Monday, March 1, 2010

You can't be a lesbian just because you're fat

In this scene Celia hits on two things; weight and sexuality. In American society there are definitely preferred sides to both of those categories. Our pop culture clearly tells us to be skinny. I can’t watch TV for an hour without seeing at least 5 weight loss supplement commercials. I’ve never scene a Cosmo, Seventeen, Vanity Fair, or Vogue cover featuring a woman over 135 lbs. And leading male and female characters in the movies I watch are hot 99% of the time. As for sexuality, lesbians and gay men are portrayed more often in the media recently. However, they are more than often the extreme character, someone put in for comic relief. Rarely are they leading characters (I am happy to say there are more and more exceptions to this lately).
Celia Hodes is taking the “equipment for living” she’s been fed by the media and putting her daughter Isabelle up to these standards. Celia has always been on Isabelle’s case about her weight. Calling her Isabelly, putting laxative chocolate bars in place of Isabelle’s secret stash of real chocolate bars, and refusing to let her model for Huskaroo’s plus size children’s clothing are just a few examples. And now Isabelle pisses her mother off even more by being lesbian.
Celia’s excuse for her own behavior, as she continually tells her husband Dean, is that she wants Isabelle to have a better life. In this country, the beautiful people get ahead. Some may say it’s a myth, but it’s actually true. I’ve learned from several of my communication classes that attractiveness (which includes weight) affects how other people think of you. According to the “what is beautiful is good” hypothesis, when people are attractive other positive qualities are associated with them. People automatically assume that a more attractive person is nicer, smarter, more interesting etc. The media is partially to blame for the pressure we all feel to look good; however, some of our prejudice against unattractive people starts at birth. In research done by Alan Slater, babies as young as one day old became more fixated with pictures of attractive human faces than unattractive ones. Other studies show that attractive people get better jobs and higher salaries. Even teachers subconsciously give attractive students (of all ages) more attention in the classroom.
So is it really so wrong for Celia to put pressure on Isabelle to lose weight? Or what about pressuring her to be straight? We all can see that the gay community has a lot of haters. People put obstacles in their way that make there lives harder, including the U.S. government.
I’m still going to go with NO. A resounding NO. Research also shows that children who feel that their parents are disappointed with them/don't love them get screwed up for life! Kids need love not ridicule! Celia is hilarious, but she’s an absolute nightmare of a mother. I love the later seasons when Isabelle starts to get even.

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