LOL. Ter and I had practically the same conversation, but we came to the conclusion that this was not the purpose of the video. - Although the whole awareness week thing? Seriously lame.
The blog entry this was attached to, which my History has misplaced somehow, was responding to poll results in which many women who were not overweight either thought they were or hated their appearance. The poll further reflected (or it may have been a different one) that women who have low self esteem because of their appearances believe there's nothing they can do to fix themselves.
I think that as a society, we logically know that the barbie doll figure and face is unattainable. That doesn't mean that it's still not portrayed as what is desirable. Otherwise, I wouldn't constantly hear women and young girls lament that they wish they had her hair or her skin or her body. Anorexia and bulemia wouldn't affect so many American women. Our Speaker of the House wouldn't have the nickname Stretch Pelosi. 'Talk' is too simplistic a term when it's actually a cultural viewpoint. Everyone from magazine models to newscasters are air bushed to perfection without a single blemish. But as a society that places so much importance on appearance, what can we expect?
I don't think that asking someone whether a particular outfit makes them look fat is a bad thing, because there definitely are outfits out there that do so. But I do think obsessing about it, unless a solution is being bandied about, does contribute to the problem of too much negative focus. And obsessing about it, when one is perfectly healthy and in shape also contributes to it. To that extent I do think that yes, friends shouldn't let friends "Fat Talk."
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Date: 2010-04-08 05:39 pm (UTC)The blog entry this was attached to, which my History has misplaced somehow, was responding to poll results in which many women who were not overweight either thought they were or hated their appearance. The poll further reflected (or it may have been a different one) that women who have low self esteem because of their appearances believe there's nothing they can do to fix themselves.
I think that as a society, we logically know that the barbie doll figure and face is unattainable. That doesn't mean that it's still not portrayed as what is desirable. Otherwise, I wouldn't constantly hear women and young girls lament that they wish they had her hair or her skin or her body. Anorexia and bulemia wouldn't affect so many American women. Our Speaker of the House wouldn't have the nickname Stretch Pelosi. 'Talk' is too simplistic a term when it's actually a cultural viewpoint. Everyone from magazine models to newscasters are air bushed to perfection without a single blemish. But as a society that places so much importance on appearance, what can we expect?
I don't think that asking someone whether a particular outfit makes them look fat is a bad thing, because there definitely are outfits out there that do so. But I do think obsessing about it, unless a solution is being bandied about, does contribute to the problem of too much negative focus. And obsessing about it, when one is perfectly healthy and in shape also contributes to it. To that extent I do think that yes, friends shouldn't let friends "Fat Talk."