Week 6: Is Thin In?

 After doing the assigned reading for this week, which was about the media's influence on anorexia nervosa and bulimia, I asked my husband about his thoughts on the subject. We ended up talking about the implicit and explicit messages that TV shows send about the ideal body type and weight. This brainstorming session led to realizing that even though countless shows promote the unrealistic and unhealthy BMI, there are shows that do not discriminate certain body types- at least not as badly as some shows do.

For example, we felt that the show "Parks and Rec" does not disfavor women with certain body types. Disclaimer- I have not done a study on this topic, nor on this show. That being said, relying purely on my memory, I could not identify moments on the show when women's bodies were discriminated against. I think thats really awesome! I'm sure if I would find moments if I coded this show, but I think the fact that nothing stands out in my mind speaks volumes about this shows priorities. 


This week's reading and the documentary "Miss Representation" is making me think about how I can help my future children love and adore their bodies, NO MATTER what they look like. It has so much to do with the media they are consuming but also the way they see me, as their mom, react to the media we consume together. 


Comments

  1. HallieOctober 15, 2020 at 4:37 PM

    I love Parks and Rec so I am happy to see this post. I agree with you it seems like they do a pretty good job with body positivity, and diversity, especially compared to some other shows. The only thing I would note is that most of the women are still pretty thin, so although there is more body positivity we still have a long way to go. But I love that we have made some progress, and I hope that one day our kids will not have to deal with all of this so much.

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  2. Sydney RasmussenOctober 16, 2020 at 1:05 PM

    I've never watched Parks and Rec, but I am familiar with it. Just from the little bits and pieces I've seen, it does show a whole host of body sizes, which is really awesome! It's super interesting to reflect on our media choices and think about the content we consume might impact our body image, or perception of what bodies are "good" on the whole.

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  3. Rachel SladeOctober 16, 2020 at 9:28 PM

    It is cool to see that more shows/media are emerging that are more body positive and make an effort to not adhere to the thin ideal. I think that while it's depressing to consider all the problems, we're making progress in some ways!

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  4. Erin SpencerOctober 18, 2020 at 10:50 PM

    I looooove this show! I'm so glad you found an example of neutral body representation! That's so so true that even in men AND women, they had many different body types in the show. I do know they have some examples of fat shaming (because they make fun of the town's residents for being fat), but not every episode is about that!

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