Body Image

Don't worry, this post is not about my body image... although Will and I are trying to give each other complexes.

Two things have brought about this post. First, I made the mistake of watching about 3 minutes of a daytime talk show, Dr. Keith. The good doctor's guests yesterday included two "plus-size" actresses. Make no mistake about it, these ladies are morbidly obese. They were on the show to talk about how hard it is to thrive in a world where thin is in.

Then I did a quick PubMed search in order to make an empirical[1] response to Jenks' psychobabble response to my scientific response to Jenks' question, and I stumbled across an interesting, unrelated article. The study[2] looked into the behavior of Israeli women to compare 3 groups: Anorexics, Aesthetic Athletes (AA) like dancers and gymnasts, and Non-Aesthetic Athletes (NAA) like runners, swimmers, volleyball players, etc.

The article reports that while most of the AA group were physically sound, a significant number of them displayed behavior usually correlated with anorexia. The authors suggest that this legitimizes the hitherto uncommon diagnosis of Anorexia Athletica. Most importantly (for my point), they note that in general, the NAA group had a very positive self-image.

Dr. Keith's guests would probably not be too thrilled about this conclusion, because it correlates hard work to feeling good. If wallowing in self-pity feels good and requires nothing more than a PC sob-story, why should anyone work hard? Their stated concerns seem to be that they are getting pigeon-holed, that their weight is putting them at a disadvantage only because society perceives their body type as abnormal. Granted, I could only watch about 3 minutes of the show before I was enraged and had to change the channel; still, I think I got a pretty good idea of their message.

It seems that the morbidly obese don't have it too easy in Hollywood. It seems that they get type-cast into roles as "the fat friend". Why don't producers and writers just create roles where the actor could be of any shape or size? Why is Hollywood so image-based?

Give me a break. You want writers to be less imaginative, to not have any idea what their characters will look like? You want Hollywood to stop playing to our sexual desires? Good luck!

No, you don't have to be anorexic to be a starlet (this means you, Lohan). At the same time, though, you can't spell morbidly obese without morbid. These actresses are condemning themselves with their own bodies, and instead of trying to correct this problem, they're going on talk shows and bemoaning the unrealistic ideals to which women are compared.

I want to compare them to cigarette salesmen, but that's not quite right. While I despise smoking, I recognize the right to smoke (within reason - and I don't feel like debating this topic today). Being employed in Hollywood isn't a right... if it was, tall blondes from the Midwest with a bus ticket and a dream would be marching on DC every week. Dr. Keith's guests were hawking a self-destructive lifestyle to the daytime-tv-watching parents of little girls who need to learn that it's not OK to let yourself get that bad.

These actresses claim that life is tough for them. I have no doubt that they have their share of hardships... but do they think it's easy to be fit? I think the real Tough points should go to the people who go out to dinner with friends, then fight the urge to finish the giant portions that restaurants serve. Tough points go to the people who wake up at 5am to get a workout in before work. Tough points go to the people who are pestered with cries of "you're too thin" just because they've gone from "obese" to "healthy" on the Body Mass Index scale.

So no, you don't have to be anorexic. And no, it's not OK to be morbidly obese. There is a compromise!!! Non-Aesthetic Athleticism!

Buy your daughter a soccer ball, or a lacrosse stick, or (dare I hope?) a bicycle. Encourage them to use these toys.

For the love of god, turn off the damn TV.

[1]
Abiss, et al. "Dynamic pedaling strategies during the cycling phase of an Ironman triathlon". Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2006 Apr; 38(4):726-34

[2]
Bachner-Melman, et al. "How Anorexic-like Are the Symptom and Personality Profiles of Aesthetic Athletes?". Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2006 Apr; 38(4): 628-36