Fat Like Me

[tikistitch]

Did everybody catch this link on Boing Boing this morning?

Does anybody else remember a Barbie's chubby sister doll from the late 80s, something like "Happy to Be Me?" This seems like the same kinda "well meaning person who doesn't know the first thing about kids or toys tries to do some good."

OK, granted we put waaaaaaaaaay too much emphasis on impossibly thin images of women in this society, so much so that Dove soap's current ad campaign, showing some normal-to-thin women in their underwear, is thought of as somehow revolutionary.

But to be realistic here, it seems like kids aren't buying "50s Barbie dolls" any more. That's a non-issue--instead, they're buying Bratz, which are even less like a real human body than Barbie ever was. (Though, one thing the do-gooders never seem to remark on, the Bratz are a lot more ethnically diverse than Barbie's 50s crew, or even the Barbie gang I grew up with in the 70s.)

And here's another issue to throw into the mess: I've heard a lot of commentary over the years about how Barbie's too thin, or too busty, or too whatever. Now, meanwhile, in my lifetime, images in boys toys (action figures and 12" GI Joes) have gone from normal skinny, to buffed out, to Rob-Liefeld-OMG-your-pecs-are-gonna-splode-dude! Isn't steroid usage a problem? Why don't any crusaders ask to have less buff boy toys? Or are boys though to sensible to be influenced by toys, unlike girls, who must be shielded from the potential trauma induced by Barbie's skinny thighs?

Just askin'.

Comments

[twotone]

In our Educational Psychology class, our prof insisted that weight LOSS was not a problem amongst children and teens, weight GAIN via stereoid use was. I was a bit unsure about that (this was the same prof that suggested that ADD is "just bad parenting", and other unsettling gems of that sort) but it was an interesting point.

I wonder what the demographics of steroid use are, though? It's generally considered a performance-enhancing drug, implying that stereoid abusers are doing so to be better athletes rather than to just look good. Whereas most people with eating disorders, I think, do so because they want to look thin.

On a My Little Pony discussion board, I came across a poster who revealed that she was recovering from an eating disorder. As she put it, "I didn't do it because I wanted to be thin like Barbie, I did it because I wanted to be thinner than anyone alive."

[tikistitch.livejournal.com]

Psych professors say the darnedest things, don't they? ^_^

If you've ever hung around a weight room (yup, I used to do weights), you definitely see boys/young men who are doing *something* to make themselves look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Not sure of the prevalence, but it's there.

Eating disorders are *really* complicated. My research in grad school kind of touched on the area, and a couple of the professors I worked with were pretty well versed in the current theories (or current at the time--this is almost 10 years ago). People get started by dieting to be thin, definitely, but then there's a really complicated series of hormonal/biological changes in their brains that make them stick to their starving behavoir.

[mmymoon.livejournal.com]

Yay! I do weights. I don't, sigh, currently because of the wedding and move and doom, but I love lifting. I think there needs to be more images of badass women weightlifters -- as a tall, clumsy, chunky girl with giant boobies, I will NEVER BE ABLE TO JOG EVER IN MY LIFE YOU STUPID AEROBICS FREAK CULTURE. But weights are empowering like boy howdy.

There are so many disorders in our generation(s)! It's too much to comprehend. I'm always amazed at how amazingly popular cutting has become amongst my-age-range-and-below girls. But you know, really, I've never know anyone influenced by toy shapes. All the love of big-headed things really ought to drive that home for people -- the girls who develop disorders that I've known are the ones with moms who natter on about diets and buy their TEN YEAR OLDS diet sodas and fat-free subs. I don't honestly think Barbie's waist is any more or less realistically a problem than Bratz's feet pegs.

I never really liked Barbies, being a action figure/Lego/animal girl, but I had a handful of pretty ethnically diverse ones. All the girls I knew just bought the ones they liked and made them the main characters -- I never played with any girls who thought OMG Barbie is the Star cause she's Barbie! I'm sure they're out there, but I didn't know them. I had a Hawaiian/Black girl lesbian couple as my main characters. :P (She wasn't "AA" as my backstory dictated she was from England. Heh.)

I've been seeing those Dove ads on the DC Metro -- I actually thought they were pretty neat. I often wonder if I don't have enough "fat cred," though... I'm a big girl, so bulk looks more... natural on me. I get gushes of "oooooooooo you're not fat," when I say something about finding "fat girl clothes" or anything, but damn, you know, I am at least 50+ pounds overweight. I have giant hips of pants-finding doom. Am I not fat enough to count? Society is so weird.

[tikistitch.livejournal.com]

I run, but I go reeeeeeeallllly sloooooowwww. So, I run kinda like the old 6 Milliion Dollar Man tv show. ^_^

I was doing weights 4-5 times a week for a couple years, and it was awesome. I have zero upper body strength, but for the first time in my life, I had biceps and SHOULDERS! I need to get back into it, since taking antidepressants has resulted in a lot of unwanted flab about the middle. I'm looking too much like Stitch these days.

[mmymoon.livejournal.com]

Sigh! I used to love running when I was younger -- but now... there's not an undergarment in the world's gonna make that happen. (They stick out a foot from my body. Literally. I need a bra engineer who works on suspension bridges. ;9) I keep dreaming of the glorious day I get a double masectomy, like my old Auntie did, and, I dunno, start running everywhere.

Yes! Yes! I wanna get back to that -- I have absolutely nooooo upper body strength if I'm not lifting. (Whereas my fingers are totally buff -- fear my geekily honed body!) I was bad-ass buff when I was 15, then became a glob during college, and now, once the dust settles, I wanna be She-Hulk.

[tikistitch.livejournal.com]

I always wanted to be Emma Peel. But She Hulk will serve.

What did you bench? I got up to 115 lbs. at one point, and was *so* proud of myself!!

[twotone]

I guess the secondary issue re: boys and image is that traditionally, girls are expected to care about their looks and (equally important) what OTHERS think about their looks. I'm not 100% sure, but I think the whole "metrosexual" thing shows that it's still considered unusual for men to care about their appearance. I mean, there isn't really a comparable term for women, is there?

I don't know how much of that is the much-touted biological imperative thing (men seek a mate that is young and fertile, women seek signs of wealth and ability to support offspring) and how much is social inertia, though. And of course, boys are presumably still shamed into avoiding being fat; I'm not sure if they are similarly afflicted by eating disorders, or if they're better able to lose weight through exercise, or if they simply aren't socially conditioned to whine about chubbiness the way women are. :p

[tikistitch.livejournal.com]

I guess the secondary issue re: boys and image is that traditionally, girls are expected to care about their looks and (equally important) what OTHERS think about their looks.

That's a great point! If I had to make a guess, the Diehard Darwinist in me says boys are probably hard-wired to be quite visual in their methods of sexual selection, so this is an issue we'll deal with as long as people are people.

However, doesn't it seem a bit, I dunno, ironic or something that people who decry objectifying women also seem to be the ones who spend a lot of energy debating Barbie's looks, but at the same time, ignoring GI Joe's monstrously bulging biceps? I mean, shouldn't we be concerned about positive images for girls *and* boys?

[girlontheleft.livejournal.com]

It seems to me like there's a double standard. Boys' toys generally aren't controversial unless they harm boys in a direct and immediate manner. But girls' toys are treated as if they could cause the girl's moral or mental ruination now or at any time in the future. 'Cause boys are supposed to be strong and resilient, and girls are supposed to be fragile and delicate and in need of constant protection. Bleh.

[tikistitch.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree. I think people tend to be more protective of girls.

[gothiclibrarian.livejournal.com]

I find it amusing that the kid playing with the fattie doll is a twig.

I want to see it inflated all the way! What a weird novelty...what the heck would that kind of doll wear?

[tikistitch.livejournal.com]

I find it amusing that the kid playing with the fattie doll is a twig.

Haha, I didn't even notice! You're right.

I love the kid's look of evil concentration.

I want to see it inflated all the way!

Blow 'er up like a beachball and bat her around? Hrm. I don't find this to be doing any good for my self-esteem. ^_^

[gothiclibrarian.livejournal.com]

Naw, I just wanna see how big it can get!

Sorta like when you take a water balloon and fill it til it bursts.

[tikistitch.livejournal.com]

Oooo, exploding dollies. Now, that has potential.

[blythou.livejournal.com]

I've always wondered why people were obsessed by Barbie's weight... I've never thought she was too thin... In fact, I thought her too fat and curvy, even though I loved playing with her as a kid.

Barbie's got nothing to do with eating disorders which are far, far more complex than a simple identification to a toy. I know since I don't have the healthiest relation to food and I always think I'm too fat (I'm 5'5'', weight 106 pounds and I'm currently dieting to lose 4 pounds or more).

My sister and I used to play with Playmobils too as kids. And we never turned into plastic people with hands that go "click" when we grab objects. Weird, eh ?

As for Bratz... Well, I think they look faintly gross and overly made-up but I like the idea of ethnic diversity, which the Barbie family had over the years... The Asian & Afro-American dolls existed but shops weren't too keen to stock them, thinking they wouldn't sell as well as blonde dolls... Which is total bs. I loved my Black Barbie as a child and wanted another one, except they were soooo hard to find ! (and I'm as white as they come, with red hair and blue eyes, so it wasn't identification again here).

[tikistitch.livejournal.com]

My sister and I used to play with Playmobils too as kids. And we never turned into plastic people with hands that go "click" when we grab objects. Weird, eh ?

Hahahaha!

BTW, I agree with you about Barbie. There always had Barbie's Black friend, and Barbie's Asian friend, but it was pretty clear Barbie was star of the show.

[mmymoon.livejournal.com]

*cackles* I was a Lego girl. All those times I tried to pull off my legs...