In Honour of the New Look!

So yeah, I dig the ability to customize things. I might mess with the layout a bit as well, but it's perdy, so there.

Ok, so fitting with the new look of the blog, I think now is a good time to talk about the new Sara Rue Jenny Craig commercial. I tried to find a YouTube vid of it, but had no luck. Basically, the commercial starts out talking about how it's not normal to not have pants that fit properly, or to refuse to leave the house because she "doesn't feel comfortable in her own skin". She's close to tears, and it's really kind of upsetting. Then the camera cuts away and there's skinny new Sara Rue! She's skinny now, and wearing skinny jeans! It's all because of Jenny Craig and she wants to thank them for putting a smile back on her face, and also she thinks it would be a good idea if you gave Jenny Craig some money.



Now, it's not that I'm not happy to see Sara Rue happy. I'm glad that she feels more comfortable with herself and that she's smiling again. I like smiling! And I can't imagine what it's like to literally have days where you refuse to go outside because you just straight up don't like yourself.

BUT! I don't think that the problems that Sara Rue had have really been solved. At least not from the information we get in this commercial. Sure, she can wear skinny jeans now. But all those emotions about not liking yourself? Does losing thirty pounds really solve that? Really really? And even if you do suddenly like yourself now because there's less of you, does it really make you feel good to know that the only reason you like going outside now is so that people can see how cute your butt is in your jeans?

Now, I don't want to sound like I'm opposed to people losing weight. Seriously, she's happy now and that's good! But there are all kinds of underlying issues that accompany being plus-sized, heavy, fat, whatever you want to call it, and feeling happier when you lose that weight. Issues like absorbing the messages that your worth as a person is determined by how you look, and that attractiveness to men is the specific deciding factor in how you should feel about yourself. This is troubling to me.