Gerren is adorable. I kind of like that she was able to use something she disliked about herself and got her ridicule — her height — to her advantage. And, yes, it’s very possible she can earn college scholarships and numerous job opportunities because of it. The fact that those advantages exist for people with certain genetic traits is certainly a matter for debate, but you could use the same arguments about athletics or race-based advantages. I certainly hope her mother has the foresight to set her up with therapists and psychiatrists and a healthy social network as she ages. The actual industry people, though? Their obvious disdain and prejudice against average people is disgusting. The assumption seems to be, if you’re attractive you’ll be famous, and that, therefore, if you’re not famous, you’re not pretty, and that unattractive is wrong and bad and must be fixed by any means necessary. Since “fixes” exist, if you know you’re unattractive and choose to do nothing about it, then it’s YOUR fault if you’re unattractive. Garren’s mother displays a lot of the same mentality (claiming that the principal is against modeling because “I don’t know if she might have been fat”), so my hope for her ability to provide a mentally healthy environment for her daughter is significantly waned.
Did you watch the whole thing? I don’t have time atm. But I figure it’s taken as premise at this point that our cultures are so hyper-sexualized that the pressure is intense from as early as infancy, of being fat, thin, gorgeous or not, it’s very black/white. But what do we do?
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Gerren is adorable. I kind of like that she was able to use something she disliked about herself and got her ridicule — her height — to her advantage. And, yes, it’s very possible she can earn college scholarships and numerous job opportunities because of it. The fact that those advantages exist for people with certain genetic traits is certainly a matter for debate, but you could use the same arguments about athletics or race-based advantages. I certainly hope her mother has the foresight to set her up with therapists and psychiatrists and a healthy social network as she ages.
The actual industry people, though? Their obvious disdain and prejudice against average people is disgusting. The assumption seems to be, if you’re attractive you’ll be famous, and that, therefore, if you’re not famous, you’re not pretty, and that unattractive is wrong and bad and must be fixed by any means necessary. Since “fixes” exist, if you know you’re unattractive and choose to do nothing about it, then it’s YOUR fault if you’re unattractive. Garren’s mother displays a lot of the same mentality (claiming that the principal is against modeling because “I don’t know if she might have been fat”), so my hope for her ability to provide a mentally healthy environment for her daughter is significantly waned.
Did you watch the whole thing? I don’t have time atm. But I figure it’s taken as premise at this point that our cultures are so hyper-sexualized that the pressure is intense from as early as infancy, of being fat, thin, gorgeous or not, it’s very black/white. But what do we do?