Today I watched the fourth episode of Kath and Kim, titled "Fat".
In the episode, Kim says, It doesn't matter how healthy you are on the inside. It's what you look like that counts.
It's not that I agree with that quote. Or at least I don't WANT to agree with it. Judging by my bad behavior in the past, I'd say there's unfortunately a part of me that does agree with it.
Kim makes her statement after deciding to give up quitting smoking so she can lose weight and fit better into the bridesmaid dress that she's supposed to wear at her mother's wedding. Her mother is proud of her for this. She'd rather have a smoking daughter than a chubby daughter.
The episode reminded me of an exaggerated version of my own family. We tend to idolize thinness. The feelings are often marketed as a health issue which makes me think most of them have not seen (or they've ignored) the studies that show being underweight is a health risk. Concerned emails circulate about our overweight members, but not much is mentioned about those who are underweight. If I skip dessert, there's a comment about me being good. I don't hear similar comments being made when an underweight person takes a larger piece of pie than usual.
I think if the weight thing was about health, there'd be equal pressure on both the underweight individuals and the overweight individuals to make changes. And if someone lost a large amount of weight in a short period of time concern rather than compliments would be distributed...the same amount of concern that would be shown towards someone who gained a lot of weight.
In the episode, Kim says, It doesn't matter how healthy you are on the inside. It's what you look like that counts.
It's not that I agree with that quote. Or at least I don't WANT to agree with it. Judging by my bad behavior in the past, I'd say there's unfortunately a part of me that does agree with it.
Kim makes her statement after deciding to give up quitting smoking so she can lose weight and fit better into the bridesmaid dress that she's supposed to wear at her mother's wedding. Her mother is proud of her for this. She'd rather have a smoking daughter than a chubby daughter.
The episode reminded me of an exaggerated version of my own family. We tend to idolize thinness. The feelings are often marketed as a health issue which makes me think most of them have not seen (or they've ignored) the studies that show being underweight is a health risk. Concerned emails circulate about our overweight members, but not much is mentioned about those who are underweight. If I skip dessert, there's a comment about me being good. I don't hear similar comments being made when an underweight person takes a larger piece of pie than usual.
I think if the weight thing was about health, there'd be equal pressure on both the underweight individuals and the overweight individuals to make changes. And if someone lost a large amount of weight in a short period of time concern rather than compliments would be distributed...the same amount of concern that would be shown towards someone who gained a lot of weight.