Big in the Media's Eye

OK, so this blog might border on insensitive or rude or mean. We hear how America is getting "larger." As in, the average weight of Americans is rising not only in comparisons to stats from America 10 years ago, but in comparison to our fellow neighbors across the globe. For the sake of my question, one must assume that this is not a good trend. Perhaps someone will argue this point. However, for health reasons alone, I am assuming that obesity is a risk and should be avoided. I should also add that obesity for one might be because of poor eating habits while for another it is a genetic situation. So forgive me for putting "obesity" into one category regardless of cause. People talk about media and it's influence on body image. Should someone who looks unhealthy (ie: the "new" Nicole Richy) be an influence for 13 year old girls? No way. Her body looks awful and is unhealthy looking. I do not support the promotion of an unhealthy body image. But, let's look at this the different way. I just saw an ad in which an extremely obese man buys 3 hot dogs covered in "everything" while talking about his cell phone service which also provides him with "everything." Isn't this also an unhealthy body image? Should I also say that I don't support this unhealthy body image also? When those who are unhealthy and too skinny are in the media, we say they are poor role models and we should accept a more natural body ideal. I agree. When those who are unhealthy and too big are in the media, it looks like companies are being inclusive. Is this OK? Afterall, if an ad is "inclusive" and features someone who is overweight then doesn't that insinuate that those who are heavy are "different" from the rest, as in a new category? Bank commercials are great for this: they show the white guy, the Asian lady, the black man, the heavy woman...but wait, why is the overweight person in a new genre? So many issues here, I'll stop typing and you respond. PS - The spell check on Blogger did not recognize the word "blog." Odd.

New York Times

Recently had a letter published in the NYTimes Magazine.