Last week, an article was published in the Beacon that suggested that we need to stop praising those who are overweight and cut those individuals out of mainstream media representation.  

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I’m here to tell you that, as important as the concepts of healthy eating, staying active, and treating yourself in moderation are, it is equally important to encourage children to feel good about themselves, to build up their self-esteem from the inside out and to, yes, accept the way they look even if that look does not coincide with the thin and fit model our society praises.  

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Admittedly, obesity does come hand-in-hand with harmful diseases--Type II Diabetes and cardiovascular disease are typically preventable and need to be taken seriously.  

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However, saying that, health and fitness is not the be all and end all to a person’s being.

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Role models are individuals who have traits worth aspiring to.  That much is agreeable.  However, having confidence in yourself, loving yourself for who you are INCLUDING what you look like rather than in spite of it is not only an admirable trait, it’s extremely difficult to accomplish.

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If these role models want to But if not, and these individuals still love themselves for who they are, who are we to tell them that they should feel poorly simply because of the way they look?

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Accepting that we are all not the perfect, cookie-cutter ideal is perhaps the more important lesson to teach our children.  And, hey, if your children are that easily influenced by an overweight Disney princess giving a voice to heavier children, maybe the fault is on you, rather than what’s on the screen.

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However, that being said, perhaps what the writer behind the article seems to fail to understand the most is the importance of diverse role models in the media. Popular culture is what America bases our social norms on, and, if we do not have a diverse representation that includes people of all races, gender identifications, sexualities, and, yes, body types, how do we expect to move past prejudiced

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Straight, thin white people have unlimited role models in the media from which to choose.  There’s no shortage.  However, young, impressionable minds of those who do not fit those characteristics have one, maybe two,  to identify with.

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No, these role models are not absolutely necessary to inspire successful people from all walks of life--after all, a number of individuals from marginalized groups have been succeeding despite white privilege for hundreds of years.  However, their importance cannot easily be voiced.  To be able to identify with someone who is nationally loved, or popular, or even just doing something that is against the typical negative representation usually featured can further cement the notion that it is possible to overcome the oppression that smothers differing voices. These role models are profoundly significant and they absolutely can change an attitude.  Inclusion--and demand--of diverse role models is in no way racist--rather, their exclusion contributes to a society of white privilege.  

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Lastly, the article began by suggesting that the media is wrong for representing overweight people--PARTICULARLY women--to which I will directly respond:  get off your f**king high horse. Women aren’t here for your visual pleasure.  The way anyone looks--man, woman, both or neither--is not up for you to dictate. I encourage you on your journey to fitness,--really, I do--but, I promise, your life would be so much less irritating if you let others feel good about themselves and make their own decisions about how they want to look and why they want to look that way.