http://www.buzzfeed.com/michaelblackmon/youtuber-fat-shaming-video-responses#.kuLDZXmAZ
I had just recently read the post
“Skinny-Shaming Sucks Too” where Sydney talks about how it’s okay to shame
skinny people but not larger women. After
reading that, I came across a pretty intense video titled “Dear Fat People.” Comedian Nicole Arbour uploaded a
video of her joking about obesity and Nicole’s YouTube channel as well as her
other videos that she uploaded were suspended. This proves that it’s okay for artists
to produce songs that promote skinny-shaming but when someone retaliates and
posts something about larger people it’s immediately taken down. Now while I understand that this video
might be extremely offensive to some people, she does make some valid points.
In this video Nicole talks about how
frustrating it is that obese people basically get certain privileges. For example, she talks about a time
where she was at an airport running to catch her flight on time, meanwhile
there was an obese family just strolling along on a golf cart. After she takes her seat, a flight
attendant asks if she could switch seats due to a person with a disability. It turns out that the disability was
being obese. Another
example she states is that “fat people parking spots should be at the back of
the parking lot and that the term “big boned” isn’t a thing and I completely
agree with her. She clearly
states that this isn’t directed towards people who have a specific health
condition but the 35% of North Americans who are obese. Obesity is a huge health problem and
all we are doing is helping them. In
no way am I trying to be mean or hateful, I have a close family member who
suffers from being overweight and it is so upsetting knowing that they are
hurting themselves. Nicole
says “you are taking your body for granted, and that they forgot to tell you
that plus size stands for plus arteries, plus knee problems, plus diabetes, and
plus your family and friends crying that they lost you too soon.”
Chernik
states that “by nourishing our bodies, we care for and love ourselves on the
most basic level.” Nourishing
our bodies isn’t drinking liters of pop a day, and eating the greasiest
hamburgers, chicken and fries. It
is also not denying ourselves to eat and digest. I think that we should
love our bodies no matter what they look like but there are limits. Loving and caring for your body doesn't mean harming it by overeating or
not eating enough. “Our bodies are our homes” so we should nourish them
properly!
Shannon,
ReplyDeleteI understand where your points and frustrations are being brought up. I relate to being called too skinny in high school from people telling me I need to eat more. But the media portrays these skinny size models as goals to achieve, when in reality this isn't everyone's expectations. We hear coverage from the news about how America is very obese. For example, from The Cornell Daily Sun it stated, "With persistently high healthcare costs and body image issues on both ends of the weight spectrum, the stigma of obesity and body weight is a neglected conversation in America’s movement towards a healthier, more physically active nation." I think this is an important issue to bring attention to. With our society and media obsessed with a skinny image they often neglected how obesity is still a problem. Instead, society should be encouraged to live a healthy and active lifestyle not put standards on how to look. We need to praise bodies of all shapes because not everyone is exactly the same. Which, I agree with your statement that we should nourish our bodies and not harm them. It is much more important to feel healthy and comfortable in your own skin. In the Body Politic, by Abra Chernik, she comments, "As my body shrank, so did my world. I starved away my power and vision, my energy and inclinations...and society applauded my shrinking." So instead of singling out fat or skinny people for how they look or make accommodations for them we should celebrate each other. In addition, we can all aspire to be a healthily weight and take care of our bodies.
http://cornellsun.com/2015/10/20/susser-dont-hate-on-the-obese/
Shannon, I love this post that you wrote. I never got to see the video you are talking about but from how you described it, it seemed to be very blunt. I could see why people would be offended by this and the video would then be taken down. However, I also agree that everything in the video, scenarios and all, were accurate and true. I feel like people do not think it is appropriate to shame fat people although people won't think twice before shaming somebody for being too skinny. Although, our world sees being skinny as a good thing, even if you are too skinny. As Tricia said, the media portrays these skinny models as goals to achieve. Our world does not focus in on fat people simply because that is not how people are supposed to look according to the media. There is a fine line between if someone is obese or if someone has an actual health disease and that is where people get confused. We will fat shame people when it is something that they physically cannot control. We also will shame fat people who do have power over their bodies and could do something about it. All together I think our world should definitely be more focused on being healthy and not shaming each other for their different body types.
ReplyDelete