Why I Hate "My 600 Pound Life"

Hello my sweet fudgies,

Let me just talk about something that seriously bothers me.

Last week, I was visiting some American colleges and browsing through TV stations we don't get here in Canada, such as TLC. Now this is not an attack on TLC as a whole, because let me tell you, I live for "Say Yes To The Dress"(crying brides and pretty dresses? sign me up) But I stumbled upon a rerun of "My 600 pound life".



Don't know what that is? Trust me hon, you're not missing out.
It's basically a documentary, if you dare lower this label to such an trashy degree, that follows the struggles and the subsequent weight loss of a 600 pound-ish human.

Again, nothing wrong with TLC, although it is called the "Learning Channel". I don't know what I'm learning by watching Honey Boo Boo dive in some mud, but that's neither here nor there.
Many other networks produce shows like this all over the globe.
It's a freaking epidemic.
And it infuriates me. Why?
Here are 5 reasons these shows should be burned at the TV stake:

1. It portrays the obese population as less than human, as animals: 
Watch as Human A eats an entire box of chocolates in its regular sofa habitat. How gross. 
Wow! She ate that all in 15 minutes! That's insane, but that's how they do it in their house. 
...

Doesn't that sound a bit like an episode of Animal Kingdom?
The way they observe and dissect and judge their behaviours, like we would tigers and whales, changing their status from a simply overweight person to an entirely different creature.

Would they make a TV show about a human who eats a lot?
No, that's not good television. It's too moral, it's too boring?
But making a TV show about a gross fascinating creature? Now that's showbiz.

2. It's purpose is to make others feel better about themselves

Now I must admit, I was once guilty of this action.
I would watch Teen Mom when my life wasn't so great and think to myself: "well at least I'm not pregnant".

But the problem here is that this is the same destructive concept as bullying:
to boost yourself up, you tear others down

So when viewers see these overweight people on TV, they cannot help but enjoy the feeling of superiority. "Well at least I'm not 600 pounds", they think. No wonder these shows are uber popular; it's an instant pick-me-up!

But here's the catch: not being pregnant or not being obese doesn't make you better.
It gives you a false sense of entitlement. Unfortunately, most carry that feeling into the real world, judging and shaming others who are different to feel that same rush of superiority.
Welcome to how regular folks become a-holes, my loves.

3. It puts the emphasis of their existence solely on their weight

The title really says it all: my 600 pound life.
Their life is reduced to their weight.
That is all they are, all they ever have been, all they ever will be.

Only towards the end when they lose the weight can you see a diversity of life scenarios, a complex and intricate life, like "regular people" live.
How. Rude.

Being overweight is not all a person can be.
They have jobs, families, friends, hobbies.
They are human before they are fat, you know, TLC.
or WORLD, really, because few seem to understand.

-----------------------------

These shows can have dangerous consequences on the human psyche, ones that can control the way you see others different than you for the rest of your life.
Sure, these shows can be good entertainement, but at what body negative cost?

xoxo

Gabby

The Perfect Bikini Body

Hello my sweets!

Not too long ago, I got an email from a diet and fitness company, which will remain nameless, asking me if I wanted to try out their new diet milkshake and review it for the blog. "Perfect for that bikini body", they said.
...Wat

Awn. Someone probably got fired, because as you probably know, that is the absolute LAST THING I would do on this wonderful piece of internet self-love this blog has become.

And what is the perfect bikini body anyway?
Is it this idea that we have of a tan, Victoria's Secret Angel strutting around in heels (in sand? really? I would sprain my ankle in 3.4 seconds), with legs that go on for days with, wait for it, a freaking thigh gap?
Is it the way our body looks when we pinch in our fat in "all the right places"?
Is it your friend's body, or your cousin's, or your mom's (if so, good for your mom)?

I'm so damn sick of this perfect bikini body bullshit. Here's why:

1. Perfect Bikini Body

I started this blog in 2012, as a dumb sophomore in high school, but if there was one thing I knew back then that still sticks to this day, is that perfection is stupid.

Here is Girl A, who hates her A-cups and loathes the way her hips jut out of her one piece. She's standing next to Girl B, who has an ass that won't quit and a soft squishy stomach.
And Girl A would kill to have that perfect bikini body.

But Girl B? She's self-conscious about her thicker arms, and she despises her wide hips. She's looking at Girl A, and thinking that she would kill to have that perfect bikini body.

...Do we see the problem here ladies?
Perfect is perspective, it's subjective, and if you don't believe that perfection is in you, no matter how many sit ups you do, you never will. 

 2. Perfect Bikini Body

I understand why bikini season makes some girls nauseous with anxiety.
It's the littlest bit of cloth, exposing everything you love, but also everything you hate about that lovely body of yours.

But loving your body is a process, and it may not happen overnight.
If the body in the bikini is not your ideal, make sure the bikini on your body is. 

Every girl needs a killer bikini in her beauty arsenal: one that defines your style, that makes you feel beautiful, that pushes and pulls and tightens and loosens all that "needs" to be.
Alternatives include: killer glasses, killer sundress, killer tan (safe please), killer tattoo or piercing (dont tell your mom I said that).

Whatever makes you forget about your silly bodily insecurities is a-okay with moi:)

3. Perfect Bikini Body

If you're going to sit in the shade covered in towels because your body isn't "perfect", stahp.
Distract yourself from that imperfect body of yours by putting it to good use.

Swimming, sand castle building, volleyball, frisbee, watergun fight, whatever takes your mind off the fact that half your butt is popping out of that cloth.

That's why you have a body, god dammit: not to fret over scars and cellulite, but to move and be active and do the things you love!

----------
According to Fitness Magazine, if Justin Timberlake invited them to a beach party, 36% of women would turn him down because they don't feel they are in good enough shape. 
And that is simply unacceptable.
Never let your body get in the way of your life, especially not JT!

You want the short answer to a perfect bikini body?
Put a freaking bikini on your freaking perfect body.
Done.
You are ever so welcome.

xoxo

gabby

The Dreamcatcher Tattoo: Cultural Appropriation?

Hello my angels,

If you look up "white girl" in the Fudge pPerfection dictionary of stereotypes, one of 3 things will pop up:
1) white iPhone
2) Starbucks
3) Dreamcatcher tattoo

However one of these is significantly more dangerous than the other.
No, it's not a Starbucks addiction, although that sh•t is real and should be treated.
Instead, it's the dreamcatcher tattoo, a staple of white teenage girlhood, according to tattoo artists, Tumblr, and yours truly. Why, you may ask, it seems so harmless?!

Well, not really.
Dreamcatcher tattoos are DEFCON5 enemies of the anti cultural appropriation movement.
I just threw a bunch of words at you, and for that I apologize. Let me back up a bit.

Cultural Appropriation: adoption of some specific element of one culture by a different cultural group. 

Pretty straight-forward so far. Non-Native American folk getting a dreamcatcher tattoo.

These elements, once removed from their indigenous cultural contexts, can take on different meanings, or lose its meaning entirely (adapted from Wikipedia).

Here is where trouble lies. The website Native Appropriations explains the controversy:
When people buy the dream catchers because they’re “pretty” or to ward off bad dreams, and aren’t aware of the power and history behind the objects, it dilutes them to a commercial object disconnected from their origins and community.

White girl gets dreamcatcher tattoo.
White girl thinks it's pretty, or its meaning is rooted in warning off bad dreams.
White girl doesn't think much of it.
White girl doesn't think she's stealing anything.
Is white girl wrong?

Well, I guess you decide.
Body politics are never black and white.
On the one hand, it is technically CA. She takes for granted the Native heritage and history of the dreamcatcher.
Personally, do I agree with the tattoo? No, of course not. Native American culture is heavily caricatured, as many other minority groups, such as Latino and African-Americans. Think of the all "Mexican" Halloween costumes, minimizing a vast and diverse culture to a few stereotypes!

But here's my problem with this burn-the-witch theory:  we cannot, or should not, regulate other people's bodies.

I don't agree with the principles of Nazism either, but I believe that if someone wants a Swastika tattoo, they may have one. It is their body, hence their (albeit stupid) decision.

So if she wants a big old dreamcatcher, it is her ribcage (let's face it, she totally got it on her ribcage).
Maybe it means the world to her, maybe it doesn't.
But I cannot ever imagine supporting a cause that tries to demean someone's decision to alter their own body. There's enough of that in the world already.


What do you think? What is CA to you?

xoxo

Gabby

Fat Discrimination? Lululemon and A&F controversy explored

Hello my beautiful fudgies:)

When Abercrombie & Fitch's CEO stated, "A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely" ( http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/fashion/abercrombie-won-sell-xl-article-1.1339454#ixzz2c3ZZNU9f) I wasn't exactly shocked. This is blatant fat shaming and discrimination, but let's look at who we are dealing with here. A&F's women sizes only go up to a size 10, or a large, and they are notorious for plastering very thin, very pretty and very caucasian models on their store's walls, bags and billboards. 

Besides, A&F has been struggling for a few years, now more than ever, with a 13% fall in retails sales after their 1st 2013 quarter. 

But when famous athletics retail company Lululemon released a statement explaining why they don't plan on expanding their market to those who don't fit into sizes 2 to 12, I started to get worried. 

Is this the new trend? Is a fat shaming brand clique being formed as we speak, slowly but surely cutting out their "largest" sizes? And what will be the new plus size in a few years, a size 6??!

The average women in America is a size 14, hence the average american woman is not welcome into any of the aforementioned stores. Now I know that the appearance of exclusivity is crucial to these respective brands, but by cutting out the biggest piece of the demographic pie, aren't they also cutting out the biggest piece of potential buyers? 

I also find it very revealing that Lululemon, an ATHLETICS wear company, refuses to dress those who don't fit into their mold. The media, the doctors, even the random guy at the bar who tells you to eat a salad; they all claim to shame your body for your HEALTH. But isn't it funny that one of the key holders to the kingdom of workout wear, along with so many hidden others, doesn't allow the plus size  population to buy their outlandishly expensive yoga leggings? What does that say about all these pretenders who supposedly worry about your health? 

A young women who wears a size 16 wants to start hiking, but no retailer manufactures the appropriate clothing for her body type. Yet somehow society isn't at least partly responsible for its population's weight and health?

Here's the deal: for many of these retailers, to be fit, you have to be thin. 

To the rest of you; tough luck. 

I applaud retailers such as Forever 21 and ASOS who carry sizes for all shapes and sizes, but will they have to fight body discrimination on their own, or will other body positive retailers join them? Only time will tell. 

Until then,

Have a great Friday my dolls:)

xoxo

Gabby

Scouts BMI Controversy: Fat Shame

Hello my darling fudgies!

(New article for drop of pink out this week! confidence without makeup: http://www.dropofpink.com/2013/07/24/confident-without-makeup/)

I know I have not been incredibly present on the blog or on twitter, but I am working on a little project, and I am also writing some blog posts for next fall!

Today I want to explore the recent controversy surrounding the Boy Scouts Jamboree BMI controversy http://mobile.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/medical_examiner/2013/07/boy_scout_jamboree_new_rules_based_on_body_mass_index.html). But the basic gist of their new rule is that as of this year, scouts and adult leaders with body mass indexes of 32 or higher could attend the Jamboree only after consultation with camp medical staff, and those with BMIs over 40 were banned from coming altogether.
(here is an explaining in further detail for all of you who may not know what is going on:

Now let's explore this rule from 3 perspectives: rationally, statistically, and emotionally.

RATIONALLY:

 I suspect the Boy Scouts of America made this decision on with a purely rational logic. They must have assumed that by presenting a goal for the weight loss, this new rule would incite both overweight children and adults to lose weight and become healthier, which leads us to a rather substantial problem: statistics.

Statistically: 

Time and time again, research has proven that the BMI is an inadequate measure of someone's healthy weight, and most of all their health (I will let you conduct your own research but beware: it is shocking and slightly depressing). Among these limitations, it doesn't take into consideration a person's body frame or their lean body mass (muscle). Many body builders are, by the BMI's standards, obese, and therefor in the world of Boy Scouts are not fit enough to participate in activities.


But what I find most frustrating about this new regulation are the emotional consequences.

EMOTIONALLY:

 If all our decisions in life were taken rationally, the expected aforementioned consequences of this new rule would be 100% effective.

But we know that is not the case.
For most of the overweight population, food is a coping mechanism, much like drugs, alcohol or self harm. Their emotional reaction to struggle leads them to eat excessively.

Therefor: Will shaming and excluding members of the Boy Scouts community make them lose weight?

No; if anything, it will most likely make them eat.
If long term health is the goal, that is certainly not the way to go.

I also want to include a video by boogie2988 that really explains the vicious cycle of fat shaming

I will be writing a new article about the more general topic of childhood obesity soon.

Have an amazing Monday my loves<3
Xoxoxo

Gabby