Article link: Strong is the new skinny: celebrations!

She makes a great point and I enjoyed reading what she had to say. I do have to take issuse with one particular comment she made though....

Quote:

Meanwhile, Obama & McCain were offered enough respect by the media to actually run campaigns that revolved around their political views, instead of news blasts about lookalike pornos (Nailin’ Pailin’… enough said). So yes, girls do learn that our appearance is often more important than our intellect, accomplishments, or success. Because that is how we are treated.
(And I DON’T CARE if Sarah Palin is a stupid twit. George Bush is a stupid twit, and as far as I know, the media doesn’t give a rats ass about his pant size or hairstyles. This is a gender thing, not an intellect thing)

I really think it's wrong of her, and hurts her point, to say this about Sarah Palin. So it's wrong that women get judged for their appearances, but it's okay to call them a stupid twit? I get her point. I do. I just think it totally negates what she's saying to call Palin a stupid twit. It's not necessary... doesn't matter who the woman is. She can rant about the whole "women get judged for their appearances" thing without calling anybody a stupid twit. JMHO!

And for what it's worth, I am kind of tired of the whole "strong is the new skinny" saying. I understand the point, but it's just another judgment of a body type. Why can't they just say "Stong is good"?
 
OH yeah, JeanneMarie, I definitely get your point there. There is actually a lot of back and forth on reddit (where I ran across the blog article) discussing that same point. I guess I just feel at least by making strong "trendy" and encouraging that over simply being skinny that it's at least a start to a healthier sociological norm for women to aspire to, you know? The message itself may not be perfect, but to me it's at least a better direction. We can always work out the kinks in the message as the attitudes start to shift. There will always be people that take things to unhealthy extremes regardless of the message I think.

While the article wasn't perfect, one thing she said really struck home for me and is something I think a lot about as I worry about my 5 year old daughter coming up.
This desire to be thin and beautiful goes much, much deeper than the desire to be sexually attractive (Dear men: We don’t actually care about you that much). Eventually all girls internalize (whether we realize it or not) certain realizations about how the world works, and our dual status of being both human beings and sexual objects. Girls learn things like employment, leadership opportunities, and social acceptance come easier when you’re good looking. We see in the media that a woman’s viability as a sexual object is often emphasized more than her intellectual accomplishments. In fact,the success of a powerful woman is often accompanied, or even overshadowed, by the attention directed at her appearance.
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and this:
It’s tragic because you have to the think of all of the potential that is lost when a whole generation of girls care more about fitting into minuscule pants instead of… oh I don’t know… running for student council, pursing a passion, studying, volunteering, playing sports, working, furthering woman’s rights… the list could go on and on. My main point is, girls waste so much time on being skinny – because we are taught that is is important if we want to be successful- when we could be devoting their efforts to becoming so much more powerful than simply skinny.
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I also think about my sweet niece, who is 17, who I see struggling with this fact as we speak. She devotes and inordinate amount of time to her looks and very little to anything else these days. :( It bums me out.
 
JeanneMarie said:
She makes a great point and I enjoyed reading what she had to say. I do have to take issuse with one particular comment she made though....

Quote:

Meanwhile, Obama & McCain were offered enough respect by the media to actually run campaigns that revolved around their political views, instead of news blasts about lookalike pornos (Nailin’ Pailin’… enough said). So yes, girls do learn that our appearance is often more important than our intellect, accomplishments, or success. Because that is how we are treated.
(And I DON’T CARE if Sarah Palin is a stupid twit. George Bush is a stupid twit, and as far as I know, the media doesn’t give a rats ass about his pant size or hairstyles. This is a gender thing, not an intellect thing)

I really think it's wrong of her, and hurts her point, to say this about Sarah Palin. So it's wrong that women get judged for their appearances, but it's okay to call them a stupid twit? I get her point. I do. I just think it totally negates what she's saying to call Palin a stupid twit. It's not necessary... doesn't matter who the woman is. She can rant about the whole "women get judged for their appearances" thing without calling anybody a stupid twit. JMHO!

And for what it's worth, I am kind of tired of the whole "strong is the new skinny" saying. I understand the point, but it's just another judgment of a body type. Why can't they just say "Stong is good"?
Click to expand...

So does it bother you at all that she called Bush a stupid twit or do you only think women should be spared the term? Or is it the hostile language itself you disagree with, and you would have preferred if both Palin and Bush were referred to perhaps as 'intellectually unformidable', or some other kind phrasing?

I see nothing wrong with her description, as she's merely highlighting the fact that it doesn't matter if you're a political genius, or inept and ignorant, if you are a woman, you will be discussed with regard to your appearance.

And it doesn't matter if you're a political genius, or inept and ignorant, if you are a man, you will be discussed with regard to your political abilities.
 
katherinemarie said:
So does it bother you at all that she called Bush a stupid twit or do you only think women should be spared the term? Or is it the hostile language itself you disagree with, and you would have preferred if both Palin and Bush were referred to perhaps as 'intellectually unformidable', or some other kind phrasing?

I see nothing wrong with her description, as she's merely highlighting the fact that it doesn't matter if you're a political genius, or inept and ignorant, if you are a woman, you will be discussed with regard to your appearance.

And it doesn't matter if you're a political genius, or inept and ignorant, if you are a man, you will be discussed with regard to your political abilities.
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Somehow I knew somebody would point out that I didn't say anything about Bush being called a stupid twit. Honestly, in the context of what we're talking about "WOMEN and their appearance", I only felt it necessary to mention that she called Palin (a woman) a stupid twit. However, the point isn't whether either one of them is a stupid twit or not. Maybe if she had said, "It doesn't matter how smart a woman is, she's still getting judged on her appearance." Instead she chose to call Palin a stupid twit. Isn't that just as disempowering to women as judging them on their appearance? I think so. That was all I was complaining about.
 
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