I was checking my normal life blog the other day and saw this.
The first thing you see are the girls in their underwear, followed by the word “Envy.” I guess due to my line of work I expected to see a stalker-type killer standing off to the side. No. Instead I see a fat girl. The fat girl off in the corner in the dark. How cliche. How presumptuous of the “creator” to say that what the girl is feeling is envy? Perhaps it is sorrow or pity.
A few years ago sure, I’d probably have felt envious myself. The setting seems to be a communal bathroom, perhaps in a college residence hall. If I had been walking through the building, probably looking a lot like the fat girl in this picture, and stumbled upon this I would have been a bit jealous. I’d have thought “Look at them, so happy and pretty, having a good time being thin and desirable. If only I looked like that I’d be all happy and smiley too.” This was before I realized the different types of beauty and shugged off the idea that everyone had to conform to the commercialized standard.
Now though, I wouldn’t feel envious of anything but the “sisterhood” the girls are expressing. There really is no way of saying what they were thinking when they took this picture, but no matter the reasoning it shows that they are comfortable in their bodies and in themselves. I’d be (I am) envious of that. ANYONE could feel that though, perhaps even the girl standing off in the dark.
Though I am sure the picture means different things to different people (once you get past the creators attempt to make fun of the fat people), I am reading into it that the girls are falling victim to the “oh we have to be beautiful and thin to be sexy” trap. The girl standing with her hand over her mouth seems to be expressing that innocent “oh noes, you caughtz me in mah underwarez” seductive move you see in the media. While it is great that they feel sexy, confident, comfortable, desirable – all those nice and fuzzy feelings – I’d just hate to think it is because they are subscribing to the idea that they have what it takes and the girl in the dark doesn’t. Same goes for her – and I wish I could hug her and make sure she realizes her worth isn’t damaged by her physical appearance…or the jerks that feel she should be envious of other, thinner people.
