In the classic book The Sneetches, Dr. Seuss tells a story about biases and the desire to fit in. The star-bellied Sneetches look down upon the non-star-bellied Sneetches. “With their snoots in the air, they would sniff and they’d snort ‘We’ll have nothing to do with the plain belly sort!’” With the invention of a star on and star off machine, a cunning entrepreneur capitalizes on the Sneetches desire to fit in (and later to stand out) by adding stars to the bellies of the Sneetches without stars. Seuss’ book is a reminder that most people prefer to blend with the herd as opposed to stand out in an effort to avoid the critical eye of others. Every day judgments are made based on people’s preferences, skin tones, educational level, sex,
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Movies, television, magazines, catwalks and beauty pageants have dictated what is deemed beautiful. Johnson is far from the vision of beauty and grace we see in the Victoria Secret fashion shows. In Johnson’s words, “It’s not that I’m ugly. It’s more that most people don’t know how to look at me.” This is no surprise, given that supermodels generally walk down the catwalk instead of ride down in a wheelchair. Just as Johnson did not meet the standards set by the media obsessed population, neither did Lindy West. Ms. West tells her readers, “I don’t want the people who love me to avoid the reality of my body. I don’t want them to feel uncomfortable with its size and shape.” Psychology Today published an article in 1997 (and then reviewed in 2017) which discussed the findings of a body image survey built to assess the trajectory of the national benchmark surveys of 1972 and 1985. It is a battle most women, and some men are fighting. According to the survey, 89 percent of women and 22 percent of men are dissatisfied with their bodies. There continues to be a strong correlation between body image and happiness. Johnson and West are aware of the clear distinctions between their appearance and the cultural definition of a beautiful woman. Because of the above statistics, they were likely not immune from issues related to body issues. Beyond just the obvious outwardly signs of their differences, there are other hurdles they had to
Movies, television, magazines, catwalks and beauty pageants have dictated what is deemed beautiful. Johnson is far from the vision of beauty and grace we see in the Victoria Secret fashion shows. In Johnson’s words, “It’s not that I’m ugly. It’s more that most people don’t know how to look at me.” This is no surprise, given that supermodels generally walk down the catwalk instead of ride down in a wheelchair. Just as Johnson did not meet the standards set by the media obsessed population, neither did Lindy West. Ms. West tells her readers, “I don’t want the people who love me to avoid the reality of my body. I don’t want them to feel uncomfortable with its size and shape.” Psychology Today published an article in 1997 (and then reviewed in 2017) which discussed the findings of a body image survey built to assess the trajectory of the national benchmark surveys of 1972 and 1985. It is a battle most women, and some men are fighting. According to the survey, 89 percent of women and 22 percent of men are dissatisfied with their bodies. There continues to be a strong correlation between body image and happiness. Johnson and West are aware of the clear distinctions between their appearance and the cultural definition of a beautiful woman. Because of the above statistics, they were likely not immune from issues related to body issues. Beyond just the obvious outwardly signs of their differences, there are other hurdles they had to