Tuesday, May 3, 2011
I Used to Be Fat
After watching this episode of I Used to Be Fat, on MTV I couldn't help but notice the strong gender roles that take place. In the American Society, the media tells us that being fat is undesirable, gross, and lazy. To be thin is to be beautiful and anything other than a supermodel is still looked down upon. For obese individuals such as this kid Tanner, there is a huge stigma and an "I need to change before I'm worth it" mentality built up. Many shows on MTV push societal norms onto teenagers and set the trend for what's acceptable and what is not. This show especially spells out what media often tries to present upon American culture in a huge way. Being fat, makes you less of a person and therefore not worthy of happiness until you reach the acceptable weight or 'look'. Hegemony plays a part in this video as the dominant class (thin) is socially accepted therefore put those who are overweight into an inferior category and are looked down upon. In all, it’s important to stay healthy and take care of yourself, but one can’t help but notice the added pressures from the media to look a certain way in order to be accepted.
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Good point about hegemony-but "thin" is not the dominant class in America. Statistics show that only 5% of women in America look like the thin image portrayed in media (though some believe it is 2-3%). A better way to phrase this would be the focus on the American ideal, especially for women. The hegemony you mention is definitely based off that ideology that is so deeply rooted within a majority of women in America. This is because that notion of perfection is directly tied with success and dominance.
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