Dancing With The Stars Dancers "Too Fat"
Listen, I don’t know who the hell this guy thinks he is, but I kind of want to kick him in the shins. Oh my mistake, it’s two guys; dancers on Dancing with the Stars who are calling two of the female dancers fat and lecturing them about their weight publicly.
Louis Van Amstel said, “People look at this show to be inspired and think, ‘If I just work hard enough, I can look like that. If they watch someone who’s dancing her butt off and she’s still heavy, they can be discouraged. You have to take that responsibility.”
Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who I am fairly certain is not a nice guy, said about Burke and Schwimmer that, “when I first saw these women this season, I said, ‘Guys, you know the camera adds 10 pounds, You have to do something about this.’”
1. Look at these women, they are by no stretch of the imagination “fat” or “heavy” in the first place.
2. Once again, it’s men telling women that their bodies are “unacceptable.” Your penis does not give you the right to dictate my relationship with my body, you douchebag. I will emblazon that on a handbag.
3. The bolded part actually makes my blood pressure rise. Someone else has to use the comments to articulate why that is SO FUCKING RIDICULOUS on EVERY LEVEL because I don’t think I can actually do it without giving myself a brain aneurism.
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: Celebrities, Exercise, Feminism, Gossip, TV
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Just wanted to comment that both Louis and Maks have said they were misquoted or taken out of context and I only know this b/c I mod the DWTS forums on TWoP and it’s been a shitstorm over this.
Here’s Louis: http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.ListAll&friendID=59559996
Here’s Maks: http://maksimchmerkovskiy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=12927&sid=3ce3029e699678be97e13b25a7f88254
Although this is an issue that the media has been reporting on extensively, and Cheryl has gone on various talk shows to talk about criticism of her weight, so I think it’s a valid issue for discussion anyway.
“Your penis does not give you the right to dictate my relationship with my body, you douchebag”
Shamelessly stealing that thank you very much :-)
As for the controversy I have nothing to add. It’s bullshit. That’s about all I can articulate at the moment.
When you make that handbag, I’m totally buying them for every damn woman I know.
You’d make a fortune.
I don’t know the show (I live in the Netherlands and I haven’t seen it on TV here – I do watch Strictly Come Dancing though). Based on what I read, however, I think that even if the comments were taken out of context and if they did not refer to these two women I think the idea that fat people might “get discouraged” if the dancers are not thin enough is fundamentally flawed. Dancing alone might cause people to lose some weight, but no fat person will get thin just through dancing. Plus, other than possible moderate weight loss there are so many more important benefits that a person can get from dancing.
I find the idea of fat people taking up dance only or mostly because they want to lose weight very sad. I have always loved to dance although I am not a very talented dancer. However, for the most part I did not go ahead and pursue my passion because I thought I was too fat and looked ridiculous anyways. It’s something I still haven’t managed to get over completely – dancing in public (and a class counts as “in public”) still scares me. If these shows really wanted to “inspire” people of all sizes to dance, than they would focus more one showing that people of all sizes can dance and look good and professional doing it.
I took an Oriental dance class for some time, and I really liked it even though dancing in front of mirrors and with other and mostly thin women around was hard. When I told a friend on the phone that I did Oriental dance she asked me if it had done “anything for my weight”. I am really tired of things like that – it’s a mindset I desperately try to get rid off myself. I want to dance because it is fun and an enjoyable way to move my body. I want to dance because it is good for my body and even more importantly good for my soul in many ways. I want to dance because I love music, and for a music lover dance is a very, very natural way of expression. I do not have an obligation to focus on weight loss in everyting I do, I have done it and it literally made me sick. Yes, professional dancers can inspire people, but I think it is very sad if they only or mostly inspire them to lose weight.
Why do some people think if one “anything but stick thin” person is shown in any way shape or form to not be killing themselves to loose weight and totally miserable because of their size it will somehow cause the general public to become morbidly obese and give up on their health.
“Oh look a fat person having fun, I want to be fat!”
Then why don’t we have,
“Oh look an African American having fun, I want to be one!”
And seeing how much fun it seems to be able to write your name in the snow I’m surprised there aren’t mass sex change operations.
Those comments seem to have some rather unusual logic to them.
They want to not show the public something that is true so that they are inspired to believe that something will work when it won’t to the extent that they try it and find that it doesn’t work and TV lied to them and then they are somehow better off?
Does that sound right?
It’s exactly the opposite as what’s in bold!
If I watch someone who’s dancing her butt off and she’s still heavy, I think “Hooray! There’s a fat girl doing something fun! I could do that too, even though I’m fat and thus afraid to dance in public. Maybe I should let go of that fear!”
P.S. I don’t think those girls are fat.
In 2006 New Zealand’s version of Dancing With The Stars featured a famous discus thrower, Beatrice Faumuina. She weighs approximately 125 kilos (according to her online stats with Athletics New Zealand) and man, could that woman dance! She came second in the competition (and in my opinion she was a much better dancer than the aging ex-model who won) and best of all ‘Queen B’ was obviously much bigger than her dance partner. (They can be seen here dancing at a community appearance http://www.nzpaimages.co.nz/events.php?event_id=1525 )
I cheered. She enjoyed herself, she was *good*, and we need more like her!
Oh my heavens Tanz, I am completely IN LOVE with Beatrice Faumuina now. What a beautiful, goddessy woman!
JupiterPluvius – she *is*, isn’t she? You could tell she was an athlete when she danced – she had a real poise, a grace of movement that was totally beautiful to watch.
Both she and her dance partner Brian Jones were amazing people. I was working in the media at the time and I got to interview them. I particularly loved the time they spoke about ‘the lift’. Basically they said they looked at each other, started laughing, and decided that Bea would lift Brian instead! (which is exactly what they did)
Sounds like those two men are taking their insecurities on how they feel about their appearances on this tv show and projecting it on the women. The men may not think they are fat, but their insecurities come forth as placing that onto the women.
First thing that came to mind is, well that’s how competitive and insecure men act don’t they, try to weaken a woman by mentioning weight.
Very sad, and very pathetic.
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wow what jerks!
The penis part is awesome, and basically I would love, love, love to look like either of them – the hips on the chick in the red dress – RRRROOWWWRR. I’m jealous.
What a world this has become when we look at two women who are clearly average-weight and think them obese. Thanks unattainable media standards!
How come they only allow fit men to dance? Put in a guy with some weight issues and see if anyone complains then.
If anyone is looking at this show as some kind of standard you’re being unreasonable. These are dancers that have been selected from the crowds of dancers so they are going to be exceptionally fit. The average person watching this should take this into consideration and not be so naive.
That’s the not the only way that men try to control women. I recently gave my life back to God and now SOME people assume that I’m going to turn my back on fat acceptance. But I did research and found that there are Christian feminists and there’ are members of what I like to call the “Christian left.” It feels good to know that I can give my life back to God and still remain true to my core values, including HAES.
But yes, their attitude is indicative of controlling behavior.
Mari, I hope you are happy and stay that way following that path. I do find it odd that anyone would assume you are leaving the FA due to finding God. How are the two so separate? You can’t please everyone so don’t bother. Your real friends will be there regardless.
I have always thought feminism was mostly a way of asserting equality that was badly needed. Being Christian and following God should have no conflict with the pursuit of fairness and equality.
Man, I love this show! Thanks to Kim, who posted Louis and Maks’ rebuttals. If they said this stuff outright or were misquoted I think at this point doesn’t really matter. What matters is we’re talking about the enormous pressure put on women to be thin and how we perpetuate this by picking apart the bodies of women in the media. That’s an important conversation however it happens to start.
I think the show has gone a long way in showing women (and men) of all sizes (the “stars” in these dance teams) dancing and enjoying themselves. Last season Marissa Jaret Winokur reresented for all the big girls and got pretty far in the competition. Sabrina Ryan also was out there doing her thing. And seeeing athletes like Laila Ali who has a big, athletic body was fantastic.
I give a big thumbs down to the one season where they had a Slim-Fast sponsored tie-in but overall, while not perfect (if I had to hear one more word about Tia Carrere losing baby weight while dancing on the show I was going to hurl), I think the show is pretty positive.
Having only watched this show once, I was really impressed at the diversity of the contestants.
I think, even with the comments taken out of context, that there are more than subtle biases about weight within the ballroom dance community that come through in what was probably the original statements. Women and men in that community (those who make it to the highest levels of competition) are uniformly thin. It’s a bit odd sometimes to see them holding their bodies so rigidly and dancing so smoothely.
I do find it odd that anyone would assume you are leaving the FA due to finding God.
Not to be nitpicky, Richard, but calling fat acceptance “the FA” is like calling the civil rights movement “the civil rights.”
Put in a guy with some weight issues and see if anyone complains then.
Been there, done that. Consider television sitcoms: Jim Belushi (According to Jim), Kevin James (King of Queens), Mark Addy (Still Standing), and Donal Logue (Grounded for Life). All four television husbands are, to put it frankly, fat and dumpy (and often immature to boot). Yet their trophy wives are all thin and beautiful.
Double standard? Indeed.
Rachel, that is the power of fame and money. Interesting how the focus is off the wives when both they and their husbands have their motives. Most guys know that if they want a slim “trophy wife” they have to pay for it and most don’t have the resources so they settle for what is often considered “average”.
This is why not everyone is driving 70K sports cars because they can not afford them. The few that can do.
If given the chance to have a better looking potential mate most often people will jump on it and this applies to both genders. Sure, the inside does matter but if you can have both sides appealing why not?
Amen, Mo Pie! I blogged about this a couple of days ago, but you put it better than I ever could!
Louis the Loser and Makshole need to shut it.
Richard, forgive me if I’m misunderstanding you, but all of the shows Rachel mentioned are about working class men or middle class men. None of the fat male characters are tycoons. And in real life, I’ve seen plenty of fat men with svelte wives. I doubt each case was a situation in which the fat man was paying for the affection.
I’m not saying life is easy-peasy for fat men. I’m just pointing out my observations.
And as for the dancing, I actually find it wonderfully refreshing to see fat dancers and athletes, because it reaffirms HAES, and the reality that “to lose weight permanently, eat less and move more, it’s as simple as that” is really kind of bunk.
Richard: You suggest that we’re getting upset over nothing, that if overweight men were put on the show, there would comments made about them too. I responded by showing you how overweight men are already ubiquitous on television and nothing is made of their appearances.
You seem to have missed the point. Completely.
No Rachel I get it. It just seems that comparing the needs of most women to most men is not going to pan out. Men are going to favor looks and women are going to favor what he can do for her. This is not everyone but most.
After looking at the site (never watched the show) I saw what you mentioned. Those guys are clearly not dancer grade and I bet nobody said anything about their weight. Yep, that’s hypocrisy plain and simple.
The sad thing is it has become a gender issue when calling anyone fat is completely out of line. This applies to both sides and both need to realize that. It’s the same as calling someone stupid or any other insulting name.
[i]Men are going to favor looks and women are going to favor what he can do for her.
This is not everyone but most.
Men are going to favor looks
women are going to favor what he can do for her.
This is not everyone
Men are going to
women are going to[/i]
…You see what I am getting at. You can tell a lot about a person by what they say and how they say it. While the disclaimer was quickly typed in at the end, you still didn’t leave any room for exceptions for those “rules.”
Men and women do share a lot of the same scrutiny from society, but it’s not hard to see that a lot more of the focus and bias is placed on women than on men. And yes, if an overweight man were to try out for this show, chances are he’d get a lot of shit for it. Overweight actors often do. Go to Jorge Garcia or Nikki Blonksy’s IMDB page if you want proof of that, but Nikki’s especially if you want proof of how much more shit women get for their weight than men.
Goddamn it. Can any of you fantastic people help me with the html? I DUN GIT HOW WORKS THIS HERE COMPOOTURZ.
Mari, would you please contact me? I’d like to talk with you about how Christianity and FA intersect (and they do!).
Dips, this site uses HTML rather than BBS code, so use pointy brackets instead of square ones and your code should come out fine.
Funnily enough, I read the article, got mad, and wrote a letter to TV Guide before I even checked my other websites. I don’t care if these guys claim to have been quoted out of context – their remarks were pretty hurtful regardless of context, and the article in and of itself was awful.
id kill to look like them, not to mention that if any of those men were women they’d luck to look like them too.
Men have no problem dictating what our bodies should look like but they don’t have to face a body with slower metabolism that automatically stores fat for child birth regardless of whether or not you are planning to conceive. Nature is a against women being thin, it makes a whole lot more work for us and it disgusts me when men (especially larger men because nature wants them to be thin thats htye get faster metabolism) comment on women’s bodies.
Man, where is a guy like Lacey’s brother Benji when you need him? He danced with the bgi and fabulous Donyelle in the show So You Think You Can Dance? and didn’t say a freakn’ word about her body…except for how beautiful she is and how amazingly she danced. Why can’t we have more guys like him than idiots like Maxim and Louis?
Alexandra Beller is one of many examples of a plus-sized dancer who is fantastic at what she does.
And she is gorgeous and curvy as well.
April, you don’t have to kill to look like them, you just have to do what they do and you will get most of those results. The problem with this is it is not for everyone. Those results require self discipline that is often too high a price for most to pay. This is why most people don’t look like them and thats understandable. Most people don’t want to exercise hardcore 3-4 hours a day while counting their calories. Be healthy and find what works for you and makes you comfortable in your own skin.
April, on a second note, I agree that men do get a slightly upper hand with metabolisms but it’s not that high. This is why I personally feel men should be held to a higher standard for being lean since its unnatural biologically for men to be doughy soft bodies. For men, being fat is unhealthier per pound than it is for women.
However, look at many women that have kids and still manage to keep it off. They simply made healthy choices and exerted a little self discipline. They walk among you in short quantity (in the U.S) and larger quantity outside the states.
“Men and women do share a lot of the same scrutiny from society, but it’s not hard to see that a lot more of the focus and bias is placed on women than on men.”-Dips
In that industry I bet you are right. The audience is watching and they are using what they see to reach a conclusion but this is a microcosm compared to real life. Men are held up to scrutiny in different ways such as how much he makes, they type of work he does, ambition, does he like kids, etc. Women have needs and they have their wish lists just like men do. The main difference is despite both sides making demands; men are now the ones being judged as being bad or selfish for having theirs. The question of how much a person makes versus what their dress size is are hardly any different when it comes to personal needs. In case the original thought was lost, I still think these guys are whining hypocrites. Sort of like a carpenter blaming his hammer for a bad job.
That is absolutely unacceptable. There is no such thing as an “ideal” and anyone who thinks there is wrong. I personally feel like anyone who finds the urge to pick on someone else has many of his/her own insecurities.
I know that other people have said it, but seriously Mo, if you wanted to have handbags or tee-shirts or anything with that penis line, you would make a fortune. Someone should seriously make a design and talk to Glark or someone about it.
Well I have to say that Cheryl and Lacey look incredible!!!! They look like real women, you don’t have to be too skinny to be hot, real women have curves!!!! Latin women are famous because of the way we look, we have curves, is normal for us to see somebody that looks like Sofia Vergara or Salma Hayek, and Cheryl and Lacey look like REAL women….GOOO CHERYL AND LACEY!!!!!