Thursday, October 11, 2007

I Wanna Look Like a Highschool Cheerleader

Is there no end to ways to exploit women's body image? This show is a like a Biggest Loser, only for regular sized people. It might be titled, I was Fabulous in Highschool and I can't STAND being AVERAGE. I'm trying to sit through the whole thing with an open mind, but my initial thought is, wow, does this mean if I was a nobody in highschool I'm doomed in my midlife crisis? Is there nothing to recover?

Actually, I was pretty cool in highschool. I had friends who were druggies and friends who were geeks and I was active in journalism. Cheerleaders-well I wasn't rich enough or pretty enough so that was kind of a bust, but I didn't care. I'm pretty sure I called one a narrow minded idiot, but I really don't remember how or why.

Of course, I was also a raging bulemic and I wouldn't go to school if I weighed more than 117. 115 was OK, 112 was golden. Once I got mono and got down to 110. Bliss.

One of the things I wished was that we'd had more images of real bodies and real weights. Back then, no one really knew what a healthy weight was or a decent weight was, thus we had nothing to go by except some old charts that didn't take into account that what was a healthy weight for a 5'4 teen might not look so hot on a 5'4 40 year old. So much we didn't know then.

I think I've said before it was a great relief to final realize that there was actually something wrong with my foot. I thought I just wasn't trying hard enough and somehow it was all my fault that I was a very slow runner. Back then I thought a lot of things were all my fault.

OK, I can't make it through the rest of the show. Sadly, I wouldn't do what they are doing to look like a HSCL, but I would probably do it for a guaranteed 50K. So, if anyone wants to film me for 6 weeks and humiliate me for 50K, go for it. At least my priorities have changed a bit since highschool....oh wait. Do you think THEY are doing it for the money too?

2 comments:

Michele said...

Probably partially for the money but I'm guessing a lot of it is for the fame/glory. Are this grown women trying to get back to looking like they did in HS?

Debra Kay said...

Oh yes 50k and the "right to say I look like a HS Cheerleader". And these girls are thirty somethings (at least).

The weigh in was the best part, the camera would zoom in on a little fatty roll-and we are talking LITTLE. All that was missing was the slasher music.

Yet, sadly, I could relate to that, cause that's how I feel when I look down and see too much belly or some flab.

I really dig the DOVE campaign that glorifies "real" bodies. I'd like to find that middle ground-I don't want to be militant like some of the PRO FAT WARRIORS, but just comfortable in my own skin.