The fact that some women have begun to internalize these types of characters and exaggerate our behaviors and experiences to prove how real and funny and lovable or desirable and cool (if you're going for the "guy's fantasy" version) we are is in some ways an excellent indicator that these repetitive characters do indeed have an impact.

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I mean, I've never thought it was unrealistic of Liz Lemon to eat the way she does. Living in New York is kind of exercise on its own. You burn calories one way or another here.

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Because THAT IS NOT THE POINT.

No, it's NOT.

Yes, some people can eat a lot and stay slender, but it's not ABOUT the metabolism. It isn't ABOUT whether your meemaw ate nothing but ten gallons of Crisco every day for 8349 years and still stayed size negative ciabatta maelstrom until her dying day. It's about the fact that these images are being used unwittingly in pop culture to feed our very weird and sometimes destructive attitudes toward food. It's glorifying something that is, for the vast majority of women, unrealistic. It's perpetuating a double standard--a woman should eat "like a man", but heaven forbid she eats too many calories!

It's NOT ABOUT our individual metabolisms or whether or not posters are larger or smaller after eating more or less. It's about a societal perception. It's about a weird double standard that perpetuates disordered eating. It makes women feel uncomfortable when they dare to eat in public and when they dare not to. It's about how we can't fucking win unless we challenge these misconceptions and encourage each other to respect our bodies' needs.

The point is not your goddamn jeans size and how much you eat. The point is not about whether you can confirm that the "skinny glutton" is totally a thing. The point is that here is another example about ways that society has, yet again, managed to make women feel shitty because they haven't reached an unattainable standard. The point is, how can we discuss these things intelligently so we don't HAVE to have these damaging attitudes, so we don't have to feel uncomfortable eating in public, so we don't have to feel like that slice of pizza is "sinful."

Finding out how skinny you are doesn't help us here. How much you eat doesn't help us here. We are all individuals with different metabolisms. We are all different. We are all subjected to weird social pressures that make some of us develop unhealthy attitudes toward food. THAT'S THE POINT HERE. Not your jeans size.

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/end bitter, bitter passive aggresive mini-rant

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Regardless, I do love her attitude that it is OKAY to eat a little piece of good chocolate before you go to bed, though I wonder how that affects one's tooth brushing schedule...

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