Feminism Fraud How far would a person go to prove a point? Would they purposely gain weight to make a statement? Susie Orbach, chair of the Relational School in the United Kingdom and a successful author in “Fat Is a Feminist Issue” seems to think so. Orbach shares her opinion on various topics, but perhaps the most shocking is her belief on why women gain weight. Orbach believes, in many cases, overweight women choose to be overweight to avoid the norms, defy the media, and rebel against society. In the world today, obesity is an epidemic. Orbach gives her opinion on why this is the case when she says, “Fat is a social disease, and fat is a feminist issue” (Orbach 449). Orbach blames obesity and overeating on society today. She claims that women care about their image more than anything else. Orbach says that women are overeating and gaining weight because they want to be isolated. She claims that “Fat is not about lack of self-control or lack of willpower. Fat is about protection, sex, nurturance, strength, boundaries, mothering, substance, assertion, and rage” (Orbach 449). In saying this, Orbach is claiming that women are purposefully gaining weight in order to prove a point. She believes that when women gain weight and isolate themselves, they are escaping the beauty standards of society. Women do not have all the same objectives. There are millions of women in the world, and they all have different goals. Orbach shares her thoughts on the matter when she says, “Physical fitness and beauty are every woman’s goals” (Orbach 448). Orbach speaks for every woman when she says this, and that, to me is unacceptable. Some women don’t have time for a long beauty regimen because they are too busy with other activities. Claiming that every woman in the world is only concerned about being beautiful and physically fit is outrageous. People with ideas like this that are to blame for eating disorders and unhealthy weight loss. Media is not to blame for weight gain. Orbach tries to claim that media only shows women in certain roles: “The media present women either in a secual contetz or within the family, reflecting a woman’s two prescribed roles, first as a sex object, and then as a mother” (Orbach 450). Ultimately, Orbach is saying that the reason women are gaining weight is to go against the media, and to go against what the media is trying to present them as. This can’t be true because in recent years, a common theme in movies has been a woman heroine. In the recent blockbuster “Hidden Figures,” the plot revolves around three women who were vital in the mission to get a man on the moon. Pop culture and media have embraced women as heroes, leaders, and supervisors. Therefore, media is not to blame for overweight women. Women are not gaining weight to rebel against society, and in many cases women look good for themselves. Obrach says “The woman’s body is not satisfactory as it is. It must be thin, free of “unwanted hair,” deodorized, perfumed and clothed” (Orbach 451). While this may be true, in many cases women go through vanity procedures for themselves. At times I just like to look good for myself, and sometimes looking nice can be fun to dress up and look my best. Thinking that women only look good for men is narrow-minded to claim that the only reason a woman would “deodorize, perfume and clothe” herself is to please society’s standards. Some women enjoy looking their best. Some women like the way they smell when they deodorize and perfume themselves. Women have no reason to gain weight to defy these standards. Susie Orbach’s claim that in many cases, overweight women choose to be overweight to avoid the norms, defy the media, and rebel against society is ridiculous. While some women may be concerned with social norms, the media content, and society approval, most women are happy with themselves. A woman would not choose to gain weight to get out of doing these tasks because society is not demanding tasks to be done. “Fat Is a Feminist Issue” by Susie Orbach is invalid and ludicrous. Women don’t need to have approval, and fat has nothing to do with feminism.
Works Cited
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. 198-210. Print