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Blog - Amplify your voice

by: Jill
Friday, November 6, 2009 at 4:34:00 PM EST
Rating:

Somewhere in the back of my mind I’ve always wondered what would happen if a male politician was attacked for his appearance, thus experiencing the kind of “politics” that many female representatives deal with on a daily basis. (See: Hillary Clinton’s wardrobe choices, “cankles,” hairstyle, and so on, just to give one example.) This wondering meant I was not as surprised as many were when the Corzine Ads started to run in my home state of NJ, warning us that Candidate Chris Christie likes to “throw his weight around.” What did surprise me, however, was just how much attention & outrage this snide little attack caused.

[View a clip here, from a segment on this issue that Good Morning America did.]

I had expected, maybe, a counter ad; maybe an editorial talking about dirty politics and sticking to the issues… what I hadn’t expected was for the news networks to call Chris Christie on and address this issue directly and call Corzine out for his fat-shaming. “Can you believe that you were being attacked, in a race for governor in the Garden State, on the basis of your weight?” An anchor on MSNBC actually said this to Chris Christie, and let him respond. Without any discussion about how obesity is a “disease” and “dangerous” and “maybe it should be a factor in the electorate’s decision –making process.” None of that… just honest outrage on behalf of this man. What the hell? No, seriously, what the hell.



Where is this enlightened conversation when a woman running for office is being picked apart based on appearance?

I began to wonder: if a similar attack were levied upon a woman, what would the response be like? Soon, I realized, I already knew the answer. Rewind just a few months: does the name Regina Benjamin ring a bell? When Regina was appointed to the position of Attorney General by President Barack Obama, plenty of comments were made about her weight. Unlike Corzine’s comments, these remarks were made openly – there were no double entendres, people simply flat out said that they felt her weight would stop her from properly doing a job. Unlike Corzine’s comments, the news networks were actually supporting this argument and questioning this woman, who had amazing credentials, simply because of the way she looked.
If this doesn’t illustrate the severe double-standard we have when it comes to the bodies of men, and the bodies of women I don’t know what does. When a male body is attacked the attacker is petty; when a female body is attacked, generally, that attack is either (1) ignored by the mass media or (2) validated as a legitimate argument. It’s interesting to note, for instance, that in the GMA clip I referenced at the beginning of this blog: the issue of weight being used as a political tool is referenced through several examples; all of these examples? Involved men. This is not for lack of examples of weight being used as an attack on an ambitious woman, but rather, I would argue that this is due to a serious apathy about the way women in power are degraded based on their bodies

I want to say I’m surprised but, to be honest, I’m not because these examples just feed right into the values that American society seems to hold. Men are valued for their ability, their ideas, and their physique; while women are valued for their looks first and then, maybe, for their ideals.

You may take something else away from all of this but, when I look at it, what I see is a society that views attacks on men’s weight as ad-hominem, while considering the same attacks on women both valid and relevant, regardless of what that woman has set out to achieve. Coupled with the fact that our next governor, Chris Christie, plans to veto any bill proposing Equal Marriage and also supports limiting women’s reproductive rights… let’s just say this election has given us a lot of reasons to be pretty mad.

Comments
I beg to differ with Mr. Christie when he says that he does not see how his corpulence is relevant to his being governor. His failure to successfully control what is a discretionary personal health issue speaks mightily about his willpower, discipline, and self-control. I fail to see why making an issue of Mr. Christie's weight is any more offensive than making an issue of Mr. Corzine's lying to the electorate. Both types of behavior are purely of the candidate's choosing; and both charges may be objectively checked for accuracy. As such, they serve to help the voter decide whether the candidate has what it takes to govern New Jersey. So I think people should really choose someone who really deserved the position or if no one deserve it, then choose the less evil among them. I think you don’t need any cash advances just to find it out.
# Posted By EmmettI | 11/7/09 12:25 AM | Report | Reply
While I hesitiate to defend Christie in any way, as I think he is going to make an AWFUL governor, I have to disagree with you. Your comment assumes that a person's weight is something that they have 100% control over and that assumption, while one that is often made, is woefully wrong.

Genetics plays a big, uncontrollable, role in weight. So do certain illnesses. Basically, everyone's body has a certain "set point" that changes over the course of that person's life as their metabolism slows and other physical changes occur. Yes, deiting is possible but countless studies have shown that diets are, on a whole, inaffective with over 95% of study participants gaining ALL of the weight back within four years.

If Christie's health habits were brought into question, I could understand that being a criticism- but you CANNOT ascertain anything about how a person eats, exercises, and so on just by looking at him or her; and to assume that you can is just plain ignorant.

# Posted By Jill | 11/8/09 01:03 PM | Report | Reply
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