A Lean & Hungry Look Analysis

Isn’t it so easy to look at someone and consider them a certain way? If someone is underweight, people consider them anorexic, and if someone is overweight, people consider them obese. Making assumptions such as "she is too skinny, she probably starves herself", or "he is fat, he must be eating McDonald's all day" are some examples of ignorant comments. Instead of judging someone for being obese or underweight, people should consider the reasons the problem. Individuals who suffer from obesity might suffer from hormonal problems, thyroid, or have a slow metabolism. Same goes for individuals who are underweight, they might suffer from hyperthyroidism, excessive stress, or anorexia. Instead of judging individuals on their weight, people should consider them to be just like themselves. Therefore, people should not judge others based on body shapes, because they might not know about some of the serious illnesses that can result in the

Atlas also highlights that obesity contributes to poor health in individuals. However, he neglects to mention other difficulties obese individuals face on a functionalist front. As thinness is celebrated by society, negative sanctions are often applied on obese people. They are commonly stigmatized and perceived to be less competent, lazy and lacking in self-discipline, which poses difficulties

According to Ann Marie Paulin in “Cruelty, Civility and Other Weighty Matters”, the mass media are discriminating against overweight people, which creates a society where being fat is looked down upon. Paulin argues that, “the media are notorious for getting things less than accurate” (243), therefore we shouldn’t believe how they depict fat people on tv, magazines and other media sources. The author believes that not all overweight people are like, how the media portrays them, but rather their lifestyle is influenced by the culture we live in. She claimed that, “Sugary or fatty foods are often available in grab and go packages that are so much easier to take to work or eat in the car than making a healthy snack” (245). She believe there are evidence to show that humans are naturally attracted to unhealthy foods, but society continue to manufacture them to make people eat more (243-249). I agree with Paulin about how the media need to stop fat shaming because it’s not only making people feel bad, but it is promoting obesity.

Laura Bogart’s “I Choose to be fat” is a blog post that seems to be against conforming to “everybody” in society’s ideal image. She tries to connect with the audience using emotional appeals. When reading this essay, I have a hard time figuring out who the audience she is writing to is. She could be writing to those who are in the same boat as her or she could be writing to those who think that she should lose weight. She could be writing to the doctors that she has had throughout her life that have said she needs to lose weight. Obesity is an issue that is heavily talked about today, like all the health issues that go along with is and what is does to the human body. In this blog post, she tries to provide justification of her “choice” to be fat by saying that she is happy and powerful, but in the blog post she is constantly contradicting herself throughout by giving negative examples about herself and others perceptions of her. In regards to her essay, she makes a compelling argument by appealing to the audience’s emotions; but the constant contradiction to her being happy, the lack of facts, and

Words were used to describe positive associations or negative associations. The test was based on how people view fat or thin people subconsciously or consciously. Compared to the more personal test regarding racial profiling, this test’s results were not as poignant or one-sided. The general populace in statistics did score that thin people gave a higher positive reaction. However, moderate positive reactions were nearly equal. The absolute neutral position where one feels equal toward either size was high and showed that being fat is becoming more acceptable. The lower end preference of fat over thin was low but it was prevalent enough to record. The test findings were about on par with how society views fat and thin people. With the advent of obesity, tolerance for the obese is becoming acceptable. It is unclear whether this is because this is an emerging social norm due to the rise in obesity or if it is an indication that mainstream media is promoting full-size and plus-size models and outfits that flatter fat people. Regardless, the tests show an increasing tolerance for fat

(4) Knapp describes how” the average American woman is bombarded with ads on a daily basis… which shows a controlled appetite, prerequisite for slenderness, connotes beauty, desirability, and worthiness.” (8) The daily reminders from society resonates in a woman’s psyche which leads to anxiety towards hunger. The anxiety that women feel leads to an insatiable desire to be thin no matter the cost because of fear of being fat, and the negative connotation associated with being fat.

In the chapter The Adoption and Management of a “Fat” Identity, Douglas Degher and Gerald Hughes analyze how the reality of people that are overweight changes. “Obese people are fat first, and only secondary are seen as possessing ancillary characteristics.”(Degher and Hughes p.265). In today's society being overweight or not having the ideal body being portrayed by the media is usually considered as unhealthy. As a consequence, pharmaceutical drugs are being created daily to help reduce weight, workout dvds are being produced daily, and clothes keeps getting reduced and limited so that overweight people have a hard time finding something that fits them and that they like. In the eyes of countless individuals, being fat is considered deviant

In this chapter, Lupton examines how overweight people experience life in society and how negative views of being overweight affect said people. She concludes that overweight people face a plethora of challenges in everyday life for a multitude of reasons (Lupton, 2013, p. 67-68). Overweight people experience discrimination on multiple levels, which can lead to negative health outcomes. This leads to the question, are fat people sick because they are fat, or because social factors surrounding and influencing their fatness

“I don’t hate you because you’re fat. You’re fat because I hate you,” an iconic “Mean Girls” quote briefly illustrates how fat is often portrayed in society. Movies and television series have a tendency to exclude overweight actors/actresses or use them as a center of ridicule. In doing so, it sends a misguided message to children, teens and adults who now feel the pressure of inadequacy. People have begun to examine the effects of body shaming in America. In the article “Fear of Fatness,” Peggy Orenstein, an award-winning writer, claims that the image of the ideal woman is rather impossible to achieve, and even those who may obtain it, still find flaws within themselves. Orenstein presents the idea that body fat is viewed as a negative

This article supports the book and its ideas about how we become obsessed with being thin. This article opens up the possibility that some are at more of a risk for body

The pressure to lose weight in today’s society inhibits the personality and health of overweight people while essentially increasing the weight of the people who experience these pressures (Worley 163-167). So reasons Mary Ray Worley in her article, “Fat and Happy: In Defense of Fat Acceptance.” Worley uses her personal experience as well as a small number of facts to dispute why overweight people struggle as they attempt to contribute to society (163-167). In the beginning of her article she references an association of which she is a member, the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, to convey the possibilities to advance society when judgement based on size is abandoned (163-164). The association holds a conference every year, and Worley continually refers to the atmosphere at the convention as “another planet,” suggesting that the scarcity of judgment during the convention differed significantly from her everyday experiences (163-164, 167). Applying her encounters to all people of her weight category, she declares that even doctors blame the majority of sicknesses on weight (165). She also proclaims that people should not diet and exercise in order to lose weight, as this triggers loss of motivation without results, but to improve their attitude and mood (166). Referencing Dr. Diane Budd from the convention, she states that attempts to lose weight cause “lasting harmful effects on one’s appetite, metabolism, and self-esteem” (164). While Worley’s unjustifiable

I claim that in American culture, a thin body is held as the "original", normal body; whereas obesity is viewed as a `temporary disruption' to the balance of the body. According to our cultural understanding, an obese body is viewed as being in the process of constant transformation. The idea of a permanently fat person is unacceptable and an obese body must be standardized and normalized. The goal is to transform and

This essay discusses how social constructions have an effect on obesity and what combination of causes and contributing factors it includes can lead to obesity. `Obesity is the term used to describe someone who is overweight and unhealthy. Obesity shortens life by an average of 10 years. It is very common in the UK and results from a study back in 2014 showed that a whopping 65.3% of men and 58.1% of women are obese here. (UniversityOfBirmingham,2016) Being over weight is generally associated with being lazy and unpleasant. There are a lot of media groups that have influenced our society’s perception on obesity and many factors that lead to the disease. Obesity can be life threatening and can be the start of lethal conditions such as diabetes,

Thicker women face discrimination and pressures from society and their peers to lose weight because their bodies types are perceived as unhealthy this is the relative idea Beth MacInnis shared in “Fat Oppression”  in Consuming Passions. MacInnis discusses the health risk associated with weight loss and the misconception thicker women are unhealthy because of their body sizes. She points out that having a bigger body other than being thin the ideal beauty standard is seen as being unhealthy but for those women to lose weights by means that are risky and are shown to be unhealthy in her research. In simpler terms MacInnis is pointing out the hypocrisy in the idea that not being thin is unhealthy but for women that aren’t skinny face actual unhealthy and unethical means to lose weight.

Closer in the early 2000’s if someone’s body wasn’t super thin and little, they would be made fun of and be told to go on a diet, or to put their food down because “they don’t need it”. Now a full circle has come as the ideal body is back to Monroe. Thicker women are admired and praised while skinny and toned women are told to go put more meat on their bones. Songs like “Anaconda” by Nicki Minaj and “All About That Bass” by Meghan Trainor both talk about how men would rather have a thicker girl than a slim girl --or a “silicone barbie doll,” according to Meghan. While this is uplifting to the women on the thicker end of the scale, it’s definitely demeaning to those on the other side. It seems as if one can’t be praised without the other being knocked down.