This morning’s newspaper asked readers to comment on whether or not they thought this woman was fat. Whilst I don’t think this woman is fat at all, it is the question itself that got me worked up.
It reminded me about how obsessed we are about weight, and how this obsession is going to ensure that our children will spend more time aspiring to fit a certain look rather than to become good people.
Nobody seems to care anymore whether a person is caring, selfless, charitable or kind. These are attributes of losers. Surveys that ask what we would prefer to be, beautiful or kind, favour beautiful every time. The rationale being, that nobody is jealous of a kind person in the way they are of a good-looking one.
How are our children supposed to make sense of this?
It upsets me to see Primary aged children so conscious of their weight. It bothers me no end that 8-year olds know everything there is to know about the perfect body size and shape, but have no insights on the correct protocol for offering ones seat to an elderly person on a crowded train. The thought would never have entered their mind.
Haven’t we learnt our lesson? Did we not realise that an obsession with looks leads nowhere. It doesn’t make one happy. Why are we creating kids that follow our sick ways? Why are we perpetuating the message that there’s nothing wrong with gossiping, fakery and selfishness, but eating ice-cream is a sin?
So, no, I don’t find the woman fat. But guess what? I don’t care whether she is fat or not. I care whether she is a good woman, a kind wife, a loving mother, a loyal friend, a friendly co-worker etc. And ultimately, that’s what I want us all to look for.
There are frumpy, unfit people out there, with pale complexions who have unpopular taste in clothes. Some of these people are also tremendously kind and good-hearted. It would be criminal for us to marginalise these people, as some of them are the real beautiful people!
Tags: beauty, Body Image, Children, Dieting, Education, Fashion, kids, life, Looks, News, Nutrition, Opinion, Parenting, Self-Esteem, Sunday Herald-Sun
Topical Teaching 
June 3, 2012 at 11:51 pm |
I agree. I have two daughters & I try my best not to let them in on my twisted bodyimage. I pretend not to give a damn & I only preach a balanced way of eating. & do not say that this will make you fat, but this will make you unhealthy & your teeth decay if you eat a lot of sugar. Great post.
June 3, 2012 at 11:54 pm |
Thank you!
June 4, 2012 at 12:24 am |
I live in Texas and just about everyone I see is about 100 pounds overweight. I think it’s disgusting. I don’t want to be fat, and I don’t want my kids to be fat. It’s not healthy and makes you look like a cow.
I don’t think people realize that when they let their kids drink koolaid and eat snacks all day long then it makes them and their kids look like Jabba the Hut. If fat people just started drinking water as their only beverage and started eating apples and bananas instead of those little one hundred calorie diet packs then they wouldn’t be fat anymore.
Being out of shape and a bit flabby is one thing, but when your face looks like like a bowling ball and you have to struggle to get up from the couch that is another.