Return-Path: <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id h0V00QP05590; Thu, 30 Jan 2003 19:00:27 -0500 (EST) Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 19:00:27 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <37964640587FD31195CA00105A1C4BB7973507@NTSERVER0> Errors-To: alcrsb@langate.gsu.edu Reply-To: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: SAM MCGRAW III <Samm@seattlegoodwill.org> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:2459] RE: weight as an issue X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Type: text/plain; X-Mailer: Internet Mail Service (5.5.2653.19) Status: O Content-Length: 3515 Lines: 87 My two announces, It has been my experience that in all communities in the US that "thin" is better than "fat" and that discrimination fallows those lines; In the African American community - women do not have to be thin but they do have to be shapely - in other words "a well proportioned hour-glass body" is the ticket. I'm concerned that many literacy students buy into things which give them perceived "status" - such as being thin - and there-by spend precocious dollars and risking health doing it; And I go to the gym four times a week for health and to look thinner - so where does that leave it?????? Samuel McGraw Instructor & Librarian Adult Basic Education Programs Seattle Goodwill 1400 South Lane Street Seattle, Washington 98144-2889 Dl: 206 - 860 - 5789 Tl: 206 - 860 - 5791 Fx: 206 - 325 - 9845 samm@seattlegoodwill.org www.seattlegoodwill.org www.soundwavesseattle.org Operating in partnership with the communities of the North Central Puget Sound, Seattle Goodwill provides quality, effective employment training and basic education to individuals experiencing significant barriers to economic opportunity. Together, we change lives! -----Original Message----- From: Sylvan Rainwater [mailto:sylvan@cccchs.org] Sent: Tuesday, January 21, 2003 11:32 AM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:2451] RE: weight as an issue At 08:14 AM 01/17/2003 -0500, Daphne Greenberg wrote: >Jody has mentioned that "weight is the last acceptable form of >discrimination". Do people see any signs that this is beginning to change? I would argue that there is *any* "last acceptable form of discrimination." In fact, all forms of discrimination are alive and well. There may be more people disapproving of them, but they are still out there, still operating in all sorts of ways. That said, I would say that the issues of weight/height and food/eating/health are complex. There are ways in which eating contributes to weight gain, but also ways in which people are born with their body types, and no amount of dieting (either more food or less food) will change that appreciably. Comments about eating candy making one fat are reflecting, maybe, a feeling that we are surrounded with excess food, and pushers urging us to eat more and more. We have a surplus of food in this country, and it's difficult not to eat what is in front of us. Yet, we know that what we are eating is often not good for us, or healthy to be eating, regardless of our weight. The fact that fat is stigmatized in this society at the same time we are all urged to eat more, and more unhealthy food, is one of those dilemmas that is not altogether understood, and not talked about in any clear way. In addition, as pointed out, poor people end up buying more unhealthy food because they can get more of it for less money and stretch their dollars out more, so there is also an economic factor to the whole thing. I think the whole thing would make an interesting classroom discussion, but in your case having it come up at the end of the term made it difficult. It may be useful to fold it in to discussions around nutrition, food, etc., if you have such topics in your curriculum. And of course, now you can include it in your list of diversities to be honored. -------------------------------------------------------------- Sylvan Rainwater . mailto:sylvan@cccchs.org . Family Literacy Coordinator Clackamas County Children's Commission / Head Start Oregon City, OR USA
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