Dying to be . . . fat?
Blame Oprah if your pants don’t fit
CHELSE MCKEE VOLUNTEER STAFF
We’ve all seen skinny runway models. We’ve all heard complaints about models and their effect on women’s self-esteem. Models and their effect on women’s body images is not a new issue, but now the fashion world is coming to terms with it. Just last September during Spain’s Fashion Week, reportedly due to a model’s death caused by health issues related to anorexia, a new restriction was put in place. To promote a healthy body image, the organizers of Fashion Week restricted the runway models to a BMI of at least 18.
The restriction was received with cries of both protest and support. My question is, if we as a society are so quick to blame thin models for our obsession with skinniness, then whom do we blame for the rising level of national obesity?
The answer is plus-size celebrities, or more specifically, the media’s representation of plus-size celebrities.
I’m not saying they are entirely to blame; I believe in people taking responsibility for the 12 extra pieces of deep-fried chicken they ordered with dinner. What I’m saying is that they are at least partially to blame for society’s mindset that being obese is OK and even championed.
Today’s society is like a sponge; we absorb everything we see in the media, from the latest clothing to the newest film. Now, the latest trend in the media is to promote plus-size celebrities as sexy (think Queen Latifah or Sara Ramirez, even though they are hot). The media puts down the “gazelle-like” models of the runway, while labelling the heavier-set celebrities as having a “healthy body image.” In this way, the media is promoting one potential health issue in lieu of another.
When these types of women, i.e. Ramirez, are promoted in the media as healthy, the impression is given that if you gain some weight it’s not the end of the world. Normally, it’s not, but North American society is an overindulgent group that tends to take 12 miles when offered an inch.
Society takes cues from these “healthy” celebrities and uses them as an excuse to let loose and eat that whole chocolate cake in the fridge. What’s to lose? Nowadays, we see heavier-set women being promoted as sexy and successful, so it’s a win-win situation for us. We become sexy in the media’s eyes and we get to eat the whole cake. Then we’re surprised when our pants don’t fit and we lose our breath getting out of bed in the morning or walking up a flight of stairs.
With celebrities like Queen Latifah gracing the covers of magazines in sexy dresses, we’re at risk of adopting the mindset that being overweight is empowering and sexy, when in actuality it’s grossly unhealthy and a drain on national healthcare resources. For example, obesity is a factor in increasingly common health conditions like heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.
What will we promote when a different model dies from obesity-related issues? With more than half of North American society falling into the overweight or obese category, when will we promote health and restraint? It’s time that we look at why we’re so obsessed with finding a “healthy” body image to emulate in the media rather than a genuinely healthy lifestyle.
