Posted on 08/12/2004 7:27:38 AM PDT by SJackson
Don't expect to see much of Elizabeth Edwards on the campaign trail this fall. Oh, she'll be campaigning alongside her husband, all right. But the TV cameras just might decide to miss her.
After introducing her husband at the Democratic convention in Boston, she has all but disappeared, which is curious given that she is arguably the best thing the Democratic ticket has going for it. An intelligent and accomplished professional woman who exudes genuine, down-to-earth homeliness and warmth, Elizabeth Edwards also earned the respect of traditional-minded Americans by courageously deciding to have two young children in mid-life after losing her eldest child in a car crash. A woman of quiet dignity, refinement, and grace, she is the perfect antidote to the arrogant condescension of the "opinionated" Theresa Heinz Kerry.
So why won't you see a lot of her on TV? Because America doesn't like heavy women. It hides them away where they won't be offensive. They are seen as unattractive and are endlessly analyzed by armchair psychologists as to why they would have allowed themselves to become repellant. Worse, they are treated as if they have committed some sin.
This is especially true of women who, like Elizabeth Edwards, were once thin. The women who were always heavy elicit the public's sympathy. "Maybe it's genetic," they think inwardly. But women who were once thin and attractive, like Elizabeth Edwards, but who dare to put on weight – even after suffering horrific personal tragedy like the loss of a child – are treated as if they have violated some sacred commandment: Thou shalt always look pleasing for thy menfolk. And by menfolk, we mean here not only Elizabeth Edwards's husband but all American men who have a right to look at a young candidate's wife and see something that pleases the eye, like Jackie Kennedy.
By now you have no doubt heard the endless political commentary about how handsome and vibrant John Edwards is and how he nicely complements the long-faced taciturnity of John Kerry. Even Kerry himself praised his good-looking vice-presidential candidate for having "great hair." But those same commentators are utterly silent on the looks of Elizabeth Edwards because to them, as to the rest of America, the fact that she is overweight – itself a pejorative implying extremism – means that she is unsightly.
For the longest time, America has been waging a holy war against women that dare to be fat. The American tabloids have for months shown us pictures of the "obese" actress Kirstie Alley. The pictures of her at 300 pounds are invariably contrasted with photos of how she looked when she was thin and pretty on TV's Cheers. She is a legitimate object of ridicule, depicted as a circus elephant, replete in tent-like clothes. The implication also is that she is possessed of some grave mental illness to have allowed herself to mushroom to such proportions.
Now, I do not deny that shedding extra pounds can make us healthier, improve the quality of our lives, and enhance the self-esteem of both men and women. But do we really want our daughters to be numskulls like Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, who have perfect bodies but rotting brains?
Just think about the message that American girls get when large women are unjustly treated as repulsive. They learn that personality, education, virtue, and motherhood – pregnancy often causes women to put on and retain weight – counts for nothing in the eyes of men. Spending all your time in a gym burning off fat, rather than being idle in a library and reading a book, is the only way to get noticed.
EVEN THE American TV networks these days seem to hire only thin, beautiful women to read the news, and highly intelligent women like Greta Van Susteren feel pressured to undergo plastic surgery in order to get ratings on their TV shows. Indeed, you are more likely to see a space alien on your rooftop than a heavy-set woman on your TV screen.
This is also part of an ugly double standard. Weight is not an impediment to power and success among men. Just look at Michael Moore and Harvey Weinstein. But the only women who are allowed to be heavy in America are funny women, like Starr Jones.
Thinness may have become synonymous with beauty in America, but it is decimating the erotic life of marriage. In multiple sexual surveys, one of the biggest complaints that husbands voice about their wives is that they rarely initiate sex and are far too reserved in the bedroom. But can we really expect the American wife to be sexually adventurous when she is permanently self-conscious about her weight? It makes sense that women who feel unattractive will choose to hide under the covers.
Indeed, Dr. James Watson, the Nobel prize-winning geneticist who was jointly responsible for discovering the structure of DNA, maintained that plumper women were more likely to enjoy a better sex life than their thin counterparts. He told an audience at University College London that extra pounds had the biological effect of making a woman well rounded in character and better in bed. "Thinness is never associated with sexuality."
He explained that extra fat had the effect of boosting endorphins, the natural mood-enhancing chemical that is also linked to sexual desire. "Kate Moss is probably the most famous thin person in the world, and she's looking particularly sad. Who has ever heard of a happy supermodel?" Watson asked.
He also argued that leptin, which is produced in fat tissue, boosts the chemical MSH, which enhances sexual desire. "Your mood is controlled by endorphins, and you make more of these when you are fat; hence, nobody has ever drawn Santa Claus thin. Thin people are discontented."
And the obsessive American war on fat is also decimating the American family because women are afraid to "disfigure" their bodies with pregnancies and post-partum pounds.
Elizabeth Edwards didn't worry about all that, and she has two young beautiful children who treasure her, even if the superficial American media does not.
I'm fat too, a life long problem. But I'm also big boned, or just dense or something. I've got pictures of me at 200 lbs (and 5'11") in which I look like a stick. That was right at the allowable maximum for the Air Force, yet the Air Force doctor who did my physical at the time said I should not try to lose anymore weight.
No, I don't know what you mean unless you tell me, and as an aside, I'd rather be an Emmet Kelly than a Bozo.
See Missy, we use the English language with it's infinite variety of words and nuanced shades of expression to precisely convey meaning, that's the beauty of it.
"Just shut up and go running."
'You go, girlfriend!'
No, YOU go! Running at age 50+ is not fun nor good.
You'll find out someday... if you're lucky enough to live longer than Jim Fixx did! (jogging 'pioneer' who died at 43 of heart failure)
Actually not, according to my doctor, who's a toothpick himself. Yes if you have high blood pressure, or high cholesteral, that's bad, but being fat per se is not particularly dangerous.
I take "Single for a Happy Life" Alex.
I tell you, it drives me CRAZY!
I guess they think their felines are sacred or something.
Ah see, you're one of the handful of unfortunate people who could accurately, truthfully describe themselves as "big boned" and have it mean just that, instead of simply a substitute for "fat".
It just bugs me when folks hide behind euphemisms to mask their state from others, when all they're really doing is preventing themselves from admitting the problem.
My annoyance comes from the misuse of language, not with my brother fat peole.
Well that's just me...I am very Colorful with my words of expression, and that's what makes me "Unique"
I am a woman with curves---
Even when I was a 98 pound ballet dancer, I had very short legs, plus boobs and a butt that were too big. And I was miserable...because I didn't look 'right'. I let other people tell me what was 'right'.
Ya see, we live in a world were the ideal woman is supposed to have no hips, long legs and big boobs (Ok, I got that part right).
So much of it is attitude--- Now I am many, pounds heavier, legs are still short, but now I look just fine.
Now ain't that weird ;) Maybe it is because I just quit listening to what other people thought.
Maybe when you go, or if you go, or when you went to France you might irritate them when you misuse there language...
mark to read and pepper with comments later ;-)
Very nice..my wife has a bit of extra weight and complains about it, I actually like it..it's a lot more pleasing to they eye than some of the "cocaine addicts" that look like they were just released from a concentration camp.
Oh well..I guess I like the old "Amazon hourglass figures" sans plastic..
I happen to like cats. They taste just like chicken.
The modern male homosexually-influenced idea of feminine beauty:
Any questions?
Yeah thats the truth..Been married 4 years now, stopped hitting the gym a year ago..I was at 225 while at the gym, lots of lifting..now I'm soft, but slowing getting rid of it..We both are getting rid of it slowly..
I'll take classic, although, I like mine with arms...LOL...
I've been with a woman like in the second picture...bony, sure they are fun to toss around, but you worry about breaking them...LOL
Later
MD
"The OTHER other white meat"
The rabbi tells the truth. You won't see much of Elizabeth Edwards on this campaign becaus she is heavy. He is wrong in his word usage. Americans don't hate fat people. The American advertising media hates fat people, which then infests the minds of a lot of people on how to judge people esp. WOMEN based on their appearance. I know of one woman who had an abortion so she wouldn't get fat. I happen to live in a neighborhood where a woman can be heavy, but once a heavy woman starts dating or whatever, you know exactly what the dominant American culture thinks of women who are not slim like a Britney Spears,etc. I'm not obese but I'm not thin either. I'm fat, and when I used to go out to clubs guys would completely ignore me and speak only to my thin friends. I had a second job in a very popular sport store, and worked in women's clothes and every woman was thin, blond and pretty. I just ended up quitting because it was depressing to watch guys fall all over themselves trying to talk to those women. There's so much more I can say, but once a fat woman comes to the realization that she won't ever fit in (pardon the pun!) and just takes care of herself, she'll be much happier as I have.
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