In high school I took a class
exactly like Women and Gender Studies but it was called Herstory. On Facebook,
I am in a group with all the girls who took it over the years and our teacher.
Everyday girls post articles, videos, etc. they find that pertain to women.
Today, someone posted this video about a female news anchor that received than
email criticizing her because she is overweight.
On live television she brings the situation up and reads the
email she received to everybody watch. In the article the man says that she is
not a good role model to the community, “girls in particular”, because she is obese.
This is wrong in so many ways. She brings up that those people in the media as
their profession gets a lot of criticism because their job is in the public’s
eye. The man who wrote this email is pretty much saying that everyone who has a
job in the media or is a public figure to a community, should be skinny. Another
point to bring up, as we just talked about gender and work, is that she was
criticized because of what her occupation is. Her job is standing in front of
thousands of people and delivering them the news of what is going on around
their community. She is a public figure. I feel like that man would have never
sent that email if she was a man. That man who sent the email only saw it as
bad because she is a woman. She is being judged in her line of work because she
is a woman that doesn’t look like society thinks she should.He is definitely
gearing this towards women especially. In his email he said, “Surely you don’t
consider yourself a suitable example for this community’s young people, girls
in particular.” He directly related this to girls. He thinks and society thinks
that girls should be skinny. This reminds me of one article we read in class
called “The Body Politic” by Abra Fortune Chernik. The article focuses on how
women are seen by men in society. How women are supposed to be skinny else men
wont like them. It also talks about how women do cruel things to their body in
order to be skinny and look like what society approves of. I think that it is
so inspiring and cool to see a women so sure of herself that she can take such
negative comments and turn them into a chance to speak out against bullying.
She is now and even bigger role model to the community because she stood up for
herself and didn’t let society bring her down.
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