I found the assigned reading very interesting. Every time I read, my eyes are opened to another view and way of life and the baggage that comes with it. This time around I found that not physically fitting the norm has a lot of negative outlooks form society. I realize that there is an ideal and people feel pressured to look a certain way but failed to look at how society, in a way, punishes those who aren't ideal. “Because they rain on society's parade, fat people are punished” (LeBesco, 56). I just can not seem to understand why this happens. In the beginning of our class, I think we kind of came to a conclusion that being different causes people to be afraid and uncontrollabe, so they act negatively out of their uncomfortability. The idea that we try to “punish” people because they live comfortably or are bigger than normal makes no sense to me. What separates a skinny person and a bigger person is nothing but a higher number of fat cells. In reality, as we've said over and over again in class, no one can really fit the ideal essentialist way of life.
The common theme that holds these pieces together is that society tries to outcast and set aside those who do not fit the mold or correct representation. This goes back to the idea of the single story and trying to make people seem one way. This is best shown in the reading a bout Miss Italy. “Two members of the Miss Italy jury were suspended for saying that Miss Mendez, as a black woman, could not represent Italian beauty” (Bohlen, 359). Italy was almost disgusted at the fact that a black woman who was not of Italian descent was representing Italy. Although she is an Italian citizen and lived there for years, Italy could not possibly have someone who was not what they thought was the ideal Italian although according to the votes she won.
When analyzing the body and representation, we must take a intersectional approach to understand all the different factors that influence our behaviors. Without doing this, we can never truly understand other's cultures, lifestyles, and people.
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