8:30 AM. Tuesday morning. Hair in bun. Nanny sweatpants on. "Holy moly I need coffee". Pull into Starbucks. Drive through line a mile long. Park car. Walk in. Another line, of course. Hot mama with yoga pants that draw even my attention orders. "Grande Skinny vanilla latte, soy milk please". Sweet Middle-aged woman who smiled at me when I walked in with some gray roots showing and an oversized mickey mouse shirt orders. "Grande vanilla latte....*pause of uncertainty*.... make it skinny please". I step up to bat. "Grande vanilla latte, make it nice and fat PLEASE."
Ok. I didn't really say that, but that's what I was thinking, very loudly. I mean here are these two women ahead of me, with the opportunity to publicly declare, "I. CHOOSE. SKINNY." Of course the first one jumps on it. Nobody wears yoga pants that ride up the booty that much and doesn't pounce on any chance to declare skinny. I'm not sure why the middle-aged woman chose skinny. Perhaps she likes sugar-free syrup, low-fat milk, and no whipped cream (...really?). Maybe she was dieting. Or perhaps she liked the way it sounded and loved the way it looked on the hot mama in front of her. When it was my turn, as much as I wanted the un-skinny (fat?) version of my favorite drink, I felt so completely embarrassed to order it. I mean if one is "skinny" then isn't the opposite "fat"? I didn't want to order a FAT drink! The word 'Skinny' twists minds and it sells, big time. Not convinced? Read on.
(rated most popular healthy and fitness blog in the world)
& don't forget her book!
"The Real Deets on How to Live a Skinny, Happy, Sexy Life"
(my ultimate goal in life...)
(ok...REALLY???)
Or my personal favorite.....
SKINNY SELLS. Clearly. Or it wouldn't be everywhere. I challenge you to go to a grocery store, book store, or any store for that matter (besides Lowe's), and try to NOT see the word skinny, in the largest font, on a product. I mean, are you reading my blog post right now because you are truly interested in what I have to say or because the word "skinny" caught your eye? SEX sells. "FREE" sells. Now, SKINNY sells.
So where am I going with this? The funny thing about each of these websites, books, food products, blogs... is that they all claim to strive towards the betterment of women. Improve female wellness.
Yet the very use of the word "skinny" is a manipulative, marketing tactic that is feeding our cultural epidemic of the objectification of women.
No need to go deeper into that because I'm sure you have all heard enough about media & the women. But it's a real deal. And making women think that they need to CHOOSE SKINNY is messed up.
I say choose healthy. Choose knowledge. Choose strength. Choose wit. Choose perseverance. Choose determination. Choose to be the best YOU that you can be (and I assure you, that does not include being skinny or buying a box of crackers with the word skinny on it.)
Be careful what you purchase. Be careful not to give into the lie.
And order your dang-tootin' fat latte and enjoy. every. sip.
ronnie
I loved this post so much. I just came across The Skinny Confidential a few weeks ago and am sort of torn about how I feel regarding her blog/advice. I've found some great recipes and some very uplifting content there. However, there was a post regarding how to get others to eat healthy and the tone of it just came off super...judgmental. I don't know. Living on a college campus and being in a sorority there is definitely all this pressure to choose skinny. If a girl orders a skinny latte in front of me, I feel similarly pressured into ordering "skinny" too or else face judgment (which probably only exists in my head). Thanks for the amazing post. It's a conversation starter for sure!
ReplyDeleteThis post said what has been on my mind for so long, but unable to be verbalized. I'm so tired of skinny being the end goal, and what is rubbed in our face. We all have different body types, bone structures, and natural curvatures. Some of us will never fit into that "perfect skinny" mold, even with all of the work outs and skinny snacks and lattes in the world. Some of us will fit that mold without even trying. Because that is the AMAZING thing about bodies. None of them are the same, and that is the way that God intended it.
ReplyDeletePreach it!!! It bothers me a lot. I'm healthy, and I do make a point to order "fat" drinks, and I even drink whole milk (gasp). And I'm proud of it. Because I want to be healthy and BA and happy with myself, not "skinny".
ReplyDeleteYou are awesome. Way to look deeper and call out the manipulation!
healthy > skinny, agreed!
ReplyDeleteI just discovered your blog and I absolutely love it, this post in particular. Within the past eleven months I've lost seventy pounds and while I definitely needed to, and finally had the determination to tackle it, I went about it in a very derivative way. I restricted my calories to much lower than anyone's should *ever* be and I ended up working out so hard it became a chore. I had something in mind I wanted though, that at the time was more important than anything, I suppose, even my health: to be skinny. I wanted to look acceptable in a bikini if I wanted to wear one, I wanted to wear sleeveless without feeling self-conscious, I wanted to fit in to our culture's standards. The thing was, I wasn't doing it for myself, I was doing it *against* myself. I was hating my body, and trying to make it into something that would pass the "test" that us women are constantly being given -- to look like the airbrushed girls on magazine covers. Thankfully God has shown me though that He's made me and every single girl out there, to be strong -- to respect themselves, their health and bodies. Not because so and so says it looks right or wrong, but because He made us to be women of substance, with gentle spirits and at the same time, tough as oxes with our morals and convictions. I realized that these qualities are what I wanted, more than the title of being "skinny". But I was definitely supported to overcome my eating disorder by people like you who've spoken up, even when it's not the popular thing to do. I know I've gone on and on, but I just wanted to share this, because posts like this one you wrote can have more impact than you'd imagine. So, thank you.
ReplyDelete