Anyone that knows me well knows that I am a sucker for the network TLC. I will admit, TLC may be home to some of the strangest reality shows that most people would deem as complete television garbage, but I have accepted that TLC is my guilty pleasure and there’s nothing I can do about it.
TLC is known for airing new shows with controversial subject matter. This season, a new show happened to catch my eye and quickly joined my line up of TLC favorites.
This new show, My Big Fat Fabulous Life, follows the life of 30 year old, Whitney Thore, who became an Internet sensation after a video of her dancing went viral. What is unique about Whitney is that she suffers from Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, which causes her to struggle with severe weight gain.
Whitney had been dancing from a young age and is very talented. Her Youtube video series titled, “A Fat Girl Dancing”, stirred up tremendous audience response and landed her a show on TLC that documents her life as an aspiring professional dancer and just a regular (or fabulous) woman struggling with everyday things like dating and moving back in with her parents.
This struck me as a very interesting premise for a show. It is common for shows that center around obesity to focus solely on the goal of losing weight, like the Biggest Loser. Those shows do not tend to appeal to me. I fell in love with Whitney’s life and story because, while she does strive to stay fit and healthy, she’s not trying to change.
In fact, the show focuses very little on Whitney’s efforts to lose weight, but instead on her path to finding happiness and fulfillment through dance and personal relationships with friends and family.
She’s visibly comfortable with her body and exudes a confidence not shared by even some of the world’s most fit and beautiful women. Whitney preaches the absence of body shame. As someone who does not fit modern society’s mold of “beautiful”, she wants to teach women that breaking that mold doesn’t necessarily mean you have to hate yourself. And, after all, skinny, fat or somewhere in between, that self-hatred seems to be something many women have in common. I could not help but be both entertained and inspired.
I have never personally struggled with severe weight gain, but I can certainly relate to those moments or periods of self-hatred. No matter what we look like, we’re taught by society, culture, media and even the people we interact with that we’re always too much something or too little something.
Unfortunately, there may not be much we can do to change the media, but we tend to be our own toughest critics and there is certainly something we can do about that. Thore explains on her website, “I’m arriving at a place of self-love. Cultural norms, societal pressures, and the whims of the fashion industry do not define my worth as a woman or a human being.
My intelligence, personality, talents and contributions do not fluctuate with the numbers on a scale. I am unwaveringly ME. The same goes for YOU. No matter WHAT you’re struggling with, embrace what you have to offer, love yourself right this minute and start affecting positive change for yourself and others. No excuses. No shame.”
See, reality television is good for something.
Bridget Goedke
Senior Viewpoints Editor