Friday, December 4, 2009

Fat Man on the Field

Fat panic effects every race, creed, color, religion and gender. But the general consensus is that it's just the whining complaints of women, primarily on the internet, who 'just don't want to lose weight'. Who's leading this consensus? Usually men. Not necessarily on the internet but those that are, rigorously carry the banner for the 'courageous speakers of the truth' who showcase their disdain and outright hatred IRL. Why? Because, classically, men aren't subject to the same kind of physical scrutiny. Or, at least, people feel less free to publicly comment on the state of mens bodies. The Obesity Epipanic is changing all this as it's changing mens own attitudes about their bodies.

We've long enjoyed the freedom to be, look, or act any way we wanted to (With the exception of appearing 'too feminine'. Hooray homophobia. Not) but that is changing. Traditionally for us guys, being fat has been just another possible aspect of being male and, patently, nobody else's business. Now, male or female, it's everybody's.

Case in Point? The NFL.   

Several diet companies are specifically targeting men through big name  / big pay endorsements with prominent sports figures. Of course. As a virtually untapped market, we represent a massive pool of new business that the diet industry is drooling to get their teeth into. And with the 40 - 60 million dollars earned in previous markets (Women / young girls), paying those big names almost anything they ask for is little more than an investment in future business. If they can succeed in replicating the body insecurities that drive the current, almost overexploited, income pool (again; women / young girls) then this Brand New Market could break wide open. The Diet Industry could double, or possibly triple, the profits they currently enjoy. Nothing but Net. And it's working.

Imagine an NFL coach, ANY NFL coach, being pressured into going on a diet. In the past, any questions asked of a hard-core NFL Coach about his own weight would have been met with, out-of-hand dismissals and more likely than not, referrals to more important matters. Like, yah know, which players are starting and game strategy.            

Well, these days we can only hope that Rex Ryan of the NY Jets doesn't seriously damage his health trying to stave off the commentary on something that's got nothing to do with his abilities as a coach. But such is the state of the world that it should be necessary to use dangerous methods to change ones self in order to satisfy some nebulous ideal of what we 'should' look like. Don't let the arguments of 'Health' distract you. It isn't, and never was about 'health'. If it was, carny freak show style torturetainment like 'The Biggest Loser', wouldn't even exist.

Muzak Therapy:
SoundGarden / Mailman

2 comments:

  1. Love your blog description ...

    And yeah, it's irritating to see men falling into the same trap women have been in for a long time.

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  2. Thank you ; )

    Unfortunately, the diet industry has got nowhere else to go. Or maybe fortunately, depending on your POV. I think I heard somewhere that the Diet Industrial Complex, for lack of a less accurate title, is starting to lose business. That would be kind of nice. To think that people might actually be starting to get the grift.

    There are 10's of thousands of diets out there and practically every MONTH brings us new and 'improved' ones. If any ONE of them actually worked reliably, I think we would've known about it by now but. . . People still buy. It's one of the biggest, most successful, con jobs in the world. But if people ARE starting to wise up, it's all for the better.

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