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Critics Have Mixed Feelings About More To Love, Overweight Women
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JonathanRutilus
07/28/09

In reply to Critics Have Mixed Feelings About More To Love, Overweight Women
I am watching this show as we speak, and after reading the various posts here on it and watching some of the episode, I have a couple of different thoughts on it.

1. These women are fucking gorgeous. They look so amazing, and it's awful that they have been made to feel that THIS is their last chance at love.

2. I don't understand all of this press that Luke is a "nice guy." He seems so unbelievably smarmy to me! I'm sure every 'host' on dating reality shows are--I haven't watched enough to know--but the fact that he is being marketed as a nice, accepting, considerate guy is very creepy. He clearly knows exactly what to say to get people that are already self-conscious to feel like they're special, and it seems obvious to me that in his head the whole time he's thinking "I'm going to fuck so many of these women." Everyone is saying he's sweet and kind but to me he just seems like a player.

3. It's awful that this is how "overweight" women are being portrayed. They are all so needy and every scrap of a compliment he gives them makes them flip out and instantly fall in love. I find it hard to believe that this is what 'real' people are like!!! I know that some must be, and that it must be horrible growing up in a society where you constantly feel like you're inadequate and passed over, but still! There are many many people who look different than what is usually shown on t.v. who are really successful and really happy and really in love.

Am I the only one who thinks Luke seems slimy and calculating?

P.S. First post after much reading, hooray!
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Rooo sez BISH PLZ
07/28/09

@JonathanRutilus: No. No, you are not.

(Do be prepared for a shoutdown, though, b/c I have a creeping feeling we are very much in the minority.)
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ab33
07/28/09

In reply to Critics Have Mixed Feelings About More To Love, Overweight Women
I watched the first five minutes just to see what it was like, and when they introduce the women (you know how they usually write their hometowns and jobs at the bottom of the screen?), they also gave their height and weight. Jeez, I didn't expect much from Fox but I thought that was just low.
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Rooo sez BISH PLZ
07/28/09

@ab33: This. As much as women are pilloried and shamed in our culture for weighing more than 50 pounds and eating anything more than air flavored with self-sacrifice, yeah.

That was just ... nausea-inducing.
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Edited by Rooo sez BISH PLZ at 07/28/09 11:28 PM Rooo sez BISH PLZ was starred

cletar
07/29/09

@ab33: I was appalled by that, too.
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My_Latest_Incarnation
07/28/09

In reply to Critics Have Mixed Feelings About More To Love, Overweight Women
I'm surprised they didn't just call it "The Bachelor: Fat Edition". They are that classy.
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lilyc
07/28/09

In reply to Critics Have Mixed Feelings About More To Love, Overweight Women
I just wanted to say how much I admire the commenters on weight-related posts here on Jezebel.

I'm overweight and normally steel myself for the vitriolic comment sections of most weight-centric articles. Why I read them, I don't know - people can be so cruel (like with the Salon article). Jezebel is the ONLY site I've ever read where the reader comments on these articles don't make me feel like everyone hates fat people. You all are the best. Thank you.
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la.donna.pietra promoted this comment Edited by lilyc at 07/28/09 8:15 PM lilyc was starred lilyc was unstarred

la.donna.pietra
07/28/09

@lilyc: I stopped reading Salon years ago because of the comments. Their commenters seem hell-bent on making all women feel miserable (and a good chunk of the men, too).

You are definitely in good company 'round these parts :)
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CinemaFat
07/29/09

@la.donna.pietra: If you think Jezebel's great in this department, you should check out kateharding.net
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Rooo sez BISH PLZ
07/28/09

In reply to Critics Have Mixed Feelings About More To Love, Overweight Women
"But there's also plenty of grist here for those who are genuinely sensitive to the plentiful problems of the porker"

Which is so obviously you, WaPo.
NOT.

What have they put in the water over there these past few weeks?
Between this, and the President's dad-jeans kerfuffle, and "Don't wear suits to your Congressional confirmation hearings, Justice Sotomayor ..."

*gentle but repeated headdesk*
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Helennellieforsythe
07/28/09

In reply to Critics Have Mixed Feelings About More To Love, Overweight Women
Fun Fact- a friend who works at Fox was telling me how an editor for this show was told to cut out any reasons the women mention for not having dates other than their weight, and to focus on crying and eating. Only good things can come of this.
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Rooo sez BISH PLZ
07/28/09

@Helennellieforsythe: Oh.
Fabulous.
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Shamrockette
07/28/09

In reply to Critics Have Mixed Feelings About More To Love, Overweight Women
So how are "overweight" women considered the only "real" women?

What, so a naturally skinny woman who eats, sleeps, breathes, moves and lives isn't "real"? Are women who are not overweight just figments of our imagination? Give me a break.

If you're going to call these women "real", do the same for every other woman on this earth.
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Mafalda para Presidente
07/28/09

@Shamrockette: No, those women are only figments of our imagination. Duh.
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eviladrian
07/28/09

@Shamrockette: Yeah, and where's my White History Month, huh?

If you're skinny, you've got your whole life to be privileged, is it really necessary to begrudge any positive attention that might go to someone else?
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Eric Northman is mine
07/28/09

In reply to Critics Have Mixed Feelings About More To Love, Overweight Women
Hey and the critics get to show us how many euphemisms, alliterations, allusions they can come up with for the word fat. *rolls eyes*
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rocknrollunicorn
07/28/09

In reply to Critics Have Mixed Feelings About More To Love, Overweight Women
Unless you want to shoot yourself in the head, DO NOT read the comments on the Salon piece. Dear lord, the vitriol people feel free to fling about regarding the overweight and obesity is truly disgusting.

I am totally torn about this show and will probably watch the first episode to check it out but I'm guessing I won't get much further. And I am only checking out episode one because I've found myself very fond of dating shows lately.
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sequined
07/28/09

@rocknrollunicorn: I couldn't help it--I read some. A sample:

If being overweight is so great...

Let's all just gain a couple hundred pounds and then we'll all be equally large. Then we'll no longer have to convince ourselves with Rubik's-cube-like twists of logic that being overweight or obese is ok for a healthy society.

Because your weight makes all of SOCIETY unhealthy! Of course!
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rocknrollunicorn
07/28/09

@sequined: I read like three pages of them and wanted to divorce myself from society forever. My "favorite" was one that was short and intended to be funny that said, "Lose the weight, fattie! It's good for you!"

Ugh.
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Notes from the underwhelmed
07/28/09

@rocknrollunicorn: Oh man, I didn't even scroll down that far when I read it this morning. I'm not going to go back.
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Skinny lips, killer lashes
07/28/09

In reply to Critics Have Mixed Feelings About More To Love, Overweight Women
Who is this Ruby that the Boston Herald speaks of? Or did they mean Rubenesque?
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mysterygirl promoted this comment

mysterygirl
07/28/09

@Skinny lips, killer lashes: Ruby is a woman who has a self-titled show on the Style network about her efforts to lose weight. At her heaviest, she was over 500 pounds-- I think she's lost at least 100.
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Skinny lips, killer lashes
07/28/09

@mysterygirl: Thank you!
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rocknrollunicorn
07/28/09

@Skinny lips, killer lashes: Ha, I wondered the same thing.
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sybann
07/28/09

In reply to Critics Have Mixed Feelings About More To Love, Overweight Women
How is it that I am already sick of a show that hasn't aired yet?
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GayRobotsRUS
07/28/09

In reply to Critics Have Mixed Feelings About More To Love, Overweight Women
This is a show with at least 25% more tears, 50% more hugging and 100% more long, flowing hair than any other, and it's moving. ... Why do they all have long, flowing hair? Was there a casting memo? Dress code?
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thesciencegirl
07/28/09

@GayRobotsRUS: They're allowed to be fat, as long as they're appropriately feminine to make up for it.

Or maybe the producers handed out extensions.
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sequined
07/28/09

@GayRobotsRUS: This is really weird, but somehow I have internalized the idea (no idea where or how I got it) that long hair makes you pretty even if you're "fat." I was thinking about cutting my hair really short and I thought, "hm, maybe I should make sure I don't have a double chin first." Like that matters. So I guess that's a common thing?
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AndNowForSomethingDifferent
07/28/09

@sequined:

Yeah, that's something I struggled with a few years ago, when in high school it became clear to me that my body type was "undesirable" (read: bullshit), so I made up for it by always being made up, having perfect hair, and wearing really nice clothes all the time. I've let go of that sentiment over time, but sometimes I still get panicky if my hair feels a bit greasy or I don't have enough time to primp in the morning.
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Lin-Z [linguist on duty] promoted this comment

Lin-Z [linguist on duty]
07/28/09

@thesciencegirl: Well this show would hate me. Not only am I fat, but I have hair about an inch long, don't wear makeup or do my eyebrows and refuse to wear heels.

Bonus fact: I have a long term boyfriend. Suck it, TV stereotypes!
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NewsBunny
07/28/09

In reply to Critics Have Mixed Feelings About More To Love, Overweight Women
I'm ready for a new Rock of Love.
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descent
07/28/09

In reply to Critics Have Mixed Feelings About More To Love, Overweight Women
Based on the promo pic, these women are ANYTHING but average. They are, to a one, conventionally gorgeous. What makes these beautiful women "average" or "normal" (or pathetic) is their weight? For lack of a better word, that's dumb.
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Shamrockette
07/28/09

@descent: I know, right? They're total babes and if I were a guy, I would be quite a happy man if I was dating one of these women.

It really sucks that this show makes their weight such a huge deal. It really shouldn't be like that. Of course they look physically different, but that doesn't automatically mean they're more desperate for love than the average girl on The Bachelor.
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Zombie Ms. Skittles
07/28/09

In reply to Critics Have Mixed Feelings About More To Love, Overweight Women
Well, I get the feeling that the producers are at least trying. They might be failing, but the effort and the intent still seems to be there. That's a step in the right direction at least, yeah?
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