Photo from Parents Magazine
There is an epidemic going around, not to be an alarmist or anything. But have you noticed how many women’s conversations are dominated by weight? This insane notion that our biggest issue in life and chief concern is the number on the scale or the number on the tag in our jeans. Really? I mean, really?
-70% of young women say they want to look like a character from TV. 69% of TV characters are underweight.
-Celebrity workouts average anywhere from 90 mintues to six hours.
-The average fashion model weighs 23% less than the average American woman. (20yrs ago this was only 8% less)
-54% of women would rather be hit by a truck than be fat. 67% of women would rather be mean or stupid than be fat.
-10 yrs ago we heard tricklings in elementary school of girls saying they are “on a diet” or “need to watch their carbs”. It has now trickled down into kindergarten.
-74% of women choose an ideal body shape that is 10-20% underweight
-90% of all women ages 15-64 (worldwide) would change one aspect of their physical appearance, body weight ranking the highest
-65% of women 15-64yo withdraw from life engaging activities due to feeling badly about their looks.
WHAT!?
WHAT?! Withdraw from life because your healthy, functioning, glorious body doesn’t fit the Beauty Myth ideals sold to us by the fashion and beauty industries?
Ladies, I ain’t buying it.
COME ON, Girls!
You’ll hear me say this a lot, but we are the MOST educated, MOST well traveled, MOST accomplished group of women to EVER have walked on this planet, and yet the majority of us spend our days dreaming of lipo and scheming ways to lose that next x number of pounds. Which is why I cannot say we are the ’most empowered’. We are chaining ourselves to the beauty myth, Ladies. We are giving permission to others, others we don’t even know, to tell us how to think about our bodies.
I say this very lovingly, but COME ON.
Dr. Robyn Silverman’s new book, “Good Girls Don’t Get Fat: How Weight Obsession Is Messing Up Our Girls And How We Can Help Them Thrive Despite It” is excellent, and available here. You’ll be hearing more from Dr. Robyn about her new book next week!
Fat Talk Free Week, sponsored by Delta Delta Delta sorority, runs October 18th-22nd and is an international five day campaign to draw attention to the body image issues and the damaging impact of the ‘thin ideal’ on women. Find out more here. We’ll be sharing more with you about this during Fat Talk Free Week.
(our stats above came from TriDelts’s Reflections program.)
12 Responses to “Fat Talk and Body Image: COME ON! (Part 1 of 3)”
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Thanks for sharing all of these very disheartening statistics… The one that particular sticks out to me is how many women would rather be hit by a truck than be fat. How horrifying! I am eager to read Dr. Silverman’s new book AND celebrate Fat Talk Free week next week. So much great stuff on the horizon!
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Dr. Robyn Silverman, Elin Stebbins Waldal, Sara Warren, Melissa Wardy, Melissa Wardy and others. Melissa Wardy said: NewBlogPost: "Fat Talk & Body Image: COME ON! (1 of 4)" Ladies, I love you. But COME ON with it! Enough! http://bit.ly/9ctsyt #bodyimage [...]
They learn it from
YOU.
I love this video.
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The other day my Kindergartner was talking about how when she gets to be a grown up she is going to work out and be skinny. I do talk about dieting, but in the context of eating healthier foods. I have a weight problem. A serious weight problem, but even so I knew that what she was saying did not come from me. I asked her where she heard about that ad why did she think it was important and she told me the name of her bff. ARGH! I know her bff’s mother and she is heavy by no stretch of the imagination. She is very fit and works out all the time. Last week she told me she was trying to lose five pounds. I HATE that her issues have influenced my daughter through her child. HATE it.
But all of that said I do want to comment on that 64% of people that withdraw from society. I think in that number you have to consider the number of people that actually ARE overweight and are not living in a healthy, fit body. I’m one of those. I don’t allow my size to keep me from doing things, but I’m sure some of the people in that number are. The ones that aren’t… well that’s just sad.
Jennifer´s last blog ..Why does everything have to be about sex
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Mandy Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 2:24 pm
One of my dearest friends stopped doing so many things when her weight topped 200. She would sit at the camp site instead of head to the water slides. She refused to put on her swimsuit at the lake, sitting in the boat instead of riding the innertube behind it. She wouldn’t go to the movies, to dinner, anywhere really.
It was so painful to watch someone withdraw like that over something like weight. Thankfully, she’s worked through some of her feelings and is now happy to join us on activities.
(And for the record? I’m not living in a healthy, fit body. I’m working on it.)
Mandy´s last blog ..Down Syndrome Awareness
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Hi Melissa, Hi everyone-
Thank you so much for posting this, Melissa, and thank you for reposting my “Fighting Weight Obsession” video. I love that we are having these conversations and latching on to different nuggets of information– whether a statistic or a quote from the video. We can do something about this so let’s keep talking and figuring it all out together.
Some people have asked if I had the words written out to the video– so I posted them this morning. Here they are: http://bit.ly/c1VQ7n I would love to hear what you think of the book and yes, can’t wait to read your review, Melissa, as you have such insight and passion for this subject matter and how it affects our girls– and us too.
Again, many thank to Melissa, and all of you who have reposted the video on your own websites and Facebook pages. The more we get the message out there, the more we can get talking, doing, and helping our girls thrive. So grateful.
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[...] Pigtail Pails, a blog and store that empowers girls to “redefine girly,” Melissa talked about fat talk, sharing some startling statistics and featuring a moving video based on Dr. Robyn Silverman’s [...]
[...] blogs this past week. Check out What To Do When Your Friends Are Brainwashed at The Demoiselles and Fat Talk and Body Image from Pigtail [...]
[...] girls get from the media can be pretty frightening. Buisness owner and blogger Melissa Wardy posted this alarming statistic last week: “70% of young women say they want to look like a character on TV. 69% of TV [...]
This is something that I grapple with.
On the one hand, I don’t allow “fat talk” in my house. On the other hand, I struggle with my weight. And when I say “struggle” I mean that I’m a good 60 lbs from what doctors call “normal” weight. (And a good 80 lbs from what Hollywood would call a “normal” weight. But I live within driving distance of Hollywood. They’re not normal.)
I love my body. I know that the weight I’m carrying around my belly, hips and thighs is there because my body carried life. Twice. My boobs are large – as in H cups – but they are filled with milk that nourishes my child. I want to be more fit, more healthy because I want to see my grandchildren get married.
I walk a tightrope between discussing my goals with my husband and friends and making sure that my children realize that Mommy is losing weight to be healthy not to be “skinny”.
I’m so afraid that my daughter will misunderstand.
Mandy´s last blog ..Down Syndrome Awareness
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melissa Reply:
October 20th, 2010 at 4:24 pm
Hi Mandy -
I have also have the pleasure of living in Southern CA and no, they are not normal! It is not an accident we are back in the Midwest raising our family. After my second child, who’s birth was brutal, it took me a long time to get my body back in shape. 3-4 times a week I would haul the kids to the gym, and every time as I would kiss them goodbye at the door of the Child Watch, I would say, “Mama’s going to go get strong and healthy.”
Your daughter will understand your actions because you will build a healthy framework around them. Mostly she will see a mama who loves her like mad and who radiates joy because she enjoys her body and its health. (BTW – all of my weight loss came once I stopped nursing when the baby weaned himself.)
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I truly can’t understand people that think that they can shed weight with diets & pills. Come on , man, come on!!! Its not rocket science now, is it? Intake less calories than you burn and you will probably shed pounds – yes, its that easy!!!
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