genetic and not environmental you’d see it equally across populations. Instead it only happens in western nations that tolerate such behavior and have a large enough food supply (and mostly sedentary lifestyle).
“If you’ve never been fat, you can’t really have compassion for anyone who is. If you really believe that people are fat by choice, you are blind to human nature, to genetics, and to how culture and society are what we are and not what make us.”
I don’t have sympathy for people who are fat. I don’t have sympathy for people who cough due to their 12 pack a day habit, or who drink beer all day and kill their liver. Being fat is a choice. Maybe it’s not easy to be healthy but it is possible if you want to. Genetics may determine your metabolism, but you determine how many cheesecakes to consume, how many miles you walk per day, etc. You don’t see a lot of morbidly obese people in countries without much food, or countries that foster a more healthy lifestyle. Blaming genetics is an excuse to do nothing to solve the problem, not a solution.
Nope, being obese is a lifestyle choice, not an incurable genetic condition deserving of pity.
Kortnee says: Smithwick, as one of those people with an endocrine problem, your advice to “eat less and exercise” is incredibly annoying. I am on medication for the problem that I am going to have to take every day. I “eat less and exercise” so I don’t become even bigger than I am. Working with my doctors I’ve managed to lose 20 pounds in 4 years. Great, just another 100 to go. Before I was diagnosed, I was eating less, much, much less, and exercising to the tune of almost 3 hours a day and I was still gaining weight. Being told i was a lazy glutton would reduce me to tears.
So, since this is obviously a life style choice on my part, I should just stop taking my medications and “eat less and exercise”, right? Not sure my doctor would agree, seeing as I’m 30 weeks pregnant and can barely move without pain right now, but, hey, just for you, I’ll climb on that stairmaster for a few hours a day. Oh, and I’ll just eat salads. Developing babies don’t need protein, right? That’s all just a myth. Oh, and without my meds, my muscles will all slowly shut down, as will my unborn childs, so she’ll probably die in utero and I’ll likely have a heart attack and die before I’m 35. How does that lifestyle choice work for you?
People who are obese as a lifestyle choice? Yeah, they need to fix that, but it’s still their choice. And they’re still consumers in a (mostly) free market. Those of us who have a real problem? We tend to look like everybody else.
Kortnee, I understand what you’re going through and I think most people do — including Smithwick. But the fact of the matter is, people like you are the minority. Most obese people do not have an endocrine problem that makes them gain weight regardless of how much they diet and exercise. The points I was making, and Smithwick as well, were not directed towards people who have endocrine of thyroid problems. It’s directed towards people (including family members and friends of mine) with no health problems at all who simply stuff their face all day long and never do an ounce of exercise. Now, as a conservative, I believe people should be able to do whatever they want. If some fatty wants to eat themselves to an early grave, then they can go right ahead — just like someone can smoke their way to lung cancer if they so choose.
However, I do NOT agree with shows like “Huge” glorifying obesity, telling people that you’re beautiful even if you weigh 300 pounds, that women don’t need to lose weight, that they should just be happy how they are. Sorry, but if you are 50 pounds of more overweight simply because you eat too much and won’t exercise, then that isn’t OK, and we don’t do anyone any favors by telling them that.
I have a question about Kortnee.
She’s lost 20 pounds in four years in spite of her endocrine problem. How come she relates to Southwick’s comments in the negative, hostile, reactionary way she chooses? If I were in her position I’d be handing him a huge atta-boy, something along the lines of “You are so right and I am living proof.”
Smithwick says: “Smithwick, as one of those people with an endocrine problem, your advice to “eat less and exercise” is incredibly annoying. I am on medication for the problem that I am going to have to take every day. I “eat less and exercise” so I don’t become even bigger than I am. Working with my doctors I’ve managed to lose 20 pounds in 4 years. Great, just another 100 to go. Before I was diagnosed, I was eating less, much, much less, and exercising to the tune of almost 3 hours a day and I was still gaining weight. Being told i was a lazy glutton would reduce me to tears. ”
Look, I’m sorry about your condition but no endocrine problem is capable of breaking basic laws of physics. You cannot put on more weight than you consume (law of conservation of mass) nor can your body generate energy for exercise that you don’t have, either it comes from food or fat (first law of thermodynamics). So while varying metabolisms can make it far more difficult to lose weight the principle remains the same: you have x amount of calories take in over a period of time in food and y amount of calories that have to be expended to live and move about in that time period. If the total x is greater than the total y then you will put on weight. If it is less you will lose weight. If it is less than x for long enough you die. Simple enough.
You’re discussing the ease with which you can lose weight, not the basic principle.
For instance: find someone with an endocrine disorder who is morbidly obese and who does not have enough to eat. Certainly a great many third worlders are predisposed to put on weight if given the opportunity. However they are not obese because they are engaged in menial labor and do not have food in large amounts.
And the fact that you are losing weight suggests that it is possible for you to regulate your BMI.
“So, since this is obviously a life style choice on my part, I should just stop taking my medications and “eat less and exercise”, right? Not sure my doctor would agree, seeing as I’m 30 weeks pregnant and can barely move without pain right now, but, hey, just for you, I’ll climb on that stairmaster for a few hours a day. Oh, and I’ll just eat salads. Developing babies don’t need protein, right? That’s all just a myth. Oh, and without my meds, my muscles will all slowly shut down, as will my unborn childs, so she’ll probably die in utero and I’ll likely have a heart attack and die before I’m 35. How does that lifestyle choice work for you?”
Right because there are 2 options available 1) morbid obesity or 2) inability to bring a child to term. That is why there are no healthy mothers. Consider: if I drink too little water I will be dehydrated. If I drink too much I will die (true, difficult to do but it happens). Clearly I have no choice but to be permanently dehydrated, right?
“People who are obese as a lifestyle choice? Yeah, they need to fix that, but it’s still their choice. And they’re still consumers in a (mostly) free market. Those of us who have a real problem? We tend to look like everybody else.”
It is their choice. But that doesn’t mean the rest of us have to celebrate it, or pretend it’s healthy. And as we’re moving towards socializing healthcare costs it will oneday be everyones business how each individual lives (not my choice, but I didn’t vote for Obama). Just as people are free to smoke but should not expect us to pretend it is anything other than an unhealthy lifestyle choice.
Smithwick says: Also, consider the rapidly expanding population of overweight/obese folks in this country.
Either A) we are somehow inexplicably selecting for obesity and evolving towards being predisposed to fat retention at a rate that makes bacteria look static and unchanging (seriously look at the difference from generation to generation) or B) people are getting more food and less exercise now than they used to.
Occams razor would discredit the rapid evolution (de-evolution?) theory.
Phang says: I remember a debate in college where I made the exact same arguments you just made in your post. I had a little feminist that was literally as big around as she was tall tell me that fat was perfectly healthy.
Other arguments that popped up “..men nowadays FORCING women to be skinny..”, “..can’t possibly lose weight, why I’d have to excercise and eat right, that’s ridiculous” “..fat is beautiful..”, “..Hollywood’s at fault..”, “..America’s at fault..”, “..Western culture is at fault..”, “..restaurants and corporations are at fault..”; funny how it’s never the overweight themselves that are at fault.
I saw that girl the other day…it’s been ten years since that argument. She’s probably in her mid thirties and was riding a scooter. She’s gone from mobility, to waddling, to immobility, all due to her stubbornness. I wanted to congratulate her on her healthy choices, but I’m just not that mean.
a real feminist says: It’s almost like the concept of feminism has been co-opted by the morbidly obese to promote the opposite of the original ideals.
If feminism now is about how to make non-obese men think morbidly obese women are sexy, it’s not feminism, it’s self-objectifying for the purpose of ‘getting’ a hot man to like you as an ego boost rather than building your own self-esteem through developing good character traits. Good character traits which might include self-control, personal responsibility and enough self-esteem to strive to be physically healthy.
The fat acceptance agenda is the opposite of feminism philosophically and the rage observed constantly in fat women posts online at healthy women is indicative that at some core level, these people are unattractive on the inside as well.
Simply put, anyone without boundary issues gets it that you can’t control what other people are attracted to or what other people think. Trying to control others either personally or en masse, so to speak, through the media for the sole and exclusive purpose of attracting male sexual attention defines feminist hypocrisy.
Add to that these women don’t want John Goodman or some 350 lb guy down the street, which they probably could land. These women want Richard Gere, the coke commercial guy or some other male ‘hottie’ to find their obesity attractive. In effect, they want men to stop being something obese women call superficial (natural attraction and personal choices of men generally) while themselves viewing men in that same superficial way wanting only the hot ones to find them exciting.
Since when do feminists care how ‘sexy’ they are to random men?? Isn’t that exactly what feminists were fighting in the first place… the idea that women only have value as two-dimensional sex objects and that the only value a woman could have is when she is desired by a man other women perceive to be hot?
If this is feminism, feminism is dead.
me says: real sized women are incredibly sexy,
the blonde above has a stunningly sexy body, i so love a lil tummy !!!!!!!!!
skinny girls are repulsive, they look unhealthy
women are suppose to be womanly and sexy, not twigs !
march onwards you goddesses :o)
Roxeanne de Luca, please don’t be so ignorant. Anorexia Nervosa is not “stupidity;” it is a PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESS.
And to the commenter “me,”
you’re an idiot. “Women are supposed to be womanly…”
ALL women are WOMENLY. ALL WOMEN ARE WOMEN. Fat is NOT womanly and it is NOT sexy. What YOU “suppose” is not what we should BE.
When people say “beauty comes in all shapes and sizes,” what you all really mean is that it’s okay to be obese. But don’t forget: all shapes and sizes include very thin and very frail girls.
And when I said “fat,” I was informally referring to the state of being too lazy or foolish or delusional to acknowledge unhealthiness and thus encourage obesity.
Obese women are women too, certainly. And many of them have what is called Binge Eating Disorder, which is neither simple nor easy to change.
HOWEVER. The PROMOTION of such lifestyles?
It’s as bad as pro-ana.
Stop the nonsense.
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