The Misconception of Feminism Judy Mahle Lutter, Healthy American Fitness Leader, said, “Up to 50 percent of women are on a diet at any given time” (“Facts & Statistics About Dieting” par. 2). This quote is an example of how women are expected to look in society. Susie Orbach, chair of the Relational School in the United Kingdom, suggests that women desire to be skinny and beautiful. In her article “Fat Is a Feminist Issue,” she explains how women choose to be fat in regards to undermining society. I agree with Orbach’s statement that women believe they should look thin because that’s the way media expects them to look; however, I disagree when she says that women only have two roles and when she states that women need to be thin. Orbach describes women as objects of society and states that they choose to be overweight. According to Orbach, “Fat is a social disease, and fat is a feminist issue” (449). Orbach, a woman herself, explains that being overweight is a choice women make based on the choices to either adapt to new fashions or reject them. In addition to stating that being fat is a choice, Orbach suggests that the woman’s body is not her own (451). For example, she believes that women are seen as sex objects and feel the need to look the way society thinks they should look to get a man. Orbach concludes that women are extremely self-conscious because they are expected to fit the expectations and conform to new styles. Furthermore, Orbach’s statements conclude why she believes fat is a feminist issue. I agree with Orbach when she argues that women think they should be thin because of the way media portrays them. Orbach claimed, “Just as styles in clothes change seasonally, women’s bodies are expected to change to fit these fashions” (451). Orbach is stating how women see models in magazines and believe that they are expected to look similar. Today, the majority of plus-size models on agency boards are between size six and size 14 (Lovett par. 3). Americans tend to believe today that women who are between these sizes are considered fat. However, the average woman in the United States is a size 16 (“What’s ‘Average’ Size?”). When comparing women's’ sizes, plus-size models are between the sizes 6 and 14 but the average size of a woman is 16. Does this mean more than half of the women population is overweight? I believe the answer is no, but the way television portrays women puts out the ideals that women should be less than a size six. As times change, women are expected to fit into the time frame. Although Orbach effectively talks about the way media portrays women, she incorrectly asserts women’s roles in society. Orbach wrongly describes the importance of women in society. She insists that women stricly have only two roles in society. Orbach stated, “. . . a woman’s two prescribed roles, first as a sex object, and then as a mother” (450). In other words, Orbach believes women are strictly sex objects or mothers. I believe this statement is absurd. Women have more to offer society than to be looked at primarily as a sex object. To take a case in point, Mary Bara is the CEO of General Motors (“Leadership”). Bara is an example of a powerful woman in a successful company. Furthermore, yes, women are mothers, but that is not the only way they should be categorized. Orbach incorrectly states that women should be thin. Orbach claimed, “The woman’s body is not satisfactory as it is” (451). What Orbach really means is that the media inserts images of the ideal woman in men’s minds, therefore, women’s bodies are not perfect the way the are and need to change their bodies to fit the image men have. I strongly disagree with statement. Women are every size, shape and color, and each woman is beautiful the way she is. I do not believe that women should change their bodies just because men have the perfect image of a woman being thin. Women should not have to conform to any body type. With that being said, I do not agree that women are fat because they choose to not fit in the norms of the American population. Women are who they want to be because they want to be that way, not because it is a feminist issue. Susie Orbach writes to inform that fat is a feminist issue. However, I disagree that fat and feminism are of no relation. In “Fat Is a Feminist Issue,” I agree with Orbach’s statement that women believe they should look a certain way because of the way media expects them to look; however, I disagree when she says that women only have two roles and when she states that women need to be thin.
Works Cited “Facts & Statistics About Dieting.” LIVESTRONG.COM, Leaf Group, 1 July 2015, www.livestrong.com/article/390541-facts-statistics- about-dieting/. “Leadership.” Mary Barra | GM Corporate Officer, www.gm.com/company/leadership/corporate-officers/mary-barra.html. Lovett, Edward. “Most Models Meet Criteria for Anorexia, Size 6 Is Plus Size: Magazine.” ABC News, ABC News Network, 12 Jan. 2012, abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/01/most-models-meet-criteria-for-anorexia-size-6-is-plus-size-magazine/. “What's ‘Average’ Size? .” TODAY.com, TODAY, 29 Sept. 2016, www.today.com/style/what-s-average-size-16-new-normal-us- women-t103315. Orbach, Susie. "Fat Is a Feminist Issue." They Say I Say With Readings. By Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein. Ed. Russel Durst. 2E ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. 448-453. Print