Supplemental Response #3: Julia

I have been thinking a lot about weight loss themed reality TV shows. I am currently reading Roxanne Gay's recent memoir "Hunger" in which she narrates her life's story through the lens of her body as an obese woman. There is a whole chapter in the book centered on shows like The Biggest Loser, Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition, and My 600lbs Life. Gay discusses the way in which our society is obsessed with watching overweight and obese bodies physically repent and atone for the "sin" of being fat. 

Similarly, the question of weight loss and toxic standards of bodily health have seeped into every form of reality TV. Whether it's featured on Oprah with her many promotions of Weight Watches or scenes of her physically lugging the equivalent of the weight she lost in a garden trolley full of animal fat on air, or whether it's on shows like Gordon Ramsey's Hell's Kitchen where the acclaimed British chef uses any opportunity for frustration to belittle a contestant due to their weight. 

As a child I remember watching a lot of MTV reality shows, including ones like Next and Made. On Next, my heart always twinged when one of the female candidates who was over a size 6 would step out of the  bus, only to be told by the male contestant waiting for her to get right back inside. The mere view of her body was apparently enough to completely dismiss her, with the idea of fatness as a comedic punchline for the editors to land on. On Made, despite the show boasting the premise of helping a contestant achieve their dreams, this notion of success was almost always linked to having to lose weight first. It was unthinkable to make someone succeed at a sport, become a musician, or even be deemed "dateable" without first focusing on the weight loss apparently necessary to achieve your goals. 

The 2000's in particular were notoriously harmful in their depictions of weight loss and body shaming. I think this is one of the ways in which reality TV really become associated with its problematic aspects. While it seems current media and TV is a bit less focused on this issue, TV still undeniably struggles to break out of the constraints of thinness.