This week our readings and class discussions revolved around stereotypes. One of the biggest stereotypes Americans have is about weight. We associate being overweight with being lazy. After reading the Goodman article it brought me to the realization no matter ones confidence with their body media will always have the power to bring you down. As mentioned in the article, women in the media have become thinner and thinner as the years go by. At one period in time Marilyn Monroe was one of America’s biggest stars and was looked up to as a sex symbol. Marilyn was today’s size ten which would be considered a plus size model. Why is it back then she was considered perfect, but if she were around today she would be categorized as plus size? This is due to media shaping our idea of perfection. Back then the media told us it was more than ok to be a size ten, these days it’s a different story. What the media says goes and that applies to both females and males. More and more studies are showing males developing eating disorders at alarming rates; before male anorexia was never heard of. If we look at the evolution of Barbie and Ken dolls we can see the changes men and woman have been told to make over the years. It seems with each passing year Barbie’s waist gets smaller while her breast increase in cup size. When Ken first came out, he was a pretty scrawny guy. These days Ken, your “average guy”, is more jacked than an army soldier doll. These dolls are exact examples of what the volunteers in the study mentioned. One volunteer stated we may not look at a magazine and tell ourselves we want to look like that because that thought is already with us subconsciously; we think that’s the way we SHOULD look. These messages have been fed to us since we started playing with our toy dolls.
I personally have had weight issues myself and was born into an overweight family. My sister for example, is overweight but is one of the busiest people I know. She is always on the go for her job and rarely gets a bathroom break let alone a lunch break. She has struggled with her weight her whole life and has also struggled with thyroid issues. After extensive research, doctors have found her thyroid is what prevents her from being able to manage her own weight. Americans never take a second to think about health issues that prevent people from losing weight, instead, we stereotype and assume they are lazy and don’t care about their bodies. As the article mentioned, weight is a factor when getting a job especially for women. My sister was thin when she was hired on at her job and gained weight over the years. She has worked her way to the top and is now Vice President of the company. She has told me several occasions when people have questioned how she obtained such a high position despite her weight. It shocked me people would questions her work abilities because of her weight, let alone say those things to her face. Stereotypes are ridiculous to begin with but it’s even more ridiculous we allow them to carry on. I feel it’s time we stop letting the media feed us what they want and time we make our minds up for ourselves.
Here are some fitting clips from The Office …
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