Normalising obesity makes it seem like less of a problem. It should not be normal to be so unhealthy that one is obese, let alone nearly half the country.
But I know that absolutely nothing will be done to improve the quality of life for people by our current government, and quality of life is a big factor in obesity as food is an easy comfort. So even if obese people were no longer shown in adverts etc, it would only mean that obese models and actors would get fewer roles.
Do you have any evidence that people are striving to be obese because of these adverts? I’d rather not have people call for laws based on vibes. Especially your shitty vibes.
Well the law in question here wasn’t made because ads were normalising being a skeleton. The law was made because people were starving themselves on purpose to become like that. The adverts set an unrealistic beauty standard and women were becoming malnourished trying to reach it. So yes it matters. It’s literally why the law was created years ago.
Making an argument about “normalising” unhealthiness is a whole other ball game.
Someone who sees a bonerack and says “I want to be like them!” has an eating disorder (less than 2% of teens are anorexic). We can go after the ads to protect this segment of the population, but ads don’t turn healthy people into malnourished skin bags, because healthy people view it as disgusting and unhealthy.
Consider that being dangerously underweight is almost unheard of in modern society outside of eating disorders, but obesity is extremely common and getting worse (over 22% of teens, according to the CDC).
Even the NIH makes almost no mention of being underweight as being a problem in any age group, and they also show a disturbing trend in obesity, even among kids and teens. (SOURCE)
In my opinion, these ads create the same level of harm for someone who is obese, sees a body positivity ad that normalizes obesity, and says “See, I’m perfect the way I am!”, and continues with unhealthy lifestyle choices because of that (as the studies suggest).
Look, I’m bias, I hate ads. I would love to see all forms of harmful ads being banned. Including promoting undereating, overeating, gambling, driving cars, drinking, smoking, weed, religion, and medication.
Ads are designed to manipulate people, and they are especially dangerous when they target vulnerable demographics (like teenage women or the obese), so laws should be put in place to protect people. In addition, I encourage everyone to preserve their mental health and defend against these marketing companies by blocking any and all ads.
While one might struggle to find evidence that people are striving to become obese due to these ads, I think, these ads normalize (or at least, try to normalize) obesity which might lead to obese people not wanting to seek help (medical or otherwise) or might even discourage obese people from trying a healthier lifestyle.
The reason we target advertisements in this way is because they’re saying “this is what you need to look like” which encourages young women to starve themselves as they strive to be size 4. This is a separate issue to merely “normalising” things. If you’re concerned with normalisation of obesity, why are you focusing on adverts and not, say, The Simpsons or Family Guy?
Because Homer struggles with it and tries to lose weight and the clothing industry marketing was unapologetic adiposity jingoism for a few years before us fascism overcorrected with Sweeney’s geans.
That’s good news.
Can we also ban ads with obese people in them, too?
There are two ends to the unhealthy weight spectrum, so it’s not right that only one is being targeted.
And then we ban the rest of the ads! I like it. Write that down.
Bad comparision since the obese look is not something that young people strife for when they see an ad showing an obese person.
Normalising obesity makes it seem like less of a problem. It should not be normal to be so unhealthy that one is obese, let alone nearly half the country.
But I know that absolutely nothing will be done to improve the quality of life for people by our current government, and quality of life is a big factor in obesity as food is an easy comfort. So even if obese people were no longer shown in adverts etc, it would only mean that obese models and actors would get fewer roles.
Do you have any examples of ads that you would be in favor of banning?
Honestly, no, because I block all ads… and have no reason to see fashion ads at all.
Buy if I recall correctly, there have been several beauty brands that have overweight models and then frame it as “perfect” or something like that.
Like like with malnurished models, promoting obesity as “perfect” is damaging to anyone influenced by the marketing, especially teens.
I get their inclusion and body positivity mission, but neither obesity or severe malnutrition should be promoted as anything but unhealthy.
Do you have any evidence that people are striving to be obese because of these adverts? I’d rather not have people call for laws based on vibes. Especially your shitty vibes.
Yes, there is evidence. For example, this paper from 2015.
I wouldn’t say they are “striving” to be obese, but conceding to an unhealthy weight is objectively just as bad.
So no, then
No to “striving to be obese”, yes to “being ok with staying obese.”
Does that matter if the end result is people still being unhealthy because of the messaging in these ads?
Well the law in question here wasn’t made because ads were normalising being a skeleton. The law was made because people were starving themselves on purpose to become like that. The adverts set an unrealistic beauty standard and women were becoming malnourished trying to reach it. So yes it matters. It’s literally why the law was created years ago.
Making an argument about “normalising” unhealthiness is a whole other ball game.
Someone who sees a bonerack and says “I want to be like them!” has an eating disorder (less than 2% of teens are anorexic). We can go after the ads to protect this segment of the population, but ads don’t turn healthy people into malnourished skin bags, because healthy people view it as disgusting and unhealthy.
Consider that being dangerously underweight is almost unheard of in modern society outside of eating disorders, but obesity is extremely common and getting worse (over 22% of teens, according to the CDC).
Even the NIH makes almost no mention of being underweight as being a problem in any age group, and they also show a disturbing trend in obesity, even among kids and teens. (SOURCE)
In my opinion, these ads create the same level of harm for someone who is obese, sees a body positivity ad that normalizes obesity, and says “See, I’m perfect the way I am!”, and continues with unhealthy lifestyle choices because of that (as the studies suggest).
Look, I’m bias, I hate ads. I would love to see all forms of harmful ads being banned. Including promoting undereating, overeating, gambling, driving cars, drinking, smoking, weed, religion, and medication.
Ads are designed to manipulate people, and they are especially dangerous when they target vulnerable demographics (like teenage women or the obese), so laws should be put in place to protect people. In addition, I encourage everyone to preserve their mental health and defend against these marketing companies by blocking any and all ads.
While one might struggle to find evidence that people are striving to become obese due to these ads, I think, these ads normalize (or at least, try to normalize) obesity which might lead to obese people not wanting to seek help (medical or otherwise) or might even discourage obese people from trying a healthier lifestyle.
The reason we target advertisements in this way is because they’re saying “this is what you need to look like” which encourages young women to starve themselves as they strive to be size 4. This is a separate issue to merely “normalising” things. If you’re concerned with normalisation of obesity, why are you focusing on adverts and not, say, The Simpsons or Family Guy?
Because Homer struggles with it and tries to lose weight and the clothing industry marketing was unapologetic adiposity jingoism for a few years before us fascism overcorrected with Sweeney’s geans.