More to Love?

Who has seen the commercials for that show? The Bachelor for FAT PEOPLE? Anyone else moved to type ALL IN CAPS BECAUSE YOU ARE SO ANNOYED BY THIS??

*She steps away from the laptop with her hands in the air. Breathes. Returns.*

Okay. Here’s my thing. We all know that the average woman in this country is a Size 14, right? (Go on, Google it if you don’t believe me. But I bet you believe me) And this could turn into a rant post about why in God’s name the MAJORITY of  the American fashion industry is focused on the MINORITY of American women. And it could turn into me railing on shows like America’s Next Top Model and just about any magazine. And it could turn into me talking about how, in my fitness quest of the last five months to get back to the perfect Size 12 I used to me maaaaany years ago, I have been asked NO FEWER THAN 4 TIMES why I would want to stop there.

But no.

No, I’m just going to sit back and wait. And watch. And see what happens with this show. Because really? This is what The Bachelor should have been in the first place, in my humble opinion. Just REGULAR PEOPLE. And that should have been that. I mean, one of the main reasons I am miffed at this ‘New’ Bachelor show is because the OLD formula is losing steam, so they are turning to us regular Joe fatasses to save the franchise, and putting a tremendous focus on SIZE. Because apparently we ‘Plus Sized’ folks need dating reality shows too. When these women represent THE MAJORITY OF AMERICAN WOMEN in the first place.

*Deep breath.*

The formula for reality television has shifted, from representing Real People to casting Aspiring Celebrities, size zeros trying to break into showbiz. And I think it has really ruined reality TV. Look what it did to The Real World. It’s no longer about “seven strangers picked to live in a loft”, it’s about 7 bathing suit models getting loaded and hooking up. I would even argue it messed up Survivor and Big Brother (which kind of sucked to begin with, but still). And even Dancing with the Stars – as it becomes more popular, the contestants are less amateur and more athletic, and the ones that ARE amateur are just the comic relief for a couple of weeks.

But the folks on More to Love look more like you and me than the folks on The Bachelor, yet their ‘normalcy’ is being highlighted as if it’s not just that. It is being treated almost like, dare I say, a disability - or at least a hinderance - and the big-hearted TV executives are doing some kind of generous charity work for a certain segment of the population who just can’t help themselves. It’s being marketed as if the size of the women on this show isn’t the size of THE MAJORITY OF AMERICAN WOMEN! And therein lies the rub.

I don’t know. I guess somewhere, somebody decided that THE MAJORITY OF AMERICAN WOMEN aspire to be a size zero, too. That they are unhappy in the majority, and would rather watch skinny people win dating shows because that’s who they’d like to be.

Not me. A size 12 is all I ever wanted. I like my curves. I like to fill out my tops. I like to be healthy and energetic. And I get more than a little annoyed at all of the messages out there telling me I should want to be something different.