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It’s not woke to love Lizzo.
There’s no reason to freak out over Ashley Graham walking in elite fashion shows.
I’m not a wild progressive for cheering on lingerie ads that showcase the full spectrum of women’s body shapes.
The body positivity movement is a positive thing. And saying so, doesn’t make me part of the woke mafia.
There are plenty of things worthy of getting upset over in our raging culture wars.
There are transgender teachers with fetish-sized fake breasts in school, self-destructive critical race theory lessons in classrooms and the related obsession over finding racism anywhere and everywhere.
John Fetterman’s wife Gisele has now declared swimming racist. Who knew?
But too often some segments of society, generally conservative commentators, get hysterical about ‘glamorizing obesity’ when women or girls who don’t fit the ‘ideal’ beauty standard are celebrated.
Disney+ has now introduced its first plus-size heroine in the animated short film called ‘Reflect.’
It tells the story of a young ballet dancer named Bianca, who struggles over seeing her own reflection.
It’s not woke to love Lizzo. There’s no reason to freak out over Ashley Graham walking in elite Fashion Bug Plus Size Lingerie shows.
Bianca looks in the mirror, sucks in her belly and lifts her chin. She portrays the anxieties of any little girl with a body different from Jasmine’s in Aladdin. Bianca represents those who have been told either directly or indirectly that something is wrong with the way they look.
And spoiler alert! Bianca’s love for dancing helps her triumph over her body insecurity. Not a total shocker.
Is ‘Reflect’ entirely perfect? Of course not.
The criticism of ‘Reflect’ has focused on the fact that the entire plot revolves about Bianca’s body, whereas the film could simply have been about a plus-sized protagonist.
But I think the movie is a step in the right direction of – dare, I say – inclusiveness.
Of course, obesity should not be encouraged.
Unhealthy lifestyles cause serious health issues that should not be downplayed. But that is not what is happening here: The Disney story is about an overweight kid who loves to dance.
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Is a helping hand really that bad?
I have seen firsthand how little girls light up when they see a Disney princess or character who looks like them.
In the same way that I can understand how special it is for little girls of color to see the first black Ariel, the Little Mermaid, I can understand how beautiful it must be for a little girl to see other forms of diversity reflected in Disney movies.
I am also not mad at Taylor Swift who waded into her own non-controversy controversy with the release of her music video ‘Anti-Hero’ off her new album ‘Midnights.’
Swift says the video is intended to portray her ‘nightmare scenarios and intrusive thoughts.’ It includes a scene of her stepping on a scale and the needle lands on the word ‘FAT.’ The scene has since been edited out of the video on Apple Music after accusations of ‘fat shaming.’
Swift, for her part, was open about her past struggles with eating disorders in her 2020 documentary ‘Miss America.’ She is also one of the most gifted living artists in the world, who was trying to express that even she struggles with body positivity issues.
This hypersensitivity – seeing ‘fat shaming’ where it doesn’t exist – is also wrong and can be damaging.
Swift isn’t immune to the toxicity of modern beauty standards. People lashing out at her are also shutting down open conversations. It is not fair to say that people who look like her are not be allowed to express their feelings and anxieties as well.
For every wonderful affirmation that comes from a movie like ‘Reflect’ or from seeing Lizzo on stage, there’s a thousand negative comments to tell overweight people they are not worthy.
I am also not mad at Taylor Swift who waded into her own non-controversy controversy with the release of her music video ‘Anti-Hero’ off her new album ‘Midnights.’
Swift says the video is intended to portray her ‘nightmare scenarios and intrusive thoughts.’ It includes a scene of her stepping on a scale and the needle lands on the word ‘FAT.’
My weight fluctuates and there has never been a moment since I was 22 years old that the haters have let me forget that. I’m being harassed right now on social media for being ‘fat’ while pregnant.
The insults go on and on and not just for me, but for most women. Anyone raising daughters – I have a two-year-old with another girl on the way – knows that this is a significant problem.
Girls today are raised in a more toxic environment than the one in which their mothers were raised.
Social media has created new pressures as the lives of young girls are flooded with unrealistic images of other girls – often doctored, photoshopped and altered by filters or plastic surgeons.
There was a 50% increase in the number of teenage girls being admitted to the hospital for suspected suicide attempts between early 2019 and 2021.
Who knows why this is happening? But the negativity of modern society must be a factor and we could benefit from some positivity.
Can we just give Disney and Taylor and Lizzo a break? Women are doing their best here.
Society is changing whether we like it or not – for the better and the worse.
A few helpful pirouettes aren’t anything to get upset about.
Woke Culture
