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body positive, Dove Real Beauty, fat acceptance, health, K.R. Brorman author, Lane Bryant, life, opinion, random thoughts, Rebel Wilson
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Beauty comes in all sizes sounds really good at first.
“Real Beauty” ~ Dove Campaign
Note – None of the models in the Dove Real Beauty are overweight.
“I’m No Angel” ~ Lane Bryant Campaign
We still don’t look like the underwear models.
“This Body Is Made For…” ~ Lane Bryant Campaign
The fat acceptance -body positive movement (FABP) is no doubt well intentioned. Removing those feelings of “less than” because we don’t look like Paris runway models or Victoria’s Secret catalogues, is a brilliant concept.
Appearing to demanding that we not be judged based on our body type, the content of our character not the size of our ass!
BUT, are these movements (and there are hundreds of that across social media and marketing plans) helping anyone but the products behind the slogans?
Convincing men and mostly women that there is nothing wrong, nothing unattractive, nothing abnormal in being obese is reckless and almost cruel. The truth is, being overweight carries more dangers than simply non-conformity to subjective beauty standards.
Yes, some obese people don’t have health issues related to their weight. But they are the exceptions to the rule.
Most overweight people suffer with heart disease, or diabetes, or joint pain, or sleep apnea, or high blood pressure or some combination of all of these, and many more. More than one-third of US adults are obese!
This FABP movement fails to address the health of their target audience. It simply seeks to force a redefining of physical norms. So does FABP really change anything?
No. At the end of the day, the determining factor of a person’s value is still physical appearance without consideration for health & well being, contributions to society, intelligence or kind spirits.
What do you think? Is the fat acceptance-body positive movement making unhealthy acceptable in it’s wake? Or is it empowering overweight/obese people to love the skin they’re in?
C C Cedras
K R Brorman
S A Young
4 Comments
June 24, 2016 at 2:56 pm
I think the answer is probably somewhere in the middle. Teaching children to love themselves regardless of what’s in the mirror has to do with more than just weight and if we love ourselves for who we are, we’re probably more inclined to do things that are good for us on every level, including taking better care of our bodies. Just my thoughts.
June 24, 2016 at 3:32 pm
You’re right, if we start young showing our kids how good healthy feels, they may not need to a campaign telling them their body is ok. My issue is preying on the 30-60% in some places, overweight adults by convincing them weight doesn’t matter to the detriment of their health and happiness, because lets be real. Gone are the days when fat rolls are going to praised as desirable physical attributes.
June 24, 2016 at 4:48 pm
I tend toward echoing Sheri’s point. One doesn’t get far when lifestyle changes are made in order to be what someone else sees as “acceptable” or “worthy”. There has to be an element of self love and acceptance before real progress is made. We’ve all heard, and/or thought to ourselves “I need to lose weight…for my husband, for my kids, for my loved ones, etc.” But we also know, deep inside, that until you do it for yourself, it never really works. Until you do it for YOU…failure is all but inevitable. That feeling that “I’m worth it” is the impetus that will produce the best results. Taking it to the point that it becomes “weight doesn’t matter” is not necessarily the best result, I agree. But that “self love” feeling has to overcome the “self loathing” feeling before real progress can be made at all. I certainly don’t have the answer…hence my own weight problems. And I do still sometimes struggle with “Am I worth the effort?” Once you reach the “obese” level…it’s overwhelming some times.
June 24, 2016 at 11:07 pm
Thanks Mary. It is a viscous circle, I’m just not convinced the fat acceptance crowd is encouraging anyone to love themselves and make the life changes necessary to live longer and healthier. I believe they are creating a false reality where weight is ignored as a symptom of destructive habits and life threatening illness.