Glamour poll finds thin women stereotyped as mean, heavy women as lazy
Glamour magazine conducted an exclusive survey in which they asked more than 1,800 women, ages 18 to 40, to imagine an “overweight” woman and a “thin” woman. They were told to imagine that they know nothing about either of the women, and to choose from pairs of words to describe them (such as ambitious or lazy).
The findings, published in the June 2012 issue, weren’t very surprising to me. Heavier women were often regarded as lazy, slow, undisciplined, and giving, while thin women were perceived as conceited, bitchy, mean, and controlling.
Even the accompanying image depicts the thin woman as mean! She glares, straight-faced, at the heavier woman, while she subtly smiles at the camera.
Your attention may have been drawn to the fact that heavier women were labeled “giving.” What’s the problem with that? You might be wondering. Ann Kearney-Cooke, Ph.D, tells us, “It just fits into the stereotype that thin women are not that way.”
While weight stereotyping is nothing new, I don’t think I’ve seen many mainstream magazines talk about the ways in which women of all sizes are stereotyped and judged. I’m really glad that Glamour has reached out and contributed to this discussion about how heavy and thin women are affected by harmful stereotypes.
I do, however, have to point out something I found a bit problematic. The accompanying image with the article is typical, at best. It features a heavy woman and a thin woman, but of course they both have long, straight, blonde hair, they are both white, and have skin airbrushed to perfection. Just saying.
Glamour’s “overwhelming conclusion” of this poll states, “All women are now judged by their size.” I don’t think this is anything new, or a secret for that matter. During the last few months, I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how thin-shaming is just as harmful as fat-shaming. The whole “real women have curves” mantra, for example, suggests that thin women aren’t “real.” What’s up with that? Continue reading
PETA – People for the Egregious Treatment of Adult (Women)
Is this appropriate incentive to go vegetarian?
You’d think an organization like PETA — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals — would be a proactive organization, readily supporting healthy, happy agendas to get people living healthier lifestyles. Right?
Wrong. PETA is one of the worst culprits of objectification and sexualization of women. Somehow, PETA tries to equate pornographic images of half-naked women with the incentive to go vegetarian or vegan.
The “ethical treatment of animals” motive gets lost in translation somewhere between women sucking on veggies in the hot tub and blatant implications of sex-based violence.
Allow me to explain.
Removing Disney fat-shaming exhibit doesn’t change the message
Recently, Disney jumped on the latest trend, fat shaming, and opened an exhibit at Epcot called Habit Heroes. The interactive game featured two “heroes,” the buff Will Power and Callie Stenics. Cute names, huh? Unfortunately, the cuteness stops there. Will and Callie’s virtue and worth are based entirely on their able-bodied physicality, and the villains (The Glutton, Snacker, and Lead Bottom) are labeled as evil because they are overweight.
Callie Stenics and Will Power, the "heroes" of Disney's fat-shaming exhibit.
Fortunately Disney has actually realized their mistake with Habit Heroes, and the exhibit and the corresponding web site have since been shut down, a victory to those of us who are often told, “Complaining about a problem won’t do anything.” Still, it doesn’t undo any damage the exhibit may have done.
In one part of the interactive exhibit, Will Power and Callie Stenics urge visitors to point and shoot the empty calorie foods shown on the screen such as cake, ice cream, and candy. (I wonder if some of the waffle sandwiches and funnel cakes Disney serves at the Epcot restaurants were also on that screen.)
Autom the weight-loss robot wants to be your friend. Forever. Forever. Forever.
Autom is personalized with tiny hats.
Have you ever wished you could combine a calorie calculator iPhone application with a stripped down Furby? Well, wish no more! The creators of a new part-dietician, (mostly) part-robot device found what may have been the final gap in the ever-expanding weight loss product market, and thus, Autom was born.
Unfortunately, the dream of owning such a charmingly bizarre diet pal may come to an end when you see the price tag. Autom will cost you $199. And that’s just for the bot. Users also pay a $19.99 monthly subscription for services. So what’s to keep dieters from settling for the cheaper, aforementioned iPhone application? Well, can your iPhone make eye contact with you, or try on mini-hats? I didn’t think so! Continue reading
Geico’s new commercial makes it even more normal for popular girls to not eat
“It’s funny because it’s true,” is a common adage following the telling of many jokes. The familiarity of the characters in the latest Geico commercial, teenage girls, are likely to incite a lot of snickering for this very reason. Of course, despite these laughs that Geico hopes for (and likely will get), I’m worried about the message the commercial really sends.
In this particular spot, Geico abandons its familiar gecko spokesman in favor of a trio of three girls, portrayed as the “popular” crowd, who follow around a man who has decided that the best way for him to save money (given how expensive his car insurance is) is to not eat. And what’s the best way to stop yourself from eating? Why, shame, of course!
Female celebrities during award season: Keeping it (too?) real
I’m all for celebs getting real about what it takes to look as good as they do. Hell, I’ve even been known to enjoy me a little of US Mag’s “They’re Just Like Us!” section because it pokes holes in the perceived perfection of A-listers.
What I don’t like, however, is Oscar nominees Octavia Spencer and Melissa McCarthy sabotaging their own moments of recognition and glory by dishing about their shapewear snafus.
It isn't terribly awful to wear Spanx, but it sure is to feel like you have to out yourself about it before somebody else does.
According to People.com (in an article that ran under the headline “Octavia Spencer Dons Triple Spanx For Red Carpet”), Spencer has “taken to reinforcing her red-carpet attire with Spanx and doesn’t always stop at one pair.” In fact, she announced to the world on the Ellen DeGeneres Show that she often “triple spanx.”
Trending with toddlers: pole dancing?
Is this an appropriate activity for a 3-year-old?
Just when I thought parenting skills couldn’t become any more questionable, I come face-to-face with a new activity atrocity: pushing pole dancing for children, adolescents, and teens.
I almost choked on my morning cereal (Don’t worry, it wasn’t Cheerios – I still can’t get behind their marketing mishaps) when I read a June 2011 article from the British tabloid, The Daily Mirror, about a Northamptonshire dance studio offering a “kiddie pole dance” program, where 3-year-olds and up were schooled in the age-appropriate art of climbing and swirling on a stripper pole.
Dubbed “Little Spinners”, the class consisted of teaching girls how to lift and maneuver their bodies around the pole while “holding their legs in a V-shape.” Thankfully, a recent perusal of the studio’s web site shows that this class is no longer being offered.
While this is good news, the implications that there is a market for it are frightening. Comparable courses are being offered to an equally delicate age group: teens and preteens.
New Australian weight-loss show “Excess Baggage” tries to outdo “Biggest Loser”
The weight is over (dramatized)
Excess Baggage, the new Australian counterpart to weight-loss reality show The Biggest Loser, claims to take the higher road by not relying on humiliation and shaming of contestants.
It focuses on overall health vs. mere weight loss, utilizing a psychologist to address mental roadblocks which obstruct a healthy lifestyle, and rallying people off treadmills and into nature. Continue reading
Georgia’s Strong4Life campaign relies heavily on fat-shaming
The Strong4Life campaign - fat-shaming?
There is no denying childhood obesity is a growing concern. The CDC reports that one-third of American children and adolescents are overweight or obese. The health ramifications of an unhealthy lifestyle, especially one that begins in childhood, are severe.
Seventy percent of obese minors had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and obese children and adolescents show greater rates of pre-diabetes, bone and joint problems, and sleep apnea.
The CDC’s findings are shocking, but Georgia’s Strong4Life campaign decided facts weren’t quite shocking enough. Instead, the campaign hopes fat-shaming will pique interest. The print ads feature sullen overweight children and copy that reads, “It’s hard to be a little girl if you’re not,” and “Fat prevention begins at home. And the buffet line,” which sounds more like something a grade-school bully would say than an organization concerned for children’s health.
The tagline of Strong4Life’s television spots? “Stop sugarcoating it, Georgia.”
The ads do work in some cases. Maya Walters, a teen featured in the campaign, attests to the effectiveness. She has made changes to her lifestyle, like using less salt in her food, and no longer feels winded when climbing up stairs.
But are the ads effective on a grand scale? Marsha Davis, a childhood obesity prevention researcher at the University of Georgia’s College of Public Health, doesn’t think so. “We know from communication research that when we highlight a health risk but fail to provide actionable steps people can take to prevent it, the response is often either denial or some other dysfunctional behavior,” Davis says. “We need to fight obesity, not obese people.”
A counter-campaign from Health at Every Size
The opposition doesn’t stop with Davis. Leah Segedie, a fitness blogger at BookieBoo and Mamavation, organized a twitter chat under the hash tag #Ashamed. The goal of the conversation was “to talk about the issue in a way that’s not shameful and gets the word out,” and “petition Strong4Life to take the billboards down,” says Segidie.
Amy Lupold Biar (@ResourcefulMom) joined the conversation, tweeting, “Let’s show kids all the varieties of healthy. Let’s help parents get access to affordable fruits [and] veggies. Let’s change schools!” Cecily (@Ciclyk) quipped, “If shame helped us lose weight, well, we’d all be VERY SKINNY.”
Longtime fat-acceptance activist Marilyn Wann, also unhappy with the negative message the campaign was sending, launched a counter-campaign to stop Strong4Life’s fat-shaming. The counter-campaign features adult men and women in ads similar to those of the original campaign with copy like, “I stand for doing the things we love in the bodies we have.”
The goal of the counter-campaigns is not to deny children the opportunity to eat healthy food and participate in activities. The goal is to stop weight-related harassment.
The Strong4Life campaign uses overweight or obese children as proof of failure on the part of parents, a tactic that hurts everyone, and offers little positive motivation for change. Frankly, children struggling with health issues deserve better than that.
[Editor's note: Regan Chastain has begun a counter-campaign to put up body-positive billboards in Georgia. -Jennifer]
Us Weekly uses language of disaster to discuss celebrity food choices
The tostada... delicious to some, terrifying to Us Weekly.
I’m a big supporter of healthy nutrition habits, but Us Weekly may not agree with me.
I know I feel better and have more energy for the things I love to do when I’m eating a good balance of whole, natural foods. I also don’t argue with the fact that it’s important to know what the food you’re eating offers your body, which can help you make informed decisions about snacks and meals. Continue reading