New Age Amazon

If you read any of my articles, especially my ones focused on SRS BZNZ stuff, you know I’m a fan of pulling out statistics.  Normally I wait until the end to do that, but today, we’re going to look at some numbers right off the bat:

• In the U.S., eating disorders are more common than Alzheimer’s disease: five to ten million people have eating disorders compared to four million with Alzheimer’s disease.
• One out of every four college aged women has an eating disorder.
• About 7% of 12th grade males have used steroids in order to become more muscular.
• It is estimated that 40-50% of American women are trying to lose weight at any point in time.

Got that?  Okay.

Now let’s talk about MTV’s new show “I Used to Be Fat.”

From the second I saw the title I was eye-rolling and that eye-rolling did not stop as I read the synopsis of the show and then watched the preview for it.  If you’re not familiar, lemme explain: in the summer before college, overweight teens are assigned trainers and are challenged to lose weight.

Or, as MTV puts it:

During these determined kids’ summer before college, cameras will trail them as they embark on a grueling mission to shed pounds by following a rigid plan of diet and exercise. Their plight to reinvent themselves in eight weeks puts my summer of love and partying to shame, and it’s impossible not to feel inspired watching their dedication and focus.

Sounds great, doesn’t it?

Except, well, um, doesn’t it seem a little UNHEALTHY to be focusing  in on weight like that?  I mean, yeah, our country does have an issue with childhood health and fitness (Only 32% of kids between 6 and 17 meet the minimum standards for cardiovascular fitness, flexibility and upper-body strength), but that’s completely different from weight.  It’s entirely possible to be a healthy person who is also heavy.

And you know, maybe our social focus on weight as the determination for health is part of what leads to trends like this.  In the trailer for “I Used to Be Fat” several of the teens confess that their body image issues led to them eating MORE in order to deal with them.  That doesn’t sound like they need trainers, that sounds like they need serious help with their relationship to food and their other mental issues BEFORE tackling their weight problems.  The funny thing about body image issues, especially Body Dysmorphic Disorder, is that EVEN IF YOU LOSE WEIGHT, YOU WON’T BE HAPPY.  So when a trainer told a girl “If you give me your summer, I will give you your life back,” I clenched my fist in anger.  Losing weight doesn’t change body image issues, therapy and accepting that societal standards for beauty are largely BULLSHIT does…and even THAT’S not guaranteed to get rid of them.

On top of this, the idea of weight-loss reality shows has been attempted in the past and not with the best results.  Shows like “Dance Your Ass Off” only manage to make a mockery of contestants (OMG, LOOK, FAT PEOPLE DOING STUFF!) and concentrate not on over-all health, but on pounds dropped.  And of course, there’s “The Biggest Loser” which has led one former contestant to develop an eating disorder, along with reports from other contestants that while their trainers and dietitians had their best interests in mind, the producers would often order them to disobey health instructions in order to provide more dramatic weight loss results (and higher ratings) at the cost of the health of the contestants.

I’m not saying these teens wanting to lose weight is bad or wrong.  If they are truly unhappy and want to work out in order to become healthier, want to change their eating habits AND if along the way they are going to be getting counseling about body image, I say that’s effing GREAT.  But I am saying that putting them on a show called “I Used to Be Fat” isn’t going to help matters, especially not for teens already struggling with body image issues who could be watching the show. 

And seriously, it is really horrifying to me that “Huge,” an ABC Family show that actually had a very body-positive focus, was canceled while this CRAP is getting greenlit. 

SOURCES:

DoSomething.org
ABC News “Biggest Loser’s Kai Hibbard Says Show Triggered Eating Disorder”

So, I’ll admit: I’m a fan of the incredibly dark final season of Moral Orel currently being shown on Adult Swim.  While I was never too into the show before, the final season has given me disturbing flashback episodes and literal bloodbaths.

But last night’s episode, “Closeface,” was actually touching.  The plot revolved around Orel’s first arm’s length dance and his lingering crush on Christine, or as Reverand Putty puts it “Orel-ette.”  It also flashes back to Stephanie’s experiences with the same dance and what was apparently the beginning of her realization that she is a lesbian.

What’s even better for me?  The whole story is Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl” from the other girl’s potential POV.

Katy Perry’s catchy song would be great if it weren’t for the fact that the lyrics are pretty damned insulting.  Not just about how she’s basically only kissing girls for attention (“I hope my boyfriend don’t mind it?”  How…coy) but about how she doesn’t really care what the other girl involved thinks.  The whole thing is about how titilated she is at doing something that she says “good girls” don’t do.  “Not how they should behave…”

In this case, we see that the other girl involved could genuinely be invested in kissing other girls.  Kissing them sincerely, kissing them for real because there’s actual emotion there.  And how hurt a girl might be when/if she finds out that the person she’s kissing is just using her as “an experimental game.”

Kim, in the episode, is the Katy Perry.  She’s kissing Stephanie over and over again, but only when other people can see, only to get attention.  And Stephanie truly believes that there’s something there, she doesn’t understand that girls might only want to kiss her as rebellion or attention grabbing.  Which means the story transcends gender…it actually becomes a story for anyone who’s been used by someone to get another person’s attention.

The episode contains a song that Stephanie supposedly wrote for Kim about their kissing, titled “Closeface.”  I sincerely hope Katy Perry never covers it.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m sure Katy Perry is a nice enough girl in real life and out of the character she puts on for the crowd.  Every fan encounter I’ve heard with her has been gushing about how she’s a sweetheart.  And hey, Travis McCoy likes her.  And so does his band.  And I might like her too, if she’d drop the “anything for attention” persona and stop making that shocked “OH MY GOD!  I JUST, LIKE, BLINKED!  CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?  A GIRL LIKE ME, BLINKING!  SCAAAAANDALOUS!” face.

But that doesn’t mean I’m all sunshine and roses about a song that’s got a message of “there’s no such thing as bisexuality,” and kind of a rude follow-up to “Ur So Gay.”  Keep in mind “Ur So Gay” is supposed Katy’s anthem about how “It’s so hard to tell if guys really like girls or not these days!”

Well, Katy, did you ever think that maybe, just maybe, doing a song encouraging straight girls to kiss other girls in bars because it’s, like, TOTALLY not gay or anything, it’s just, like, FUN!, might cause some lesbian or bi girls some confusion?  Or do we just not count ‘cause we’re likely all experimenting until we meet the right guy to give us a “Good deep dicking? (TM)”

Thanks for that.