Two other topics (exercise instructors' physiques and favorite cooking show host) got me thinking about this.
I actually don't mind if exercise video instructors are a little bigger than the standard "fitness model" because I am not thin and I truly believe it is possible to be medium-sized and still very fit. I am medically in the normal weight BMI category, but not slender (150 pounds at 5'6"), and I chafe against the assumption that very thin equals very fit, and that a weight gain of, say, 20 lbs., even if it still leaves you with a healthy BMI, must be due to lack of exercise, lack of willpower, or a medical problem, and that that alone would make an instructor not-inspirational.
HOWEVER, I realized today that I don't like to watch Paula Dean and Ina Garten because they are quite a bit heavier than other cooking show hosts. Not sure why I feel this way - I guess I sort of think "they should spend less time obsessed with food and more time doing something else." Probably the fact that they are obsessed with food leads to the fact that they are quite heavy, but I guess my personal food philosophy is more "small portions of really great foods", in moderation. And Paula and Ina don't look like they enjoy small portions or that they consume in moderation, they look like people who overeat. So I don't consider them to be inspirational cooks, because I guess I think that people who appear to eat massive quantities of food are not very discriminating about what they eat.
I'm not proud to think this way because I usually think that I don't have any body-shape prejudices, or at least have fewer than most people. But I guess I do. Does anyone else feel this way?
I actually don't mind if exercise video instructors are a little bigger than the standard "fitness model" because I am not thin and I truly believe it is possible to be medium-sized and still very fit. I am medically in the normal weight BMI category, but not slender (150 pounds at 5'6"), and I chafe against the assumption that very thin equals very fit, and that a weight gain of, say, 20 lbs., even if it still leaves you with a healthy BMI, must be due to lack of exercise, lack of willpower, or a medical problem, and that that alone would make an instructor not-inspirational.
HOWEVER, I realized today that I don't like to watch Paula Dean and Ina Garten because they are quite a bit heavier than other cooking show hosts. Not sure why I feel this way - I guess I sort of think "they should spend less time obsessed with food and more time doing something else." Probably the fact that they are obsessed with food leads to the fact that they are quite heavy, but I guess my personal food philosophy is more "small portions of really great foods", in moderation. And Paula and Ina don't look like they enjoy small portions or that they consume in moderation, they look like people who overeat. So I don't consider them to be inspirational cooks, because I guess I think that people who appear to eat massive quantities of food are not very discriminating about what they eat.
I'm not proud to think this way because I usually think that I don't have any body-shape prejudices, or at least have fewer than most people. But I guess I do. Does anyone else feel this way?
