Eating Disorders, Lemon-Juice Cleanses and...Singing?
I realize this isn't an entertainment community, but I must do a little recap of last night's episode of Glee, as it delved into some serious eating issues and really made me think.
Though she's resistant at first, Mercedes becomes determined to maintain her newfound social status as a Cheerio. In her quest to shed the pounds, she gets lots of advice.
Mercedes chooses a healthy lunch with grilled chicken and steamed veggies, but Kurt says it's not enough, "Look at what I'm eating: peeled celery. And for breakfast I had Splenda."
She then asks her fellow Cheerios, Brittany and Santana how they stay so thin, "Sue Sylvester's master cleanse!" they reply. When Mercedes questions the the health risks, Santana fires back with "Who cares, you can either feel terrible and look great, or get kicked off the team."
Sue Sylvester's Master Cleanse
Water
Maple Syrup "for glucose"
Lemon Juice "for acid"
Cayenne Pepper "to irritate the bowels"
Ipecac "to induce vomiting"
The next day, Mercedes is grouchy and hungry. When her friends try to snap her out of it, she yells at them and starts hallucinating that they are food. Tina turns into a giant ice cream cone, while Artie morphs into a slice of cake. Mercedes leaps up to storm away, but passes out instead.
Luckily, a healthy body image prevails at the end of this episode. Mercedes performs "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera in front of the entire student body, backed up by no other than the rest of the Cheerios.
To be fair, Mercedes would definietly be considered clinically overweight, if not obese. But the alarming amount of un-safe and flat out crazy dieting techniques reccomended to her are seriously alarming. It makes me wonder if we'll ever find blanace as a culture.
This country needs help with food, there are way too many perople suffering from the health problems related to being overweight and obese. But on the other hand, we also worship thinness, and there's probably just as many people doing unhealthy things to acheive that as well. How do we fix this and find somewhere healthy in the middle?
Though she's resistant at first, Mercedes becomes determined to maintain her newfound social status as a Cheerio. In her quest to shed the pounds, she gets lots of advice.
Mercedes chooses a healthy lunch with grilled chicken and steamed veggies, but Kurt says it's not enough, "Look at what I'm eating: peeled celery. And for breakfast I had Splenda."
She then asks her fellow Cheerios, Brittany and Santana how they stay so thin, "Sue Sylvester's master cleanse!" they reply. When Mercedes questions the the health risks, Santana fires back with "Who cares, you can either feel terrible and look great, or get kicked off the team."
Sue Sylvester's Master Cleanse
Water
Maple Syrup "for glucose"
Lemon Juice "for acid"
Cayenne Pepper "to irritate the bowels"
Ipecac "to induce vomiting"
The next day, Mercedes is grouchy and hungry. When her friends try to snap her out of it, she yells at them and starts hallucinating that they are food. Tina turns into a giant ice cream cone, while Artie morphs into a slice of cake. Mercedes leaps up to storm away, but passes out instead.
Luckily, a healthy body image prevails at the end of this episode. Mercedes performs "Beautiful" by Christina Aguilera in front of the entire student body, backed up by no other than the rest of the Cheerios.
To be fair, Mercedes would definietly be considered clinically overweight, if not obese. But the alarming amount of un-safe and flat out crazy dieting techniques reccomended to her are seriously alarming. It makes me wonder if we'll ever find blanace as a culture.
This country needs help with food, there are way too many perople suffering from the health problems related to being overweight and obese. But on the other hand, we also worship thinness, and there's probably just as many people doing unhealthy things to acheive that as well. How do we fix this and find somewhere healthy in the middle?
Comment
-
Comment by Caitlin Losey on April 30, 2010 at 11:39am -
Jacob you're so right. I feel that way about a lot of things -- that is has to be all or nothing.
For example, I'm currently trying to change my life-long picky-eating habits and make healthier choices (I tend not to like all things green), but I still drink a soda every night -- it's a treat. I know it's not good for me, but do I have to be 100% "healthy" to continue my quest to become healthier tha I am now? I think the answer is no, and I can internalize that pretty well, but when people call me out, I get really frustrated.
-
Comment by Lizanne Hennessey on April 30, 2010 at 9:16am
-
Yes, the realistic grey area in which we ALL exist at the end of the day just doesn't seem to cut it anymore, does it? I can get SO frustrated by this kind of thing too. When Kate Moss said 'Nothing tastes as good as thin feels', I was so mad, I wrote an angry letter just to get it off my chest. Coming from someone like her, it's just a slap in the face.
-
Comment by Jacob Spencer on April 29, 2010 at 5:46pm -
I have to agree, and thought many of the same things as you did while watching Glee. It was also confusing to me when Quinn, now pregnant, danced around her food issues - which apparently went away when she found out she was with child.
I think a lot of it has to do with the "all or nothing" mentality in this country. When asked about my vegan diet, people often don't understand the concept of a gradual change. Either you are 100% there or shouldn't try. Thin or fat. Rich or poor. Smart or stupid. What happened to the middle ground? Will we ever find it again?
Weekly All-Star Members
© 2012 Created by Whole Living.
You need to be a member of Whole Living Community to add comments!
Join Whole Living Community