Will Power
Last week I mentioned that Disney had put up an exhibit at Epcot about the evils of being fat. As soon as the negative press hit, the exhibit went down for retooling. In the meantime please email TWDC.Corp.Communications@disney.com. Let them know that you were offended by the exhibit, glad to hear they took it down and whatever suggestions you might have when or if they bring it back.
My biggest issue has least to do with the villains (I actually like the Snacker. She can use her spatula wand to make food therefore solving hunger). Maybe they are villains because they are tired of people picking on them. My biggest issue has to do with the hero Will Power. It puts forth the old assumption that fat people are fat because we lack will power, that we are either stupid or lazy for being unable to stick to their diet. Something that simply isn't true. Most fat people have done things with their lives that require will power and discipline. Fat Studies is an academic field that has people from all types of professional backgrounds including people who have advanced degrees. How do you think they got this far? Does the snacker also have a wand that grants degrees? No, we all worked hard for it (I have two master's degree, when I did my thesis for my second one, I had to forfeit weekends for three months). So to say fat people don't have will power is a misnomer. We have plenty of will power. What we don't have are bodies meant to be thin and all the willpower in the world won't change that.
When it comes to will power you may find that fat and thin people are willing to change bad habits without pressure or stigma. (I personally changed more bad habits since I stopped dieting then when I was in my 17 year dieting/binging cycle).
And I can't end a blog post without an update from CHOA. Over at Fierce Free-Thinking Fatties (Oh btw, keeping this blog up while working a 9-5 job, being active, having a social life, writing and research takes a lot of will power. Other bloggers write long wonderful masterpieces that I only wish I had the discipline to do) reports that CHOA's billboard campaign will be ending sometime in March. They claim that it has nothing do with the pressure from about everyone.
I would like to share in the jubilation of the announcement, but I'm still not satisfied with the response. Strong4Life is trying to save face by saying that they had planned all along to end the campaign in March (you would think that if this were the case, they would have made this clear up front so that all the concerned parties would know what kind of timeline they had).
Personally, I think this is a slap in the face.
After being called out by, among others, the National Institutes of Health and Jillian Michaels, S4L has essentially said, "Don't get your panties in a wad, we were leaving anyway."
it was part 1 the billboard phase was supposed to end in March and they did not bow to pressure. I'm wondering what Phase 2 will be, perhaps the encouragement of teasing at school, fat camps for all, or mandatory dieting?
