we all know barbie, right? the blonde doll with anatomically impossible feet and gravitationally unsound boobs? i thought so. hold up one of the nasty things to a small child, be it boy or girl, and they will most likely identify it correctly. so, what's my problem with barbie, you ask? she is the downfall of the women of the world, or at least party to it.
ask any expert and they will tell you that society (and most especially women) have become preoccupied with weight and appearance. some to the point that they starve themselves (aneorexics) or binge and then vomit (bullemics) to be thin. where did this all come from?
i give you the suspects: print media, hollywood, and barbie dolls.
from the time we are able to sit up, little girls are handed tiny replicas of what the world considers good and perfect--barbie. she is tall, blonde, has a boyfriend and various expensive pieces of property (the origin of which is at best dubious in my opinion, but this is a rant about image and not her slutty ways), and most importantly of all, she is thin. we are bombarded by pictures of thin and conventionally pretty women (read blond and perfect) on television. and all the so-called "women's magazines" seem to have nothing better to teach us than how to lose weight.
now, go find that expert we asked before, she or he will also tell you that the level of self-esteem in young girls (and women of any age really) is low, low, low. when taking in the information in the last paragraph, is this really surprising? from all these images, we as women subconciously infer that to be a successful person and a good human being we must be that thin model of blonde perfection that we are spoonfed. even the catalogs and magazines for plus size women feature ads with non-plus size women in them. lane bryant for example. why is a woman that can't possibly wear over a size 12 modeling an outfit that comes only in sizes 18-28? do i care what she looks like in it? no. i want to know what a woman that has my proportions looks like in that outfit.
"so what," you say. "that's the way the world is. lose weight or deal with it." well, you know what? i have been dealing with the world and its perceptions of me for about 13 years now (the length of time i have been overweight), and i am tired of it. why can't i, wearing anywhere from a size 20-24 (depending on my fluctuating weight), be considered beautiful? why am i not sexy because i can't wear those clothes that bare every inch of skin imaginable? i say that it's time that us fat girls of the world stand up for ourselves. it's time we say fuck you to the world of high fashion and tell them all that dammit we are as beautiful and wonderful as any of those anoerexic models of theirs. i don't want to lose weight. i don't care about being thin. i am me and i am beautiful.
"i ain't built like a supermodel but i learned to love myself unconditionally because i am a queen." -india arie, "video"
...thus spake the munkies and it was good.