I was buying some time in between
classes when I came across this video on Facebook. It was titled “News Anchorwoman called fat!” I just ignored it thinking it was just a
stupid video some college students made and was clearly trying to make fun of
an overweight person. It was than after
my Women’s Study class and in my medical aspects class of Kinesiology (active
lifestyle) was when I actually wanted to watch this video and see what the fuss
was all about. There was this news anchorwoman
who read an email on air of a man that said that she was overweight, obese, and
not a good public figure, especially for the younger female population. First of all, for her rebuttal she addresses
that she knows that she is overweight and maybe considered obese, but what
upset her was that the man didn’t even know her and has never met her. He doesn’t know what kind of exercise or diet
she may be on. As we talked in my
classes, can a person be healthy but be overweight? If someone is skinny, does
that mean they are healthy? ABSOLUTELY NOT! As a personal trainer, I can verify
this. I have a wide range of clients
ranging from those who are super fit to clients who are even a few hundred
pounds overweight. I see what they eat, exercise,
and their progression on a daily basis.
I can tell if someone is actually getting healthier or actually becoming
less healthy. There are so many examples of people appearing to be healthy on
the outside, however, on the inside is dying for help. Instead of judging someone’s health strictly
on their appearance, we should start to appreciate what the person does that
makes them healthy on the inside.
What are your thoughts? Do you think our society can overcome the “don’t
judge a book by its cover?” Or do you think physical appearance will always
tell us if a person is healthy or unhealthy?
I LOVE this woman's message.It really takes a lot of courage for someone to be so vulnerable like she was. Body image is something I am very passionate about and as long as you are making strides towards being healthy, that is what is important- in my opinion. BUT no matter what size you are, you should be accepted and not criticized for your choices, as it no business of anyone else.
ReplyDeleteI worry about my younger siblings growing up in a world where things have become so impersonal. It is so easy to bully someone, like this man did, and do so anonymously. That is why things like this need to be taken head on and stopped immediately!
I have a friend who is more than a couple pounds overweight, and she is well aware of it. Though she would like to lose a few pounds, like every other American, she likes to indulge a little also. She has explained her weight by saying, "I know I'm a little heavier, but I'm happy. I'm comfortable with who I am, and that's all that matters - I don't want to be like anybody else. I don't have to be a skinny rail in order to exude confidence." Much like the anchorwoman, I think it's cool that she can just be who she is instead of conforming to what everybody else thinks she should be.
ReplyDeleteI do not think physical appearance has the capability of explaining how healthy someone is. Take myself for example: I'm a pretty average weight for my height and age - I don't think I am at all overweight. Yet, since our class meets on the 4th floor of Sage, I'm almost always out of breath when I get to the 3rd floor. Maybe you could help me with some training... I don't workout, ever - so I will be the first person to admit that I am pretty out of shape. With the media surrounding us always, it continues to be more and more difficult for people to get past the "judge a book by its cover" mentality, since our society highly values image and conformity. It's really sad.