Yesterday I wrote about my support on the Dove Ads b/c they validated what I look like and represented fairly average bodies and the women appeared to have a healthy body image.
Then I got to thinking. Comedienne Mo'Nique has a show about overweight women vying in a beauty pageant. How would I feel if those women were in a similar ad by Dove? Honestly...I wouldn't have written about it. So what makes one weight range validate me but another not even register?
Though I don't discuss politics on my site for obvious reasons, I'm a political junkie. When I'm not chatting up weight loss stuff, I'm scouring my 10-15 news sites and gabbing on the phone about various issues. So that mental exercise, that analytical approach makes me see the politics in just about everything. Even weight. It's also why I tend to break stuff down and analyze issues the way I do.
Now I've never sat down and pieced together my entire view on weight, it's a bit hard to do and most of my thoughts seem contradictory. Like the one I just mentioned. In an effort to get to the heart of that contradiction I'll write about these two seemingly similar issues and my completely different take on both of them
I heard about Mo'Nique's new reality show a while back. W/o having cable I can't fairly discuss what it's all about, but based on what Mo'Nique has said about weight in the past, I can pretty much guess what the message is. I've never identified w/that message.
Which made me wonder, why?
In the Dove Ad, wasn't I pretty much saying let people just be, and if these women are overweight good for Dove for showing them as they are?
Well sorta.
My support of Dove has nothing to do w/the weight in lbs of the women. And believe me EC, I'm cynical enough to realize Dove is about the dough 
so their marketing intentions aside, I dig the picture. For all my limited television brain knows, that was an underwear ad.
Digging it was more about it being one of the few freakin times they show women w/o their ribs poking out of their back, or their chest bones aren't prominent, their thighs do not look like 10 year old boys and they are not the "ugly" before unhappy looking pictures or the butt of a joke that Monica from friends liked to play by aggressively sitting on a chair so it'd break. I hate seeing her do that. When I see people the size she plays as "Fat Monica" in public, for the most part they go out of their way not to be seen, much less draw that much attention to themselves to so others can yuk it up.
My support of the Dove ads has everything to do w/them stripping away the impossible, and down right deadly, standard of beauty women are bombarded with. Yes I want my tummy flab to go away, but less b/c I want rock hard Britney Spears circa 1999 abs. But b/c excess flab around the stomach is a dangerous sign of future health problems.
I'm a woman, so by nature I'm supposed to carry a bit of extra belly and thigh and hip fat. Why? Oh no big reason, just for the sake of procreation is all. [/sarcasm]
Women store extra fat around the hips and thighs. Oestrogen directs fat here for storage. This fat is of major survival value during the reproductive and child raring phases of life - when oestrogen levels are at a peak. After the menopause due to lowered oestrogen levels women store extra fat around the middle like a man instead of the thighs.Lower body female fat stores protect fertility, and provide an energy source for production of breast milk - important components of survival. That's why the feminine pear shape is so resilient. [source]
I guess I'm a realist about things.
But that's why I dig those ads, for @ least sending that healthy acceptance of an average body message.
So why don't I have the same, "You go girl!", support for Mo'Nique? B/c in my opinion being extremely overweight is not healthy. I'm not going to personally debate Mo'Nique's stance that despite her size, she is healthy. She & her doctor know her body better that I ever will. The same goes for any overweight person. I'm not going to put a # on what extremely overweight is, for fear that someone who is that # will take offense. Besides, I don't even have a # to go by. I just go by what I see. And if it's any indication I don't think the women in the Dove Ad are extremely overweight.
[Quick aside, the old 130lb me that subsisted on coca colas, fried foods & eating once a day w/o gaining an ounce would catch hell from the 168lb me today. Just b/c I was 130lbs doesn't give that old body a pass. I was not healthy. This is not so much about a # on the scale. It's about a healthy body & lifestyle.]
B/c I'm such a realist, I don't aim for having a six pack abs or lament that a man loses more b/c I understand that his body is made up differently than mine, nor do I beat myself up for going into chocolate overload in the days leading up to TOM or the excess snacking that goes on during it b/c I understand that our bodies need more calories at that time [The evidence is that women's bodies burn more calories between ovulation and menstruation. That's why sugary snacks look so good then. Don't starve yourself, but if you can resist the cravings for high-energy foods, your body will burn fat stores for energy.] nor do I feel cravings are a sigh of weakness and no willpower. Rather, it's my body telling me that I'm lacking something. I see what the human body is designed for. And diet isn't something I go on or off. Diet is what I eat day in and day out. So either I'm on a diet of fried foods and colas, or I'm on diet of fruits, veggies and the oh so delish Lean Cuisines.
It really made me stop and think. As vain & as ignorant as my weight loss mission started out a few years back, in the last few months, it's been evolving into something more.
I guess that's why I'm not too gung ho on Mo'Nique. It's one thing to show the everyday woman with her natural curves and fleshy body to counteract all the anorexic images we see, but it's another to have a body that in my mind, isn't healthy and promoting it as okay.
On the flip side (damn my Libra fair & balance tendencies), I s'pose I can just as easily view the Dove women as promoting an unhealthy body too. Maybe it's easy for me to embrace them b/c they look like me, but say 30lbs from now will I feel the same? Hard to predict. I'd like to believe so.
What I'd envision as an utopian society is where people are active, in community w/one another, parents set the example of good health by being active and eating right, treats & snacks are reserved for once a week or so, women & men having body fat %-tages that are not off the chart. I dunno, just overall healthier. I'd say any more I'll get a bit depressed by my surroundings.
And I bite my lip to post this b/c it may seem like I'm anti-fat (over a certain pound) or I'm saying that overweight people can't be beautiful and shouldn't have a show about themselves. None of which is true or how I feel.
Like I said earlier, as a political junkie, I tend to see the big picture in things and after reading an eloquent comment, I think this sums up how I feel:
Loving & accepting ourselves just as we are, in my book, is job one. While I call my tummy pudge and I may vent @ the scale from time to time, I don't hate my body. I may be frustrated that I'm losing slow, but it's not that deep. I have cellulite and stretch marks and I don't freak out about it.
However for my body to be carrying 40-50 excess lbs, to have such a high body fat % and not being physically active simply isn't healthy. For me.
I can love and accept my body image (Dove Ads) w/o wanting to change it into someone unrealistic (looking like a magazine cover or celeb) while doing my part to make my body healthier and reduce the chances of getting a preventable disease (like diabetes) due to poor diet, not working out and just throwing up my hands saying, I'm fandiddlytastic to be a size 16.
But that's just me.
So truly, if your outlook is similar to Mo'Nique's where your size may be what society standards has deemed overweight, but you are happy and healthy, that is awesome.
Keep in mind, society may very well deem me overweight and just like you, I'm happy too. But now I'm working on being my kind of healthy.
If nothing else, this country provides that the both of us can have the exact same thing, health & happiness, though the final product may look totally different.
Comments: 9
08.09.05 | Jake Berlin commented: Dear Renee,
After reading and enjoying this post, I've come to appreciate those of us who really want to be HEALTHY quite a bit more.
It takes a lot determination to decide to not only lose weight, but get the rest of your body and mind on track as well.
At first when I saw your photos in your header I was very impressed with your progress, and then after reading this post I can see why you were able to achieve such improvements.
I'm really glad someone was able to point something out about the media saying being overweight is healthy.
Obesity is such a common problem these days, the media is making it publicly accebtable to be overweight. ***not all the media though***
I'm looking forward to the world moving toward a healthier state of body and mind, eating healthier and living well.
My heart goes out to you and your quest.
I wish you all the best and look forward to watching your progress further.
Jake Berlin
08.09.05 | hopefulloser commented: Yes the Mo'Nique show was definitely a tougher issue. I watched it and it was very moving.
I think most of those women and the women who tried out were severly over weight. And I do believe that is unhealthy. If they workout and eat healthier foods, than they are probably in better health than other over weight people who don't , but it is still not healthy. That kind of weight is still a strain on your body.
What I loved about the show is that it gave these women a sense of worth. They are all still wonderful people despite their weight. And they should still have the opportunities that anybody else would have. One woman wanted to be a singer but producers wouldn't even look at her. She was really beautiful, just heavy, and sang great.
I don't think these women should embrace their size to the point of not trying to get healthier. I just wish the world wasn't so cruel to people in this situation. That way they could feel worth and still accomplish much in life. And hopefully better health is part of that. I wish we had a system that could provide more help with that too.
I think the dove ad is different because I don't think any of those women are an unhealthy weight.
I could go on and on
08.09.05 | Stacey commented: I totally agree with your point of view. That's why I started to tell myself that if I don't get any smaller than the size I am now and I know I am exercising and eating right, I won't care because I will know that I am healthy. The point is to accept and love yourself as you are now and part of that acceptances is treating yourself right by doing regular exercise and healthy eating.
08.09.05 | Nikki commented: "Loving & accepting ourselves just as we are, in my book, is job one."
That's what I got from the show. I think the media is far from promoting that it's acceptable to be obese. However, the first step in making any change is to come to terms with where you are. You can't go around hating your body and expect to change it. And loving it and feeling great about yourself does not mean that you want to stay at your current weight.
At 266, trying to lose weight is a matter of health primarily and clothes second, but like I said on my blog, I still know that I'm the shiznit. That helps me whether I'm 260 or 160.
08.09.05 | Dee commented: I agree with most things you've said here Renee, and I don't at all think you were pointing fingers @ the whole #'s issue. I've seen ads for that show [only briefly] and I agree - it like all the model TV shows, this too promote an unhealthy view. There are two sides to every coin.
That whole " your heart is a muscle" really stood out for me, like a light bulb moment - I often thank my body for putting up with me, I think it's high time I ease off on it.
08.10.05 | Cat commented: a lot of young insecure people could benefit from your opinon... strong/thin/lean/thick and healthy is good, thin and sickly or fat and sickly is not. well you're doing your thing and its great 
08.10.05 | Arazaree commented: I really liked this post, and I pretty much agree with you on all points. While I can't lie and say I don't want to wear all the cute clothes out there before I'm a grandmother, it's more about health for me. It's time to give my poor body a break.
08.12.05 | J. Rochester commented: I s'pose I can just as easily view the Dove women as promoting an unhealthy body too. Maybe it's easy for me to embrace them b/c they look like me, but say 30lbs from now will I feel the same?
I've got to say I hope so: none of those women are overweight, by any measure at all. The problem is that we're losing sight of what 'normal' is: all those girls are at nice, healthy, normal weights, somewhere between BMIs of 21 and 25. But the world is full of idiots who think that underweight is normal and normal is obese. Thus, as the night follows the day, women who can't get down to BMI 17.5 assume they are fat, and then actually do...
I'm trying to find my happy medium, and it's hard...
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Somewhere along the way, it stopped being about a number on the scale and started being about my health. I'm much happier for that change.