A message that bears repeating

[Poohbug]

I saw the GMA clip this morning and thought it was great. It is a rare, rare thing to see someone on TV news that does not have "the look". The fact that this newsperson has had success despite her look leads me to believe she really has talent.

I do not have a problem with her calling out the guy who sent the email. He sent the email knowing she was on TV. This was a personal attack based on assumptions. I know plenty of thin people who could not walk a mile, who have high blood pressure, bad joints and heart problems. He assumed she was not healthy because of her weight and that is just not right or true in this case.

 

[Tuffcookie]

To be fair, he didn't tell her she should changed so people will like her. He told her she should change to promote a healthy lifestyle and influence kids to do the same.

My question is, did he single out any over-weight male anchors at the TV station and send them a similar e-mail? What about asking them to shape up because they need to be a positive influence on boys.

TC

 

[jujube]

My question is, did he single out any over-weight male anchors at the TV station and send them a similar e-mail? What about asking them to shape up because they need to be a positive influence on boys.

TC

If this link shows all of the reporters at WKBT, then none of the males are overweight.
http://www.news8000.com/wkbt-tv

 

[sam_gordon]

If this link shows all of the reporters at WKBT, then none of the males are overweight.
http://www.news8000.com/wkbt-tv

But Jennifer Livingston doesn't look overweight to me in that link either.

 

[jujube]

But Jennifer Livingston doesn't look overweight to me in that link either.

You're right, maybe they're using old pictures of everyone. After reading your post, I googled the pictures and none of the other reporters are overweight.

 

[FireDancer]

I heard someone bring up an outstanding point while discussing this whole incident and I thought I'd ask the same question here that he asked.

Why is it ok to call out Kira Knightly as being too thin and setting a bad example for girls or to boycott the Barbie doll, a <expletive deleted> toy, for setting a bad example because it is too thin but you can't call out this chick for setting a bad example the other way? If being a too thin public figure is a bad example so is being a fat one.

I don't think any of the three are role models personally but it was a good point that I've mentioned before in other circumstances. It is fine and dandy to call out a thin person for setting a bad example but God forbid you say the same about a fat one. It is not even blinked at when someone tells a thin person (and not even overly thin, just healthy thin) to eat a cupcake once in a while but if someone two feet down tells a fat person to eat a salad once in a while the exact same people who didn't blink at the cupcake comment get up in arms at the salad comment.

Wondering what the DIS thinks about the double standard with both subjects.

 

[FergieTCat]

I heard someone bring up an outstanding point while discussing this whole incident and I thought I'd ask the same question here that he asked.



I don't think any of the three are role models personally but it was a good point that I've mentioned before in other circumstances. It is fine and dandy to call out a thin person for setting a bad example but God forbid you say the same about a fat one. It is not even blinked at when someone tells a thin person (and not even overly thin, just healthy thin) to eat a cupcake once in a while but if someone two feet down tells a fat person to eat a salad once in a while the exact same people who didn't blink at the cupcake comment get up in arms at the salad comment.

Wondering what the DIS thinks about the double standard with both subjects.

I think the answer is obvious, and it seems that we have been in too many debates about this. I found this explanation on the web, which is more succint than I have the time to compose:

"In some cultures, large deposits of fat are deemed physically unattractive, and therefore the adjective has become an epithet, because the assumption is that looking a certain way is not desirable. Calling someone fat is supposed to be insulting, even when it is an accurate description of his or her body, because the name-caller assumes that the person is uncomfortable or perhaps unhappy with the way he or she looks."

http://www.wisegeek.com/is-fat-a-derogatory-word.htm

 

[CdnCarrie]

I love when men comment on the weight of women. Wonder how the heck they would look after birthing 3 babies.

 

[luvmy3]

My question is, did he single out any over-weight male anchors at the TV station and send them a similar e-mail? What about asking them to shape up because they need to be a positive influence on boys.

TC

Well I think he used the word "children" so that would in fact cover girls and boys. As far as sending an email to a male, I don't know. If he did their wife obviously didn't post in on Facebook.

 

[FireDancer]

I think the answer is obvious, and it seems that we have been in too many debates about this. I found this explanation on the web, which is more succint than I have the time to compose:

"In some cultures, large deposits of fat are deemed physically unattractive, and therefore the adjective has become an epithet, because the assumption is that looking a certain way is not desirable. Calling someone fat is supposed to be insulting, even when it is an accurate description of his or her body, because the name-caller assumes that the person is uncomfortable or perhaps unhappy with the way he or she looks."

http://www.wisegeek.com/is-fat-a-derogatory-word.htm

But I'm not talking about name calling, I'm talking about using a physical characteristic to label someone a poor role model. Using body type as a reason to criticize someone is fine if it is because they are too thin but not ok if they are overweight or obese (to take the word fat out of it). Same goes with the cupcake and salad comments. It is commenting on what someone is eating in reference to their body type but one is fine and the other not.

Take the word fat out of it and the double standard is still present in both cases. You will hear the same group of people chastise certain people for being bad examples because of their bodies while out of the other side of their mouth state that other people shouldn't be chastised because of their bodies. In the first instance it is someone too thin (like Kira Knightly) and in the second it is for being overweight like this anchor. Is that not hypocritical? I'm asking seriously. Why is a runway model a bad role model for children because they have an unhealthy body but <insert any obese celebrity here> is fine the way she is even though her body is also unhealthy and the later is the much larger societal epidemic?**

**I don't think either are role models personally but many other do.

 

[luvmy3]

But I'm not talking about name calling, I'm talking about using a physical characteristic to label someone a poor role model. Using body type as a reason to criticize someone is fine if it is because they are too thin but not ok if they are overweight or obese (to take the word fat out of it). Same goes with the cupcake and salad comments. It is commenting on what someone is eating in reference to their body type but one is fine and the other not.

Take the word fat out of it and the double standard is still present in both cases. You will hear the same group of people chastise certain people for being bad examples because of their bodies while out of the other side of their mouth state that other people shouldn't be chastised because of their bodies. In the first instance it is someone too thin (like Kira Knightly) and in the second it is for being overweight like this anchor. Is that not hypocritical? I'm asking seriously.

Yes it is hypocritical, but its accepted when its directed at a thin person. I have no idea why, but I can tell you comments about being too thin hurt just as much as comments about being too fat can.

 

[jujube]

I love when men comment on the weight of women. Wonder how the heck they would look after birthing 3 babies.

I have 3 children and weigh 5 pounds more than I did when I was married 30 years ago. I eat pretty much whatever I want in moderation including desserts and snacks. If I find that I'm 2 lbs over, I cut back. Today I'm beginning an exercise program. Having babies, unless the pregnancy causes some kind of imbalance, is not a reason to keep the weight.

 

[Princess Dolly]

I heard someone bring up an outstanding point while discussing this whole incident and I thought I'd ask the same question here that he asked.



I don't think any of the three are role models personally but it was a good point that I've mentioned before in other circumstances. It is fine and dandy to call out a thin person for setting a bad example but God forbid you say the same about a fat one. It is not even blinked at when someone tells a thin person (and not even overly thin, just healthy thin) to eat a cupcake once in a while but if someone two feet down tells a fat person to eat a salad once in a while the exact same people who didn't blink at the cupcake comment get up in arms at the salad comment.

Wondering what the DIS thinks about the double standard with both subjects.

It's not OK and I am against that as well. We all have different body types. There shouldn't be a focus or fixation on a certain look.

 

[FireDancer]

It's not OK and I am against that as well. We all have different body types. There shouldn't be a focus or fixation on a certain look.

You are right but that isn't what happens societally. The commentary is different when the criticism goes the other way. Does anyone here honestly think that if a man had sent an email to a rail thin anchor that looked like a runway model that she is too thin and is a bad role model and that she should do something about it to influence young girls blah blah blah and she responded that she knows she is too thin but we should accept her for who she is that the reaction would be the same?

I surely don't. I would bet my mortgage that many of the same people (in general, not necessarily here) saying the man who sent this email was wrong to do so (which I agree with lest we forget) and the anchor should stand up for herself and be happy with how she looks would be saying the exact opposite thing. That it is about time someone said something about the unhealthy image she was portraying. It would happen, it has before.

 

[CdnCarrie]

I have 3 children and weigh 5 pounds more than I did when I was married 30 years ago. I eat pretty much whatever I want in moderation including desserts and snacks. If I find that I'm 2 lbs over, I cut back. Today I'm beginning an exercise program. Having babies, unless the pregnancy causes some kind of imbalance, is not a reason to keep the weight.

Good for you but not all women are like that.

Studies have shown that men lose weight easier than women.
Studies have also shown that men do less housework/childcare than women leaving them with more free time to workout.
Men don't go through pregnancy or have the fluctuating hormones that can cause women to gain weight.

Men have it much easier in the weight department.

 

[FergieTCat]

So it's OK to give your opinion on people's body weight (either fat or thin)when you have never met them and have no idea why they are the way they are? Personally, I think it's rude.

And yes, it is derogatory to call someone out for being fat. Moreso than calling them out for being thin. I think we established that as a society years ago. I just watched the Emmy Awards; trust me, there was not one celebrity who was criticized for being too thin. I don't remember Melissa McCarthy being adulated.

 

[CdnCarrie]

That it is about time someone said something about the unhealthy image she was portraying. It would happen, it has before.

What a bunch of sanctimonious bull. Her weight is between her and her physician. No one else.

 

[luvsJack]

I agree that it is not ok to call anyone a bad role model because of their body. Some people cannot gain weight and remain "too" thin their entire life, I have a son that is this way. It doesn't make them a bad role model.

I do think that in a case such as Kiera Knightly its not so much that she is thin as it is a presumption of what she is doing to be that thin. A person that is rail thin to the point of looking anorexic is assumed to be doing unhealthy things to be that thin. They are going below what their body should actually be and that is part of what gives young girls a bad body image.

 

[luvmy3]

I agree that it is not ok to call anyone a bad role model because of their body. Some people cannot gain weight and remain "too" thin their entire life, I have a son that is this way. It doesn't make them a bad role model.

I do think that in a case such as Kiera Knightly its not so much that she is thin as it is a presumption of what she is doing to be that thin. A person that is rail thin to the point of looking anorexic is assumed to be doing unhealthy things to be that thin. They are going below what their body should actually be and that is part of what gives young girls a bad body image.

That is the same as assuming that fat people (in general) are doing unhealthy things by choice to remain fat. Not every very thin person is out there starving themself, but there is a presumption that they are. Just as there is the presumption that fat people are out there eating double cheeseburgers for every meal.
Obviously there are those on both ends of the spectrum doing extreme things that cause themselves to be either fat or thin. It just not all of them.

 

[Princess Dolly]

So it's OK to give your opinion on people's body weight (either fat or thin)when you have never met them and have no idea why they are the way they are? Personally, I think it's rude.

And yes, it is derogatory to call someone out for being fat. Moreso than calling them out for being thin. I think we established that as a society years ago. I just watched the Emmy Awards; trust me, there was not one celebrity who was criticized for being too thin. I don't remember Melissa McCarthy being adulated.

Wrong! Nobody should be called out, made to feel bad, etc. because of how they appear. I struggled with my own body image. And then when I lost my weight, my mom called me beautiful. GAG. I was beautiful before, too. And I've been beautiful since. Sure my body has changed over time from me being overweight, to probably being too thin, to being just right, to now having a few pounds to lose. And I've heard all kinds of comments. But really all I want to be is healthy and as long as I am, then that is what matters.