You Can Dance If You Want To
I have not seen the commercial that Corinna rants about in this entry, but just reading about it made me want to start throwing things at the television, and I’m not even near a television. First, the rant (bolding mine):
Last night I saw that Realize-Band ad again. The one where an attractive but fat married couple say all the things that they would do if only they were thin…
“I want to go to Paris with my husband?” Is this loathsome ad effective? Probably. People hate themselves for many reasons. But I’m going to tell you something that you already know – you can go to Paris any time you damn well want to go to Paris and you don’t have to wait until you’re thin…
“I want to dance with my husband,” she says wistfully. Well then do it but remember that because you are both fat you probably have been told that you just can’t, or that people will look at you funny if you are a fat dancer, so it’s probably better to just wait until you finally get thin. Those corporate surgery people have never seen Big Moves in action.
Seriously, all I am asking for is some common sense. If you found this blog because you are thinking about the Realize-Band for yourself, if you want to lose weight, or just exercise, or just be mentally healthy, fucking hell wouldn’t motion be a good idea? Wouldn’t encouraging people to move more be a smart thing? But no – these Realize-Band people want to convince you that you can’t even fucking dance alone in your home in front of the fucking television until you have surgery. Because giving a corporation thousands of dollars for surgery that requires bed rest and recovery with the potential for horrible complications would be much better for you than dancing, loving, having fun and feeling good in your own skin.
Hey, guess what I’ve done, even though I’m fat? Danced and cage dived and visited Prague and put on a bathing suit and gone camping and climbed a volcano and A FUCKLOAD OF OTHER THINGS THAT ONE DOES NOT NEED TO BE THIN IN ORDER TO DO.
I’ve said it before, more than once, and no doubt I’ll say it again, but I feel like saying it today: you don’t have to wait until you’re thin to live your life. So what do you want to do? Go out and do it. Let’s be brave together.
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: Advertising, Advocacy, Fat Positive, Fatism, Weight Loss, WLS
I have done many things while also being fat. I really hate being told that I cannot do this, that, or the other, because of my weight. I am much more than the sum or my physical weight.
I have been to Hawaii, I have been on a volcano, I have dined in fine restaurants, I wear beautiful clothing. I am loved by a wonderful man.
I am not defined by my outer appearance.
I am getting inline skates for my birthday and intend to skate in them, fat, through the sidewalks and parks of my hometown’s downtown.
I’m really excited. :D
Word. FFS, I lived in Europe while being a total Fatty McFat. I got a few extra stares in the land of the 10-foot-tall Czech supermodel, but other than that, it was pretty much a non-issue.
Using things like going to Paris, buying clothes, visiting family, etc. are not vaild reasons for having major, dangerous surgery. More and more, WLS is being touted as a way to “fit in” socially instead of a very last resort for improving overall physical health.
While I have not had the luxury of traveling to Paris or Hawaii, I’ve been to the beach, I’ve visited family, I’ve danced, I’ve camped, hiked, and worn cute clothes, all while fat.
They say age ain’t nothing but a number, well, neither is weight.
I dance like Elaine from Seinfeld, so fat, skinny, drunk, whatever, no dancing for me.
I’ve never gotten the dancing thing in that commercial. Have these people never been to a wedding? Because every one I’ve ever been to has been filled with my fat relatives–many of them bigger than the couple in the commercial–dancing away.
And, if Paris has instituted a weight limit before you can enter the city, I’ve never heard about it.
I’d like to go to Paris with my husband, too, but given the cost of plane fare and our incomes, that’s highly unlikely in the foreseeable future. But I suppose being thin also makes people magically rich.
Did anyone else get “The Safety Dance” stuck in their head after reading the title?
Totally made my day.
But seriously…how many times has “I will when I’m thin” kept you from doing something?
I have traveled all over Europe, North America and Australia. Next year my 70 year old mother and I are going to Cambodia and Thailand. Get that Realize-Band people? A fattie AND and an old lady are going to get on a plane and travel. The horror!
The whole point of advertising of any sort is to make you feel LESS THAN so that you will go out and buy their crap.
I’m not into it any more. I don’t read fashion magazines, I don’t go into stores, I throw out ad circulars and catalogues, I turn off the sound when commercials come on TV. I don’t need any more STUFF and further more, in this economy, I don’t need to be spending money.
But most of all, I don’t need to spend money to come up to anyone else’s standards, especially fake ones. I am no longer fat, but when I was I traveled all over the world (including to Germany and Paris, with AND without my husband); I hiked; I camped out; I wore gorgeous clothes and always got compliments on being beautiful and sexy, and I lived my life. Oh, and I had lots and lots of hot monkey sex. Fat people do that, too, you know.
Grrrrrrr. No one else gets to tell you what makes you successful and happy. If they try, tell ’em what they can do with it.
Did anyone else get “The Safety Dance” stuck in their head after reading the title?
Yup.
And, since hitting 350lbs, I have:
Flown to Orlando, walked all over Disney World, and ridden on all the rides I wanted to, and gotten ogled at the water park in my deep v-neck surplice bathing suit.
Represented my employer at Internet World in San Jose and New York City.
Flown to Maui and attended the Maui Writer’s Conference.
Front-row Springsteen tickets in NJ!!!!
Flown to New York for a week which ended with me at Madison Square Garden when Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band Live in New York City was recorded.
Taught at the local community college.
Got married.
…yeah. Obviously my life is on hold until I lose weight.
This is the second version of this commercial actually. The original said “i dream of kissing him underneath the eiffel tower”. I have been raging about this commercial since it came out the first time. it made me so angry because i have been to the eiffel tower as a fatty fat fat, I have CLIMBED IT. i did not kiss anyone under it, as i was with a school group of all girls and only 2 boys (one of which is gay, the other had a GF back home). But I have done many many things while fatty fat fat, including discovering how much i fucking LOVE theme parks and rides and walking all over kingdom come to get to them.
oh, i also kissed him under a princess castle. it may not have been the eiffel tower, but I’ll take it!
I raved at the first iteration of this commercial. It was like this:
Dude: I want to be around to play with my little warrior.
Woman: I want to kiss him under the Eiffel Tower.
So the guy wants to get WLS because he wants to play karate with his kid, but OF COURSE the woman only cares about being fuckable.
Makes me bitchcrackers.
Woo Hoo!!! Rock on and me too. Been to Paris, London, Amsterdam, Barcelona, China, Hawaii and actually wow I fly a lot. Soon I fly to Green Bay, WI to see Weetabix.
Thanks Mo for the shout out and thank you everyone for commenting. I feel hugged :)
OMG…I have HATED that whole Paris statement, too. I ranted about it to my sister-in-law and her reaction was “well, maybe she can’t fit in the plane seats”…..ok, awful as that statement was, I had to laugh.
Seriously! The first thing I thought when I saw that commercial was, “Go to Paris?! How does being fat keep you from going to Paris?!” I’m a big fat dynamo and I’ve been to Paris four times. And I’m going again this summer, fat or no fat! So take THAT, Realize-Band!
I don’t know that I could brave wearing a bathing suit in public, though. **ahem** : /
We need to all send in pics: THINGS I HAVE DONE WHILE FAT.
I am going to wear a bikini on holiday in Florida this year. It will be the first time ever. I am about 250lbs. I didn’t wear a bikini when my BMI was 24 because I thought I was ‘too fat’. I’m not ‘too fat’ for anything now.
The whole point of corporate advertising is to make the masses feel crappy about themselves so they’ll throw money at useless products in hopes of becoming happy, thin, lovable, etc.
Eliminating television reception from my home has really, really helped me become a less angry person. Those ads would make most people cringe.
The first time I saw that ad, I yelled at the TV. The second time, I turned the TV off (for the sake of my family and my own sanity).
Yesterday, I saw somewhere that one of the guys on “The Biggest Loser” had gastric bypass surgery years ago. Surprise; that sh*t don’t work!!!!!
My bikini story: 3 years ago I wore a bikini for the first time in 30 years. Unfortunately, we were in Tahoe, and I nearly drowned from the shock of cold after jumping in the lake, exposing my poor tummy to those temperatures! Next time, I’m wearing a parka!
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! I really needed to hear this message today. I have been in such a funk over not being able to lose weight that I am finding myself pulling away from my friends and my loving boyfriend. The one who tells me that I’m beautiful and never ONCE has mentioned my weight….but that I can’t quite bring myself to believe.
Me and my 290 lb ass are leaving for London and Paris in 10 days…. whee!
I wish we could all go with Kimdog to Paris and film a response to that ad. Merde!
The first time I saw that commercial I was like wait, I went to Paris fat (don’t know what I weighed at the time, probably wore a size 18 or so). I went to China even fatter (weighed close to 300, wore a size 22/24). I had a blast in both places. Yes, the plane seats on the trip to China were uncomfortable, but airplane seats are uncomfortable for everyone.
My fat ass (currently weigh around 240 and wear a size 16) may get to go to Korea in the not so distant future. I guess I should hurry up and get my major surgery in time!
Jamie: yes.
CindyS: I would so send in a picture of 300-lb me at the Great Wall.
There was also a snarky side of me that said “I thought we were supposed to think fat people were unlovable. How is she married?”
DebontheRocks that’s really actually not a bad idea! Dove had that “campaign for real beauty” but none of the models were really fat. BFDivas can do better than that! :)
Love that camping photo. My first thought – What a cute doggie! Second thought – man, they look like they’re having a ball!
Cindy and Liza: Yes, exactly!
(In case anyone doesn’t want to scroll back up, the comments were: Cindy’s: So the guy wants to get WLS because he wants to play karate with his kid, but OF COURSE the woman only cares about being fuckable.
Liza’s: There was also a snarky side of me that said “I thought we were supposed to think fat people were unlovable. How is she married?”)
Though the guy annoys me too, why CAN’T he do karate with his kid? Or is he OMG going to die right now and will *obviously* live longer with the surgery?
I also wonder if they changed the original commercial because of complaints?
Additional note to those on facebook: a bunch of us are trying to mark all of the diet/weightloss ads as offensive. Please join in the effort!
I hope you enjoyed yourself in Paris, despite the fact that Americans are thought of as fat and stupid. I would never go there fat, so they can believe they were right.
This is absolutely what I needed to read! I am going to Paris in two weeks, but instead of being excited, I’ve been so worried because of my weight(230lbs) that I’ve even tried canceling the trip. (I saw this ad awhile ago and it only added to my fears) I am that person that has bought into the whole “you need to stop your life until you’re skinny” notion. Over the past five years I’ve stopped dating, moved away from all my friends and have completely isolated myself from everyone. Hmmm…..”coincidentally” I’ve managed to gain 40 more pounds and fall into severe depression. I have lost a good portion of my 20s because of everything around me saying fat people are less deserving, less of a person. I feel so inspired after reading all your comments, I hope to find the courage to get out there and live my life!
Janessa,
I wasted my teens, 20s, and a good part of my 30s worrying about my weight and putting off everything “until I got thin”. Well, I’m fatter than ever, and tired of waiting to live.
First, I don’t think you’ll have any problem with the airline seat, if that was your concern. Second of all, I can’t recommend enough, get yourself a copy of Ellyn Satter’s “Secrets of Feeding a Healthy Family”. It’s not just for families per se, but for anyone who wants to escape the dieting trap and just enjoy food and live life.
Good luck!
I did a lot of stuff too even though I’m fat. I swam, I went on trips and camps, I skate, I dance and freaking climbed mountains that everyone said I will never be able to climb because of my weight. Well, I shew them I can climb it with no difficulties.