It's a Weighty Issue

I’m going to go to that place that makes a lot of people very uncomfortable. You know the one I mean. It’s the place where people start to squirm a little in their seats and look around the table in a desperate attempt to social reference before they open their own mouths. It’s the place where people speak half-truths because they don’t want to offend anyone but then go home to their husbands and wives and reveal how they really feel. I am going there and I hope you will come along for the ride and keep an open mind about what I am saying.

I am a celebrity gossip junkie; I have an unrepentant love of pop-culture and I seek to fulfill my cravings each and everyday. I am a loyal reader of the Vancouver Gossip Columnist Lainey Gossip. She is witty and snarky and sometimes crass I enjoy her content as much as I relish her writing style and personal voice. I read her column religiously and it is truly one of my guiltiest pleasures. 

Today when reading her column, I came across an article she had linked to about the Oscar Nominated Actress of Precious, Gabby Sidibe. You have to have been living under a rock to not know about this young woman’s story, her sudden rise to fame and her supposedly very well deserved nomination – I say supposedly because I have yet to see Precious although, I do plan to.

The article outlined how a weight lose company had made an appeal to Gabby about her weight sighting that "The only way you [Gabby] can reach your goal of someday winning that Oscar is by being active, fit and most of all, healthy!" Of course the weight lose company made their appeal to Gabby public. Their blatant exploitation of Gabby is shameless in its attempt to attach her name to their brand and garner them press and I would never condone that type of behaviour; however, their point is valid and warrants discussion.

Another article on the same site titled Vote: Does Gabourey Sidibe Have a Hollywood Future? reveals that 63% of voters don’t believe that Gabby has a future in Hollywood. I can’t say for sure why voters feel this way, but I am pretty sure it is safe to speculate that many of them feel that her weight will impede her ability to get roles and even though I may take flack for this, I have to say I agree. I doubt that Gabby will be able to have a lasting and successful career as an actress if she stays the weight she currently is. The quote in the article from Kevin Polowy, Senior Editor of Moviefone says it best: “Sadly, it's already tough enough for women and minorities to find good roles in Hollywood, and she faces another undeniable hurdle because of her weight.”

So here is what I want to know. In an industry that is so entrenched in the traditional values and ideals of beauty (ie - skinny is pretty) is it unrealistic for Gabby Sadibe to think that she can succeed in the industry at her current weight? And, if she does not succeed, is it because a true cultural shift regarding weight and talent is needed or is it a valid reflection of societies ideals and needs? In other words, do you think it is logical for Gabby to expect people to ignore her weight and offer her jobs based solely on her acting abilities and if your answer is yes, do you think ignoring Gabby’s weight and obvious obesity would be a good or bad thing for our society?

This is where the squirming begins...

I personally think it would be a bad thing. In a time when more and more households are struggling with obesity it would be a disservice to not acknowledge that Gabby Sidibe is clearly obese. Lainey's tagline for the link to the first article says: Great. So now they’re publicly trying to make her feel sh-tty about herself. I agree with Lainey that making her feel bad about herself is unkind and honestly, not an effective way to motivate her to get healthy. This is where I think the cultural shift needs to happen because we have to get to a place where we can speak about weight  - not in the mean spirited  antics of Howard Stern - without it being seen as an attack of somebody's beauty or worth.

For me, obesity is not an issue of beauty it is an issue of health; consequently, acknowledging that Gabby is obese is not a commentary on her beauty or worthiness and it is not a reason for her to feel badly about herself. It is a reality. If you are obese you are unhealthy period.

This could be naïve, but I strongly believe that it is possible to tease apart the two issues of beauty and weight and I believe that someone can be obese and still be and feel beautiful. I can speak to this issue from personal experience because I have been on both sides of the fence. I have been a size 2 and I have been a size 16. When I was the later, I was very overweight and when I was the former, I was underweight. After much hard work, I am now a happy medium as a size 8-10 and I am a healthy weight (though I won't deny I would love to shed another 10 pounds).

Even though I have been at both ends of the spectrum, there was never a time when I felt ugly. Quite the contrary actually, I always thought I was beautiful. Nevertheless, when I was a size 16, I knew I was not healthy and I knew I was not were I wanted to be physically. Would it have been hard to endure a running social commentary on my own weight struggles? Yes, it would have been. Unfortunately, Gabby has chosen to pursue a profession that exists in the public eye and therefore, endures constant public scrutiny.That is the price of fame... with the good comes the bad.

Do I think Gabby’s weight will hold her back from becoming the successful actress she could be and that her talent warrants? Yes, I do. Do I feel bad for saying that? No, I don’t. I understand and value the importance of her message that people can do and become anything no matter their shape or size but, her size is unhealthy and ignoring the implications of that is dangerous territory and quite frankly delusional.

I would like to recognize that Gabby has already stuck it to the man so to speak by achieving this level of success. She has more roles lined up and I hope, no matter what the future holds for her, that she can recognize that she has already won on so many levels.

If you read to the end of this very long and winding post thank you. I hope you don’t want to punch me in the face too hard ;). BTW - I fully acknowledge health and weight is a two way street and that grossly underweight celebrities is also a problem in our culture that deserves attention. I would love to hear your thoughts?