Wednesday, September 13, 2006

THINspiration vs. inFATuation

Today I discovered, the messy way, that a crepe is not an eat-and-go type of food.

On my way home I detoured to Sherway Mall to check on a few things and pay some bills. I was starving so I decided to check out the food court and discovered that they opened a new crepe stand. Lately, I've taken quite the liking to crepes, that of which I can probably blame on Iljya. I decided that I was craving a crepe (although you can't really decide to crave something, it just happens) and ordered a 'Tutti-Frutti' crepe (Nutella, strawberries and bananas). I admit it was a bit overpriced (is 7 bucks over-priced for a crepe?) but I was trying it so I figured 7 dollars for this 'snack' was justified. I really should have sat in the food court with a knife, fork, bib and a stack of napkins to tackle this debacle of a delicacy.

I walked around and tried to eat the thing but it was more like I was slurping, tonguing and wiping my face on the stupid thing. Sauce, strawberries and bananas falling out everywhere! I sat down in one of those couches in the mall and tried to finish this as fast as possible because it was getting embarassing (managed to spill some on my new jeans, arrrgh). As I was passionately making out (because that's what it pretty much looked like) with this crepe crap, I noticed a girl, who was sitting across from me, eyeing me. I sure must've been quite the sight: little girl, big crepe, chocolate and strawberries everywhere. But the thing that got to me was not that she was staring at me, but what she was probably thinking. You see, this girl was rail thin, young and seemingly one of those snobbish types (not that it's hard to find those types at Sherway Mall). To be honest with you, she looked anorexic.

In Madrid, officials have called a ban for underweight models to parade around during Madrid Fashion Week. This meant 30% of the models, who were under the '15 BMI minimum' mark, were withdrawn from the festival. A large part of this ban was because it is generally believed that underweight models somehow encourage eating disorders.

I've watched a ton of fashion shows, and while I've seen more than my share of exposed ribs, I really cannot see how girls will see this and think 'I need to diet'. It would take an extremely pro-ana chick to even think that. Furthermore, I think this ban is unjust, unless they put a ban on people participating in Fashion Week who are over a certain BMI. Sure, you can take away all those underweight 'bad influences', but what bout the overweight 'bad influences'? Can you imagine if they put a ban on overweight people? There'd be an outcry and the idea would be fou-foued and unheard of.

This ban on underweight people is a double standard. By allowing 'overweight' people to be acknowledged in a way where the message is "It's OK to be overweight, love yourself anyway" is just as bad as telling girls they need to be thin. Over half of North Americans are overweight, and while many people blame this on the quantity/quality of food being eaten (trans-fat, carbs, super-sized, where was this problem 15 years ago?), alot of people are merely nurturing the idea that being 'normal sized' (a nicer way of saying big-boned, if you ask me) is fantastic.

My view of this could be put to thin air (no pun intended) because I'm a petite-sized person and everyone will probably think I'm 'fatty-hating'. I don't consider myself rail-thin, but I am thin. I am not making these statements because I'm thin or because I've never felt the need to diet; I am making these statements because I wish everyone would just put their 'weight problems' up their asses. I don't like going out with my friends and they're not eating because they 'can't'. I don't like shopping with friends who only buy dark/black clothing because it 'makes them look thinner'. I don't like it when people exasperate about 'how skinny I am' (my boss does that alot).

Lil's Food, Diet and Weight Ideologies:

The only person who knows what your 'ideal' size should be, is your own body. Eat whatever you want in moderation, eat smart, don't use food as a substitute for love/people/something to do, get to know your body on a personal level. YOU will know how much and what you should eat.

If dairy makes you queasy and bloated, it's not fatty, you're probably lactose-intolerant. Horizontal stripes don't make you look fat. Fruits have too much carbs? Fuck off. Look at food as a means to live, not the number of buzzwords you read about in diet books.

As for that allegedly anorexic chick from Sherway? She got up and walked away (to a bathroom?), probably disgusted with my eating. I could've chased her down and tell her she doesn't need to look like Kate Moss or Liya Kebede, but then again, who's gonna listen to a girl who doesn't make thousands walking down a runway and has chocolate on her face?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Haha, Lil. I read this entry and was in pain, because I had to laugh but couldn't because of the stitched-up gum, but couldn't hold it in and was thus in pain. Thanks. And you didn't mention whether or not you enjoyed the crepe...

And yeah, the ban on underweight models is kind of odd. I'm not sure what I think about it, though. It would encourage dangerously underweight people to gain some weight...but at the same time, I can see why it's unfair...I don't know.