Feminism is a Phat Issue

My brother told me a story the other day all about some girl he works with who is incredibly thin- painfully so- but who isn't suffering from any sort of eating disorder. She's just one of those people who finds it hard to put on weight. Anyway, somebody from the office goes up and says "Bloody hell, you need to eat some pies love", albeit just in jest. She replies "Do you think it's ok to go up to fat people and tell them that they should stop eating?" Good point well made.

Anyway, a similar discussion came up at work today and I ended up reflecting on the whole fat/thin issue that circulates whenever women are around. Yes, it's a bold sweeping and sexist statement of sorts- or maybe more of an observation of the fact that I've never had a single conversation about weight loss, weight gain, weight issues, weight watchers, diets, diet tips, diet shows, diet plans, or anything of that ilk, with a man. I'm not saying that women are weight obsessed, because that would be sexist, but that I'm more likely to hear a woman talking about weight- just as you're more likely to hear a man talking about football. Women aren't excluded, it's just more likely, and vice-versa.

Before people get bogged down in whether I'm an utter chauvanist, it's best that I explain myself. I realised that some of the big discussions about weight, rather than being emancipating, are in fact deeply rooted in a self-directed sexism. This sort of inverted, hidden and subtle sexism fascinates me these days (elsewhere I've rambled about the fact that one can happily ridicule men qua men on TV adverts in a way that was reserved for the disgusting misogyny of advertising in the early half 20th century. Likewise, this hides certain anti-female sentiments within it all the same, and thus no one wins). For me, the whole discussion of weight- especially in fashion- hides a pretty disgusting view of women which is held almost exclusively by women. Delightful.

It's worth mentioning here that I know fuck all about fashion. My experiences with that world are 1) the "Top Model" TV franchise, 2) catalogues left open on the sofa or stuffed into my letterbox and 3) seeing adverts on TV, in shops and in magazines. Still, I still feel in a position to comment. I've seen fashion stuff, I've heard the way people talk about it, and this is what I'm discussing. So there. My biggest concerns were around the fact that fashion doesn't represent real women. This is a bit troublesome for me.

Firstly, thin women are women. They are. Some are naturally thin, some choose to be thin. Some cultures value thin women, some do not. Getting pissy about this is like getting pissy about the lack of short men in adverts or considered sex symbols. You know why I don't complain about it? Because I've come to realise that, by nature or nurture, our culture does not like short men, so it's tough shit. So, there's a whole bunch of things I don't like here- but the biggest is that thin women become loathed because they're thin. This is a little unfair as not all women can help being thin (just as some women can't help being fat) and some women choose to be thin, and are comfortable with being thin, so leave them the fuck alone.

Secondly, it's about markets. OK, I'm a socialist so I hate markets- but my point stands. When a high fashion designer designs a dress, he or she may or may not design it for an ultra skinny model, so that's what's needed. Other people design for average sized women- like the ones you see in catalogues (don't tell me that they're too thin- if you do, you must have some bizarre form of body dismorphia). Other people design clothes for the larger lady, like Simply Be or Bravisimo. They don't hire skinny models. So....what's your point? Some models are thin, some are fat, some are average. It depends on what is being sold.

Thirdly, it's about the crass, painfully unsupported (apart from the testimony of people who've already heard the conclusions elsewhere and repeat it as their own beliefs in some sort of chinese-whispered psychoanalysis) claim that thin women are a bad influence. This breaks down; firstly, people who are influenced so heavily by size zero models are already deeply traumatised- just as people who replicate film violence are already sociopathic. Seeing Kate Moss does not make you into an anorexic (the roots of that lead back to everything from childhood bullying to parental sexual abuse). The reason many people believe this guff is because some kid in a magazine says "I think we feel pressured by magazines and adverts to be skinny". How? When was the last time you actually saw size zero people all over the place as the standard and not as the out-of-the-ordinary? People are not, nor ever have been, pushed to be size zero- and those that actually follow through with it are already disturbed. Not only is this the case, but those who do pursue the size zero life style are doing so out of choice, just as others can be said to do so when they get fat. They may choose to bulk up or end up big and just feel OK with it. In which case, if we object on grounds of health or aesthetics in thin people, we should also apply to the fat- which then causes a clamp down on many memebers of the population. And since when did anyone have the right to dictate the health/beauty of another?

So, my first two beefs are with the fact that people have a problem with thin people per se, then that this stems back to the fashion industry when the fashion industry is open, depending upon the market, and not the influence that people say it is. My other beef concerns the usual complaint that fashion and advertising do not contain "real women". This is what I find offensive. Why is a thin woman any less "real" than a fat one? You'll notice that bigger ladies use the "real" woman explanation for why it's OK to be bigger when under criticism (and that's fine- so long as it means that they're no less of a woman than anyone else). However, I find the suggestion that a woman is not a "real woman" unless they have a heavy rack and a round ass quite offensive.

Why? For exactly the same reason that someone would be offensive if I said the opposite. Thing of the confused logic; "We don't want to be objectified- we want to be seen as individuals. We don't want to have to conform to a standard that is unreasonable- we want to be real women! We are real women! (As opposed to those women which are not)" Essentially it adds up to the same. The woman objectifies herself as a pair of tits and an ass, one which is betrayed by the skinny model. Rather than saying that all women are women, they say that some women are more real than others- thus the standard isn't removed, it is just moved.

I've been out with skinny girls who you could feel the bones of and larger girls with a bit of meat to them, and a range in between. I've found them all attractive (and if I didn't, it wasn't actually based on size but their repulsive character or some disgusting habits). I'd feel utterly offended if someone said that any or all of these women weren't "real". it would suggest that there is an absolute standard to be lived up to. This means that the supposedly emancipatory claim that we need "real women" in adverts is actually just another objectification. And you know the painful thing? The men had fuck all to do with it! That's the worst part; feminism can't fall back on the patriarchal violence inherent in the system because the women are being dominant matriarchs. Sisters really are doing it for themselves- they no longer need men to push them around, because they're perfectly willing of doing it to each other.

I like feminism. It's deeply important, just as movements against racism, religious intolerance (both by religions and towards them) and dominance of one class over another are important. You can't say that the battle is won and move away- you have to monitor the battle field so that the enemy doesn't arise again. This shouldn't be done through petty PC administration, but by a continual awareness of our identities, our situation and our responsibilities towards others. In this case it saddens me to see women turn on each other like this and dictate what a woman should look like- even when it appears to be some sort of liberation. It's not a liberation- there never was a shackle and that's meant to be the revelation! Class consciousness is an analogy here; it's not that workers realise that they're meant to be free and have to work out how to do it. The real victory is realising that they are free, but they just have to act like it! The whole thing starts with a giant "NO". The same goes for women today- there has to be a universal "no" which breaks down the final barriers. It's just a shame that it looks like the biggest one they have may be the one they impose on each other.