When desperate housewives began a few years ago I was standing in my kitchen with my mouth open so wide my bottom lip could have swept the floor.
Why? Because - the idea that these women could look the way they did, do the things they did, and live the life they did...I knew would have some sort of impact on women my age (late thirties) and older. In the last ten years eating disorders in women over 30 has risen quite significantly and to have a show like this, in my opinion, did not help.
Let me preface this with what I also know to be true. The media doesn't cause eating disorders. Desperate Housewives is a TV show, and one that leans towards the absurd and skims the edge of reality. I am well aware of that.
But, come on people...we cannot deny that the women on the show continue to feed into the unrealistic women projected in our society. Thus I began calling the rise in adult onset eating disorders the Desperate Housewife Syndrome.
Which leads me to this post. Last Sunday my kids and I were watching Home Makeover and the television was left on.
And...yes you know where I am going. Desperate Housewives came one. As I began to walk towards the television to turn it off, I was compelled and once again shocked by the content of the show.
For those of you who don't watch it (which I hope you don't)...one of the story lines was Gabby (who the media claims has gained weight...and in reality I think she looks wonderful) dealing with her overweight daughter who I think was six years old.
Gabby, determined to help her daughter look like the young girl Gabby "thinks" she should look like, tries to get her daughter to exercise. She does this by tempting her daughter to get in the car and then driving forward so the daughter has to walk and then continuing the game.
What is considered child abuse is now a plot for a TV show? Are we ok with this? Are you ok with this? I am not! At what point do we draw the line? At what point do we say enough is enough? And the lines Gabby had about her daughter being "fat" and her daughter needing to "lose weight" only reinforce a society obsessed with body image.
And is ANYONE thinking about what this was like for the little girl who played the daughter? What kind of message does she get? That she is the chubby actress?
I am appalled. Aghast. Outraged.
I realize I work in the field and am so close to it that I am highly sensitive to the issue. But, I am also highly sensitive to the issue because I want the issue to stop!
When is enough enough? Janet Jackson can't show her nipples but it is ok to perpetuate what (in my opinion) is becoming an epidemic!
Stop the Madness! Please!!!
What do you think? I love your comments and feedback. Always welcome!
Happy Living!
Lee
On weekends I like to get my mind off work by playing badminton.
Posted by: LV Spring Summer 2010 | January 16, 2011 at 04:45 PM