How Do You Spot Deviance?

There are many different groups in U.S culture that are considered deviant. Whether your skin is darker than the “average” American, you dress in a certain way (promiscuous, gangster, etc.), or simply the activities you choose to part take in. The deviant group that stood out to me this week is those who are overweight. They are considered deviant because of the size of clothes they wear.  It seems as though wherever you turn you cannot get away from the critiques about overweight people. There are new laws and regulations being set trying to reduce the obesity of our country. But in trying to help these people and help our country become aware that things need to change, the already overweight people are being classified as deviant. How can we tell if someone is attractive? If we look in the media the so called attractive people are the skinny women and muscular men. Yes, there are some voluptuous people in Hollywood today, but are those the ones that every girl or boy, man or women wants to look like? No, they are the ones that are told they have a 'pretty face', but the rest of them need some work.  

In the media this past week, I saw a disturbing ad for a website that promotes affairs within a marriage. As if that wasn’t bad enough, it then portrayed an overweight woman as being disgusting. In this ad it states that just because your spouse (especially aimed toward women) has put on some weight they are no longer desirable. Isn’t love supposed to last through all of the changes that take place during a marriage?  Below are some of the recent AshleyMadison ads.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/topics/ashley-madison/

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ashley-madison-fat-ad-shames-obese-women-porn/story?id=14908377

 

Not only has this ad for AshleyMadison been around lately but many talk shows have been discussing it. The View, The Rachel Ray show, The Talk, and even The Doctors have all made comments about it. They all have been in agreement that objectifying overweight people, and in this case mainly women, is wrong. Below is a clip from The doctors.

 

We all read the article Hey Fat Chick! – Thin Privilege Checklist for class, but it specifically ties in with this topic. The fact that all of the things on that list cannot be done for heavier people is just ridiculous. Why should they get stared at or be thought of as lazy or someone that has no self-control over what they eat? This article addresses how it is good to not be overweight because if one was they would know that they would receive unwanted attention. They would get stared at, get unwelcome advice that they should go on a diet, be afraid that they are going to get made fun of, either to their face or behind their backs, and be worried wherever they go that they will not fit in a seat (school desk, table booth at a restaurant, movie theater seat, etc.). Hey Fat Chick-Thin Privilege Checklist

Another article was Sarah Lageson's Media Binge from class. This one talked about how ones weight determined if they had a disorder or not. If one was anorexic or bulimic they would be classified as having an eating disorder. This is a common disorder that we hear about and are taught about to help avoid getting this “disease”. However, if one was overweight, in other words obese, they would just be classified as not having any self-control over what they are putting into their bodies. They are criticized for eating food when the people with anorexia and bulimia are sympathized with for starving themselves. While those with anorexia and bulimia are treated, those that have an over-eating problem are considered to need “greater personal discipline”. Media Binge 

So lets think twice before we judge a heavier person or make awful jokes at their expense.  
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