In this essay I'm gonna pick apart why sizeism is a classist issue and how capitalism created and benefits from fatphobia, along with some other unsettling things.
So we've got the reubenesque era. What's up with that? A long time ago, it was fashionable to be fat. It meant you were either well-moneyed or well taken care of and you didn't have to work.
Enter capitalism. Alright. Your man works a 40 hour workweek and your lady stays home and takes care of the children. Nothing wrong there, ol boy is making enough money to feed everyone and keep the house. Oh, whoops, we went to war. Women started working in their husbands absence. This is good so far.
Roaring twenties. Women don't want to let go of their independence. Good. Flapper era! Yay! Except not. Because this is when thinness started being a trend for women because it was a sign of youthfulness. (Yikes can you say pedophilia?) Cigarette companies begin learning how to market and market themselves as a weight loss strategy for women. Anyone remember that Lucky Strike ad that says "reach for a Lucky instead of a snack"?
Big advertising has figured it out, by the 80s we have the aerobics kick. Thin is in at this point and fatphobia is digging its gross little nails into everything. Fen-fen starts being a thing (the diet pill). Fen-fen gets banned by the FDA for causing heart failure. Fast forward some more. You and your spouse both have to work full time because the wage has stagnated and everything else has inflated. You have no time to exercise and the easiest option for dinner is fast food because everyone in the house is too tired to cook.
And diet companies are still here ready to rescue you. Cool sculpting. Skinny tea. Keto. (Which by the way was developed for epileptic people.)
TLDR: Actually, fat is lovely. It has always been a sign of beauty and prosperity. Big business has just tricked most people into thinking they have to lose weight because companies can make a lot of money on weight loss products that don't work. Thinness is only considered attractive because it's expensive now.
Discuss?
So we've got the reubenesque era. What's up with that? A long time ago, it was fashionable to be fat. It meant you were either well-moneyed or well taken care of and you didn't have to work.
Enter capitalism. Alright. Your man works a 40 hour workweek and your lady stays home and takes care of the children. Nothing wrong there, ol boy is making enough money to feed everyone and keep the house. Oh, whoops, we went to war. Women started working in their husbands absence. This is good so far.
Roaring twenties. Women don't want to let go of their independence. Good. Flapper era! Yay! Except not. Because this is when thinness started being a trend for women because it was a sign of youthfulness. (Yikes can you say pedophilia?) Cigarette companies begin learning how to market and market themselves as a weight loss strategy for women. Anyone remember that Lucky Strike ad that says "reach for a Lucky instead of a snack"?
Big advertising has figured it out, by the 80s we have the aerobics kick. Thin is in at this point and fatphobia is digging its gross little nails into everything. Fen-fen starts being a thing (the diet pill). Fen-fen gets banned by the FDA for causing heart failure. Fast forward some more. You and your spouse both have to work full time because the wage has stagnated and everything else has inflated. You have no time to exercise and the easiest option for dinner is fast food because everyone in the house is too tired to cook.
And diet companies are still here ready to rescue you. Cool sculpting. Skinny tea. Keto. (Which by the way was developed for epileptic people.)
TLDR: Actually, fat is lovely. It has always been a sign of beauty and prosperity. Big business has just tricked most people into thinking they have to lose weight because companies can make a lot of money on weight loss products that don't work. Thinness is only considered attractive because it's expensive now.
Discuss?
4 years
