Fight Fat? Or Fight Society?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvLN8buEgpM - Adele

The clip is simply here to provide some insight on a positive role model for society, and how weight does not matter to a woman that has achieved greatness without giving in to what society views as culturally acceptable.

My artifact for today centers around an article written in People Magazine that brings a fat fighting mentality to the forefront of the publication.  This article points at various children from ages 9 to 17 that have fought childhood obesity and demonizes the concept of being overweight.  For instance, the article points out that one out of every three kids in the United States is overweight or obese - claiming that it hinders their ability to learn, and how they feel about themselves.  Charles Haines who was once 285 lbs. at age 15 claimed that he was a loner, and would actually hide from classmates if he saw them in a public setting.  One of the doctors in the article says that "we're seeing signs of progress" with obesity rates declining in states such as California and Mississippi.  What is most unsettling to me is the fact that the doctors point to weight loss as a sign of progress for American Society.  While it is true that our country is overweight, it basically points to everyone else that isn't the appropriate weight and isolates them.  They're saying, these are the boundaries that are set up by society.  If you're not THIS weight, then you're NOT normal!  There are even girls in here named Sara and Nadia Waly.  They are 9 years old and are being pressured to conform to societal norms.  One twin did not lose any weight, but improved their BMI standards. The other lost 5 pounds.  For goodness sake, these are children. The mother was quoted as saying "The girls are much more enthusiastic and fun now".  Nice parenting lady.

I chose this article because I want to display what kind of message we are sending to our children about being overweight.  It's a terrific example of how our society views fat and obesity.  Do you think the message we should send to our kids should be to conform to society? Or do you feel that the message should be centered around being satisfied with our own personality, and being confident in our own abilities to be who we want to be - regardless of weight or aesthetic appearance?

I also feel like this article relates back to our readings because it shows how everybody must conform to the societal norm or risk be shunned and disgraced for their own natural appearance.  Women have specific criteria that they must meet to appeal to the masses.  The cultural ideal is that women must remove the softness of their bodies to be perfectly sculpted goddesses of thin proportion.  Just as the Fat. Hairy. Sexy article presents the cultural norms and stereotypes of gay men.  If either man or woman does not adhere to these cultural laws they are viewed as deviant by their respective communities.  I think we as a society have to take a deeper look past the physical aspect of the body, and a little more at the personalities thriving inside.

Questions:
1.) After seeing this article, and video clip what kind of message do you feel we should send our kids about their body weight?

2.)  Do you feel that we as a society are too quick to judge and stereotype others based on physical appearance, or is it just a part of who we are as human beings to label others this way?

3.)  What role do you think the media has in how we as men and women envision our ideal appearance?

4.) Is it right or fair for us to expect such strict aesthetic conformity from females when they typically have 10-15% more fat than men due to biological development?

5.) A statistic reads that 78% of girls are dissatisfied with their bodies by the time they reach 18 and out of that 78% - 45% are actually Underweight.  How do you feel after reading that statistic?