Article number five
'Why Can't You Control Yourself?' Fat Should be a Feminist Issue
Summary of the article. Fat women are more discriminated against that fat men. Women are portrayed in the media as thin and fit. Men on the other hand, are not. To top this off, feminist seem to be more concerned with thin women thinking they may become fat. Many people think that women can prevent their obesity. It is also believed that women are more responsible than men and therefore should have more control over their weight. This prejudice can also effect a woman’s ability to find employment. The article also mentions that this discrimination should be considered a civil rights violation.
How does the story relate to oppression/discrimination? This story tells about how women are discriminated against because of their size. Women are taught from a young age to be self-conscious about their size. If you are skinny you will be happy. If you are overweight then you have no self-worth and do not care about yourself. Men do not face this struggle, at least not as bad.
Who is oppressed? Women are oppressed. Women that have a little more meat on their bones are made to feel that something is wrong with them because of their size.
Who is oppressing? The American public and the media is who is oppressing these women.
How are they oppressed? What type of oppression/discrimination is involved? Women are portrayed as being more successful if they are thin and thin is more attractive. These overweight women are made to feel inferior because they are fat. This causes mental abuse and leads some women to spiral downward into depression and also to abuse food. It is also important to know that not everyone can control their weight. Some diseases cause weight gain. Also, it is assumed that because a woman is overweight she has health problems and does not take care of herself. This can make it difficult to have relationships.
Explore the significance in our society? What are the implications for this oppression? What does this say about the values of our society? Our society places too much emphasis on being skinny. In the 1940’s and 50’s Marilyn Monroe was the ideal woman and she was known as voluptuous. In the 1960’s is when women were considered attractive if they were skinny. I believe that this notion that skinny women are happier shows just how shallow our society has become.
What was my personal reaction? Explore thoroughly. What aspects of my own socialization have led me to this reaction? The fact that women are discriminated against because they are fat is very disturbing. It is true that media plays a major role in how we each view ourselves and others. It is all lies. I am not saying that we should not take care of our bodies, but we are all different. We should rejoice in the body God has given us. I am a certified bariatric nurse. These women who have weight loss surgery think that the weight will melt off and they will be seen as attractive. Weight loss surgery is not a quick fix and a strict diet must still be followed. Unfortunately, most women still suffer from depression because they do not know how to deal with the weight loss.
What did I learn? It breaks my heart that women face this type of discrimination today. I learned that a healthy weight used to be a sign of wealth. The heavier a woman was the more attractive. It also meant that she was taken care of by her man. I was also surprised that the majority of anorexic women are portrayed as white and that overweight women are portrayed as black. We must do something about this false sense of what makes a woman attractive.
Source:
Chrisler, J. (2012). 'Why can't you control yourself?' Fat should be a feminist issue. Sex Roles, 66(9/10), 608-616. doi:10.1007/s11199-011-0095-1
'Why Can't You Control Yourself?' Fat Should be a Feminist Issue
Summary of the article. Fat women are more discriminated against that fat men. Women are portrayed in the media as thin and fit. Men on the other hand, are not. To top this off, feminist seem to be more concerned with thin women thinking they may become fat. Many people think that women can prevent their obesity. It is also believed that women are more responsible than men and therefore should have more control over their weight. This prejudice can also effect a woman’s ability to find employment. The article also mentions that this discrimination should be considered a civil rights violation.
How does the story relate to oppression/discrimination? This story tells about how women are discriminated against because of their size. Women are taught from a young age to be self-conscious about their size. If you are skinny you will be happy. If you are overweight then you have no self-worth and do not care about yourself. Men do not face this struggle, at least not as bad.
Who is oppressed? Women are oppressed. Women that have a little more meat on their bones are made to feel that something is wrong with them because of their size.
Who is oppressing? The American public and the media is who is oppressing these women.
How are they oppressed? What type of oppression/discrimination is involved? Women are portrayed as being more successful if they are thin and thin is more attractive. These overweight women are made to feel inferior because they are fat. This causes mental abuse and leads some women to spiral downward into depression and also to abuse food. It is also important to know that not everyone can control their weight. Some diseases cause weight gain. Also, it is assumed that because a woman is overweight she has health problems and does not take care of herself. This can make it difficult to have relationships.
Explore the significance in our society? What are the implications for this oppression? What does this say about the values of our society? Our society places too much emphasis on being skinny. In the 1940’s and 50’s Marilyn Monroe was the ideal woman and she was known as voluptuous. In the 1960’s is when women were considered attractive if they were skinny. I believe that this notion that skinny women are happier shows just how shallow our society has become.
What was my personal reaction? Explore thoroughly. What aspects of my own socialization have led me to this reaction? The fact that women are discriminated against because they are fat is very disturbing. It is true that media plays a major role in how we each view ourselves and others. It is all lies. I am not saying that we should not take care of our bodies, but we are all different. We should rejoice in the body God has given us. I am a certified bariatric nurse. These women who have weight loss surgery think that the weight will melt off and they will be seen as attractive. Weight loss surgery is not a quick fix and a strict diet must still be followed. Unfortunately, most women still suffer from depression because they do not know how to deal with the weight loss.
What did I learn? It breaks my heart that women face this type of discrimination today. I learned that a healthy weight used to be a sign of wealth. The heavier a woman was the more attractive. It also meant that she was taken care of by her man. I was also surprised that the majority of anorexic women are portrayed as white and that overweight women are portrayed as black. We must do something about this false sense of what makes a woman attractive.
Source:
Chrisler, J. (2012). 'Why can't you control yourself?' Fat should be a feminist issue. Sex Roles, 66(9/10), 608-616. doi:10.1007/s11199-011-0095-1