Glee tackles body image
Season 1, episode 16: Home: Mercedes is confronted with the cheerleading coach’s demand that she lose weight and wear the signature Cheerios short skirts. Despite initial protest, Mercedes attempts to fit the mold by starving herself and ends up fainting in the cafeteria.
Her struggles with self-doubt and a negative body image are not only revealing and honest but offer moments of insight. I appreciated the scene between a crying Mercedes and a pregnant Quinn. Quinn encourages her to be herself, a strong, confident and beautiful young woman. Quinn also poses a question to the viewers: why is it that her own pregnancy has prompted her to treat herself better by eating right and nourishing her body when she was not willing to do it for herself?
Many of the torturous diet and exercise rituals we are willing to endure and often pursue with much gusto in the name of thinness are nothing short of dysfunctional and abusive. Those rituals are accompanied by a tremendous amount of negative self-talk.
You know that self-talk. Disparaging comments you make about yourself as you look in the mirror or grab parts of your body that society thinks could be thinner or more toned (or more ____ , or less____; the list is endless).
One of the powerful and empowering moments of this episode comes not only from Mercedes’ ultimate rejection of the beauty myth and the cult of thinness when she sings Beautiful in front of the whole school but Quinn’s lingering question that urges us to ask ourselves why we don’t treat ourselves better.
Hmmm… I had mixed emotions about this… I mean, here we have a gorgeous, FULL-figured black female getting this “pep” talk from a skinny, white blonde about body image. Also… I brought up to my friend the fact that the dialogue was pretty harsh on her. She’s not just a character… she’s an actress who had to endure this writing of criticism at her. I felt embarrassed for Amber Riley… not “Mercedes.” How many bigger actresses have we seen throughout the years get jokes thrown at them in the script, and end up LOSING a whole bunch of weight or end up with eating disorders? (Eg: Tracy Gold, Sara Rue, etc.) I felt like “Glee” was trying hard to CONVINCE larger women that yes, they really are beautiful despite EVERYTHING they see in the media… almost to a point of OVERcompensating… where there really doesn’t need to be CONVINCING at all (except the entertainment industry and casting agents.) If the producers and casting agents really believed everyone is beautiful despite size, you’d not have the typical MAJORITY teen physical requirements we see in entertainment (the rest of the “Glee” cast.) Besides, does it have to be the opposite extreme? Regardless of size, yes you are beautiful… but I don’t believe in encouraging people to accept how they look if it’s a threat to their health… (out of feeling guilty sub-consciously for accepting and adding to the unrealistic, physical standards of society.) I guess they somewhat addressed this with the “pep” talk of “taking better care of yourself altogether” and asking why you wouldn’t want to treat yourself better to begin with. I dunno… maybe someone can point out something to me that I’m missing… I’m open. I LOVE “Glee…” just seemed like another topic they felt they HAD to address rather than already believing it and BEING the example through choices of casting and the females we’re pressured to idolize in the show.
Comment by Krista — April 28, 2010 @ 6:46 pm
Krista, great points and I agree with most of them. Yes, Mercedes was getting a pep talk from the thin,(pregnant), blond but I got the impression that Quinn was sharing something personal and authentic that she has been subject to as well. Thin, blond cheerleaders have insecurities and feel pressure, too, even if they appear to be the epitome of the normative standard. I’ve led body image workshops where teen girls that fit the mold ended up being the most self-loathing and harsh on themselves. That’s an entirely different matter and could be a post in itself BUT, Glee, right? Right…What I took to be powerful was the question Quinn posed to the audience and not necessarily the pep talk given to Mercedes. I hope I was able to make that clear. Your points are important points to consider when deconstructing the entire episode, the intention behind uncovering this topic etc…all important but I was moved most by that lingering question.
“One of the powerful and empowering moments of this episode comes not only from Mercedes’ ultimate rejection of the beauty myth and the cult of thinness when she sings Beautiful in front of the whole school but Quinn’s lingering question that urges us to ask ourselves why we don’t treat ourselves better.”
Comment by Melanie — April 28, 2010 @ 6:54 pm
do you do workshops in secondary schools? if so please email me details
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Comment by Jason Rucky — February 15, 2011 @ 3:46 am