Plus-Size Women Are Getting More TV Time. But Most Shows Focus on Their Weight. Does That Defeat the Purpose?
Filed under: News
Plus-size model Emme, who hosts "More to Love," thinks the current TV shows with full-figured women are a good thing. Photo: Frederick M. Brown, Getty Images
On TV, there are more full-size women than ever with shows such as Fox's reality dating show "More to Love" and Oxygen's "Dance Your Ass Off," reports the AP (via Yahoo).
The shows, however, almost always focus on weight. Famous plus-size model Emme guides Luke Conley, a 26-year-old bachelor weighing over 300 pounds, to choose among 20 women, sizes 14-22, on "More to Love."
"Dance Your Ass Off" showcases 12 contestants who lose weight through dancing.
In its second season, the Style Network's reality show "Ruby" follows Ruby Gettinger of Savannah, Georgia on her "inspirational weight loss journey." The show's website also offers diet and lifestyle tips for peeling off the pounds.
Emme, who has been fighting for public acceptance of plus-size figures since the mid-90s says this television exposure is a good thing.
"'I think these welcomed shows are opening the aperture,'" Emme tells the source. "'These are fun shows to watch, and they are really taking the perspective of the full-sized woman and bringing it into the type of package people can relate to.'"
But not everyone agrees. Lesley Kinzel, who runs the Website fatshionista.com, said she's happy that there are more women her size on TV, but she's not so thrilled with how they are typecast as the "miserable, crying fat woman who hates herself," the site adds.
Cynthia Deis of Raleigh, North Carolina, who wears a size 16-18, questions, "Why can't it just be a story about a woman who's big and happens to have three girlfriends who she goes out to drink with ...?," the Website reports.
We want to hear your thoughts. Should TV shows featuring plus-size women focus on weight or should the roles be more diverse? After all, some believe "fat" is the new "normal."
jcali455 8-27-2009 @ 6:51PM
I was lucky enough to never have been overweight in my life. That all ended after the birth of my second child. I got down to 20 pounds over my normal weight but no matter what I did I couldn't lose the rest. I didn't know if was age catching up with me or if somehow my metabolism changed. Whatever the reason, nothing was working. I tried all the bogus "diet" pills that we see all over the internet, but are just scams. All I ever lost with that stuff was money. One of my friends, knowing what I was going through, told me that she had been losing weight using a special plan http://bit.ly/FatLoss4You It laid out the facts in a way I never saw before and had easy to follow meal plans and diets. Not only have I lost the weight and kept it off but I'm leading a healthier lifestyle, mostly from the knowledge I gained from this amazing program.
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btrlly 8-28-2009 @ 5:17PM
jcali, I can't thank you enough for posting about that program. After reading tons of scam comments about bogus acai "diet" products, which don't work at all, I got that program delivered to my computer last night. Already I am learning so much about why I have been having trouble losing weight and keeping it off. It is clear that I just didn't know t6he things that really work and I believed too many myths about what didn't work. Now I can see the path that I have to take to reach a healthier body weight. Thanks again.
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Ellen 10-03-2009 @ 4:42PM
I have always believed that this country was stuck on women that were size 2, 4 6 or 8. Well hello it is time for the real woman of today who starts at a size 12 and goes from there. I also feel that becauase men are truly looking at what is inside woman has finally sparked the fashion industry to do more. Keep up the good work because we are todays real women.
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