Negative
body image, via merchandise and marketing, strikes again.
The Wry Baby, an apparel company, has
sparked controversy for selling onesies which read "I Hate My
Thighs."
Cue toxic body image before females even get out of
diapers!
I know, I know, the intent was not to hurt or offend;
it’s about being funny, cute and whimsical.
What’s the harm, right?
·
50% of girls
between the ages of 11 and 13 see themselves as overweight.
·
According to Time
magazine, 80% of all children have been on a diet by the time they've reached
fourth grade.
·
10% report onset
at ten years or younger.
http://www.mirasol.net/eating-disorders/information/eating-disorder-statistics.php
“For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he...”
Proverbs 23:7
It is
difficult enough being female in a world which is largely hostile to the
gender. Cultural and image expectations enforce many a harmful, unrealistic and
rejecting message. Unless and until a female embodies a thin, aesthetically
appealing and societally acceptable standard, she is deemed ugly, worthless,
undesirable and irrelevant.
I guess we
need to start teaching females this lesson while they wear baby clothes.
This stuff
makes my blood boil. Disordered eating and image issues abound and continue to
cripple. We don’t need any more gasoline added to the fire.
“...eating disorders
have the highest mortality rate of any mental disorder... there is a large
variance in the reported number of deaths caused by eating disorders... because
those who suffer from an eating disorder may ultimately die of heart failure,
organ failure, malnutrition or suicide. Often, the medical complications of
death are reported instead of the eating disorder that compromised a
person’s health.
According to a study done by colleagues at the American Journal
of Psychiatry (2009), crude mortality rates were:
• 4% for anorexia nervosa
• 3.9% for bulimia nervosa
• 5.2% for eating disorder not otherwise specified
Crow, S.J., Peterson, C.B., Swanson, S.A., Raymond, N.C.,
Specker, S., Eckert, E.D., Mitchell, J.E. (2009) Increased mortality in bulimia
nervosa and other eating disorders. American Journal of Psychiatry 166, 1342-1346
http://www.anad.org/get-information/about-eating-disorders/eating-disorders-statistics/
“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of
it are the issues of life.”
Proverbs 4:23
Because of
the controversy, Wry Baby did, in fact, remove the
controversial onesie from its available apparel selection.
Problem solved? Not exactly.
For its replacement was a onesie which states,
"Love for My Legrolls."
Wry Baby let shoppers vote on the item’s existence.
I’m not sure what is more troubling: the voting
option the company gave to it consumers or the voters’ consensus on yet another
negative body image message, focused on the female gender, in the name of cute
and clever marketing.
We are all too quick to underestimate and dismiss
very real danger concerning image messages. Yet, how often do these messages become
entrenched in psyches, driving life-threatening mindsets and behaviors.
Disordered eating and image issues kill.
Again...
“...those who suffer from an eating
disorder may ultimately die of heart failure, organ failure, malnutrition or
suicide.”
If anyone printed a baby’s
onesie which stated these realities on it, we wouldn’t think it was quite so
adorable or clever, now would we?
Yet a road to deadly
disorder starts somewhere.
We can argue about
having no sense of humor; we can state how we shouldn’t take ourselves so
seriously. It’s only an article of clothing.
Or is it... a
stumbling block?
“Let us not therefore judge one another anymore: but judge
this rather, that no man put a stumbling block or an occasion to fall in his
brother's way.”
Romans 14:13
“…make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or
obstacle in the way of a brother or sister.”
Romans 14:13
“But take heed lest by any means this liberty of yours become
a stumbling block to them that are weak.”
1 Corinthians 8:9
Can any one of us
say, with one hundred percent certainty, such clothes as these- such messages
as these- are completely harmless?
I didn’t think so.
Look, words are
powerful; scripture confirms it.
“Death and life are in the power of
the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.”
Proverbs 18:21
Life confirms it.
And yes, sadly, death
confirms it.
I understand the
concepts of sales and marketing, of whimsy and of humor.
But this is not the
appropriate context for that. A female’s body, of any age, type or size is not
the avenue to express harmful messages.
However, if we make it so, we are exalting this expression as more important than
the reality and the power of God.
“Casting down
imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge
of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”
2 Corinthians 10:5
And, of course, we
exalt our harmful manmade form over our Divinely- created image.
“And God said, ‘Let us make man in
our image, after our likeness...’ So God created man in his own image, in the
image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
Genesis 1:26-27
"I Hate My Thighs."
Last time I
checked, I don’t think God created or expressed these sentiments.
So, come on,
let’s view the quip for what it is: “...a stumbling block... to fall in his
brother's way.”
And no one-
certainly not babies- should ever
wear that!
Copyright © 2020 by Sheryle Cruse
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