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
Body judgments begin… almost at birth!
One of the reasons I went to graduate school was because I wanted to gain a better understanding of why women and girls develop disordered eating behaviors, what makes them worse, and most importantly, how to prevent them. And more and more research is telling us what many of the media experts at About-Face and its readers already know – positive body image and positive self-perception are the answer.
The more accepting I am of my body, the less likely I am to feel like this!
A few recent studies that have been published in the past few weeks highlight these issues well. One new study out of UCLA has again proven that strong self-perception is key to the prevention of risky behaviors in teen girls.
The results of this study showed that overweight girls who had high body satisfaction and who were happy with their size and shape were less likely to engage in a range of unhealthy and disordered eating behaviors like fasting, skipping meals, and self-induced vomiting. And extra-importantly, the study also showed that these girls had lower rates of anxiety and depression, which are so disturbingly common among girls with developing eating disorders.
And the best thing about the study’s results was the discussion that these public health experts, dieticians, and professors had, in which they emphasized that for effective, healthy weight-loss interventions for teens who may need to lose weight for real medical reasons (preventing the onset of diabetes or hypertension and increasing cardiovascular health, for example), these programs need to be rooted in positive self-esteem and the enhancement of self-image. When you feel better about yourself, you want to keep taking care of yourself. You are also more likely to want to share yourself with others, and creating positive social networks increases the likelihood that people will have supporters pushing them to stay healthy. Continue reading
‘Fat Betty Francis’ caricatures a complex character
Along with many other Mad Men fans, I eagerly awaited the show’s return last month after an extended hiatus. I wasn’t home for the season’s second episode that aired on April 1st, but all it took was one quick glance at Facebook and Twitter to see what that episode’s theme supposedly was – Betty Draper Francis’ weight.
When I looked like this, it was my cold attitude people made fun of...
Some of the actual posts I saw included: “Wow, Betty, you’ve…changed,” and “Betty, you appear to have grown a lot since last year!” and “Now I know what Betty was doing for the past two years – eating!” These were spoilers for me, so when I eventually did see that week’s episode, I wasn’t as shocked by her changed physical appearance as other viewers were.
Betty’s character on this popular series has always largely revolved around her preoccupation with her appearance, which was built upon her experience as a fashion model and a mother who she admits controlled her food intake as a child. It was also predicated on the time period in which she was living: Although women were gaining professional experience and garnering the benefits of newly emerging feminism, their value was still very much judged by their appearance.
So is it any surprise that Betty views her weight gain with not only such disdain, but also with such vocal derision?
When she finds out that her weight gain is not the result of a thyroid condition or tumor, she says, “Nothing like being put through the ringer to find out you’re just fat.”
And it appears that although Betty Francis lives in the 1960s, people living in 2012 agree with her (shocking, I know). So I can’t say I was shocked to come across an entire Twitter account devoted to Betty’s weight gain, with the name “Fat Betty Francis”. Continue reading
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.)
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!
“Fat-Bottomed Girls” by Kim Selling in honor of National Eating Disorders Awareness Week
Guess what!? We’re now in National Eating Disorder Awareness (NEDA) Week, the aim of which is to ultimately prevent eating disorders and body image issues while reducing the stigma surrounding eating disorders and improving access to treatment.
To celebrate, we want to show you a woman who really loves her body, and showing you how she talks. (A word of caution: the video contains several F-bombs and some sexual descriptions.)
We now present “Fat-Bottomed Girls” by Kim Selling:
Last year, we published Katie McCorkell’s poem “How to Help Someone With an Eating Disorder” on the About-Face blog.
For more information about NEDA, visit their web site or call the free, confidential Helpline, Monday-Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm, Pacific Standard Time: 1-800-931-2237.
Kim Selling is an occasional writer, sometime poet, and unfailingly proud Californian. She graduated from the University of Washington last year, and is now floating around Seattle until she hits something solid.
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.”
New children’s book celebrates the joys of diet and weight loss
What, you mean you can't tell this book is about exercise?
No child should be reading a book that has the word “diet” in the title, especially when that book conflates weight loss with attractiveness and personal happiness—hell, no adult should be reading that book, but I can’t tell you what to do with your life.
But alas, this world is full of things that shouldn’t be. Maggie Goes on a Diet is a new book for 6-12 year olds about a 14-year-old girl who—you guessed it!—goes on a diet, loses a bunch of weight, and thus finds happiness. This book has been raising a lot of ire (check out the tags on Amazon.com), and for good reason.
The book’s description says that Maggie starts to eat healthily and becomes a soccer star (both of which are great things for kids to do). So does the cover show her eating fruit, preparing food, exercising, or playing soccer? Nope!
That’d be putting way too much focus on activities rather than bodies, so instead the cover shows a fat little girl staring into a mirror holding up a dress that doesn’t fit her, dreaming about her thinner reflection. (Side note: I used to do that all the time at the height of my disordered eating. Coincidence? Doubt it.) Continue reading
Special K rips off body-positive Yay Scales to sell weight loss
Courage: To be had only after **taking the Special K challenge**
As I watched the Today Show the other morning, my jaw dropped in disbelief to see that once again, a body-positive message had been co-opted — nay, full-on stolen — by a corporation selling foods for weight loss, in the name of “health”. The awesome Yay Scales, created by Marilyn Wann (incredible author and fat activist) now appear on Special K commercials. Without consultation or permission.
Here’s the commercial, followed by a video of About-Face volunteers using Yay Scales to challenge beliefs about weight.
Yay Scales are bathroom scales doctored to say positive words like “perfect”, “fantastic” and “gorgeous” instead of numbers indicating weight.
This is about stealing a clearly brilliant idea, and it’s about twisting a message that is so clearly about accepting our bodies as they are today, NOT only when we lose weight.
Marilyn has been taking Yay Scales to streets and events for many years now, and she personally taught us how to make ours.
What’s the upshot besides super-capitalistic intellectual property infringement? Well, actually it’s about weight loss messages. Special K’s message, circuitous though it may be, says that when women take the Special K challenge (by standing on a scale in Central Park?) they will gain pride, confidence, and courage.
[Don't even get me started on the Special K Challenge itself. See "The Problem with the Special K Challenge" over there on Jezebel.]
Because really, you can’t feel those wonderful emotions until you lose a bunch of weight!? That’s almost worse than saying your worth is measured by a number on a scale.
From Marilyn Wann’s press release:
“I care way too much about being healthy and happy to try to get there through weight loss,” said Wann, an international spokesperson for fat civil rights. “It’s not about settling, it’s about celebrating! I hope Kellogg’s next ad campaign encourages all of its customers to eat well and enjoy their bodies. Here’s a slogan they can use: ‘What do you gain when you lose self-hate?’” (The current campaign’s slogan: “What do you gain when you lose?”)
If you want a REAL Yay Scale for yourself, go to VoluptuArt and get yourself one of Marilyn’s! It’ll be the best $45 you ever spent.
Click “More” below to see Marilyn Wann’s full press release.
–Jennifer Continue reading
“The Bad Girls Club” goes plus-sized. Oh boy.
"The Bad Girls Club": A bad show just got much, much worse.
Reality TV never ceases to amaze me.
While extremes like Bridalplasty make me want to punch people, other, lamer shows like Real Housewives: How Can You Even Tell Which City They Are In Since They Are All Basically the Same Vapid People, can be entertaining, or just mildly sad.
So, hooray for Vh1 for taking an already suspect show, The Bad Girls Club, and making it even more ridiculous.
The Bad Girls Club, which is a show on the Oxygen Network, is getting a makeover and heading for Vh1. However, this time, lucky viewers, the girls are plus-sized!
Oh wow, what a great spin on the show!
Some former Bad Girls mug for the camera.
Ugh, when are we going to get past finding larger people hilarious to watch? I mean, fat jokes and the millions of weight loss shows are enough, but this?
This show is just saying, “Look! These people are already hot messes with stupid dramas. Let’s see what happens when we also add weight issues!”
Normally, I would champion having different sizes spotlighted in the media, but I draw the line when it’s added in order to mock or insult.
Reality TV has never been a bastion of culture, but come on guys, this old trope?
– Miriam
Miriam Traore is a San Francisco Mission District native with a degree in Global Literature from UC Santa Cruz. She currently works for a SF Bay Area child welfare non-profit. She is thrilled to contribute to About-Face and to have a forum to discuss representations of women in the media. When not dreaming about what her next meal will be, you can find her dancing all around the city and secretly nerding out with her fellow closet geeks.