This is a hard post to write on many levels. The girl in this picture is my daughter, and she thinks she is too fat. She is 7 years old and is not fat in any conceivable way. One of our family jokes is, "(Insert any color here) is the new black". She recently said to me, "Thin is the new black". And she wasn’t kidding.
It’s not just her, either. Ginger’s daughter is going through the same thing:
This morning, she and I had an argument about what she was going to
wear to school. She wanted to wear jeans with a big, loose, long
t-shirt (which is actually her dad’s shirt). I told her that she would
absolutely not wear such a sloppy outfit to school, especially when she
has a closet full of nice clothes to wear. She started crying when I
picked out another shirt for her to wear with her jeans.Crying because she said the shorter shirt showed how fat her thighs are.
I know Ginger and her daughter personally, and her daughter is just as thin, if not thinner than my own daughter. Why are they obsessing so much about their weight? Could it be because of things like this? The media shoving thinness down our throats constantly is certainly a factor.
I worry that my own attitude about food and weight has affected my daughter. My constant dieting. My constant trying to lose more weight. Does it affect her? Of course it does. I have no answers. I wish I did.
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I go through the exact same thing with my 10 year old daughter. It makes me crazy. I worry so much about this and her perception of herself. I welcome advice on how to deal with it.
Posted by: kathylynn | November 19th, 2007 6:34 pm |
OK, WTF is up with that photo of Angie Harmon? She looks like an alien. Seriously, she has had some retouch…of course "we" all know that, but do our daughters?
My daughter is 5 1/2 and I dread the day she asks me if she is "fat."
Posted by: Jamie | November 19th, 2007 7:00 pm |
oh man…what are we going to do with our girls? They are both SO beautiful…
Posted by: Ginger | November 19th, 2007 7:32 pm |
This photo really raised the hair on the back of my neck. Angie Harmon looks anorexic, which is no surprise for a Hollywood actress. I can understand her being on the cover of Cosmo or similar showing off her skin and bones look, but Shape? Come on. I am outraged. A few years back I subscribed to this magazine and was keenly aware of the diminishing muscle tone and frequent appearance of bones on cover models. All I can think of are these poor babies growing up. They don't have a chance. Especially if a magazine that is touting health and fitness tips and inspiration is applauding their newest covergirl sporting anorexic-type lack of curves. I encourage any outraged mothers (or anyone for that matter) to write a letter to the editor. While that sounds like the angry freak that actually takes time to get a piece of paper and write a real letter, it's one voice heard. You will never know how loud your voice is unless you actually use it. I had no idea little girls of seven were now comparing themselves to models, etc. That is first/second grade! I am a former first grade teacher and would have been horrified to realize any of my sweeties thought that about themselves. Oh, what is happening? I'm off to write my letter–I have a one year old and can't stand to think of her dealing with these issues at so young an age.
Posted by: heather h | November 20th, 2007 11:06 pm |