Recently, I watched a video featuring Ashley Graham about parents trash talking their sons girlfriend because she is overweight (abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/.../parents-disapprove-sons-siz...). I have never considered the fact that parents could be blatantly rude about their own child's significant other. Usually when I think about fat shaming, I associated with people who are younger 13-30s. This prompted a question in my head: is our generation the problem or is it the generation above us?
In addition, what would you do if you saw this situation?
I think the answer is that both generations are the issue. The generation above us raised us and passed along their views and beliefs on body image and the ideal body to us. The current generation seems to be doing more to address the issue at hand, but that' s not to say the older generation is doing nothing.
As for what I would do, it really depends on what role I'm playing when I witness the situation. Am I a sibling who's listening in on this conversation? Am I a stranger? Am I the son? It depends entirely on my relationship with these people.
I think there are problems with both generations' viewpoints of body image. On one hand, we can see examples of completely inappropriate behavior on the account of parents and those older than us. Shaming people for their body is completely inappropriate, and generation x needs to understand that shaming and guilting people will not solve the obesity problem. On the other hand, while I agree that this generation has done a great job of being weight inclusive, it almost feels as though we have done too much. I completely understand that there are a lot of situations in which people can not control their natural body weight, but that is not the case in every situation. Treating every single person that is overweight as though it is not their fault is causing more problems. If you eat healthily and you are overweight, that is natural. If you eat badly and don't exercise and you are overweight, it seems as though your weight has been caused by your actions. If you are underweight or normal weight and you do not make healthy lifestyle choices that is just as bad. It is important to educate everyone (overweight or not) about the importance of healthy diet and exercise, and on the difference so they don't end up harming themselves by thinking their unhealthy lifestyle choices are ok in the long run. We also need to teach people that their weight does not determine whether or not they are healthy. It is about the choices you make about diet and exercise that determine if you are healthy. Teaching this mentality will help everyone in the long run, and also help to remove stigmas from all sides.
We need to also remember that the media is more prominent in our generation, and so popular body ideals are spread around and displayed more than they used to in past generations.