If you ask women today if they are afraid of being fat, a great majority will answer yes. Though many will speak of the health issues associated with obesity, they have all been influenced by the media which says “don’t be fat only because it’s ugly.” I’ve heard of the “freshman 15” for my entire high school career and have learned to fear it. This fear has been engraved in me most drastically by the remarks that people make towards those in my home town who have come back from college and gained weight. “She really let herself go,” “such a shame,” and “wow, she got big” are only a few of the criticisms I’ve heard. The interesting thing, though, is that they are only in regards to women. I’ve never heard of anyone having a problem with a boy gaining the dreaded “15”. Not everyone gains weight at college, but it seems like such a cliché that incoming students expect it. It’s not that I’m worried for my health, it’s about those remarks. I feel awful when I hear someone being ridiculed just because they put on weight. The one that bothers me the most in particular is “they really let themselves go.” What if this person spent so much time studying and improving themselves in other ways that they couldn’t find enough hours to exercise every day? Obviously, the only thing they let go of was the rope that ties them to the need for bodily perfection.
An excerpt from Fat Shame that shows how people judge mostly on appearance was the short story about the man who couldn’t stand his wife’s weight gain. The husband seems not to recognize anything about his wife other than her fat, and it determines how he thinks of her (50-51). The passage also mentions “matrimonial weight”, which appears equivalent to that time’s “freshman 15.” Both are expected of women and both are equally dreaded; if one gains it, social standings are judged (51).
Society today is absolutely obsessed with weight, it’s seen everywhere. Daytime talk shows focusing on health and medicine such as “Dr. Oz” and “Dr.Phil” may appear to be beneficial, but in reality, they are only scaring people skinny. With episodes like “Dying to be the Fattest Woman on Earth” and “The Five Habits that Make You Fat”, websites that are generally about weight loss, and harsh words toward fat people, they portray an image that fat is the worst thing one could be, ever. Not a meth addict, serial killer, but fat. As a child, I had a small addiction to Dr.Phil. Today, I see that it probably wasn’t very helpful. I still remember him trying to convince fat people to lose weight and for people to stop their kids from overeating (I was then afraid that my parents were going to put me on the show when I ate dessert). On the other hand, if someone has anorexia or bulimia, they have an open invitation to the shows, too. What they’re saying is that you have to be thin, but not too thin. When will the cycle stop? This madness is what lots of people watch every day! No wonder people are under confident in their appearances, they have “doctors” telling them they’re disgusting.
I can sympathize with your story of the freshmen 15. After my freshman year, half of my friends loss a lot of weight and were judged for looking too thin. While the other half of my friends gained weight and were judged for not taking care of themselves while at college. I found it upsetting that my friends had divided into two groups and began judging each other for basically the same thing, their appearance and health. The worst part was that my friends did not even ask each other why they had gained or lost weight. Their judgments were cast simply by assumptions, most likely projected from the media. The media has created a vicious cycle of weight loss. Like you have explained, it is considered disgusting and unfortunate if a person puts on any weight; but it is also awful and upsetting if a person went to an extreme to be thin and has anorexia. The media has brainwashed us to believe we are never good enough no matter what size we are. Can/will this vicious cycle ever be broken? Due to the media’s heavy influence on our lives and thoughts, my prediction is that the cycle will not be broken anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteI definitely know what you mean about the standard of being thin but not too thin. Some of my friends have gone to extreme measures to keep from gaining the freshmen 15, such as diabetic diets (when they're not diabetic) or exercising for hours every day. I want to know what the standard is that they're trying to reach. Who is the woman with the perfect body, the one on which all others should be judged. And what is it that makes her so perfect? Of course she changes all the time because we're a fickle society, but who is that fashion god that decides who and when, and why are they so judgmental?
ReplyDeleteThis blog was really funny to me. I also lost a bunch of weight
ReplyDeleteMY freshman year and a lot of people's reactions was aren't you supposed to gain weight? Why would you ever expect me to gain more weight because of some unwritten law of college?
As for doctor phil... I don't get how he can tell people how to diet when he himself probably probably is not th healthiest man in world. I never understood why h would even be in the diet market. It's something I have questioned for a Long time.
Also I think comparing fat to somethig bad like a meth addict is so weird because being bigger isn't bad like that. The category that fat can grouped in is so insulting. To be linked to such negative things as someone with no self control and disgusting is gross. I think opinions need to change but does anyone know how that could be possible?