Comments on: Judgment of Paris?

By: Dsquared

Dsquared — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 20:25:02 +0000

Sarah – I totally agree. There was that absurd idea brought up in ‘94 to assess a “fat tax” or “Twinkie tax” on foods high in calories (or fat) and low in nutrition. Making McDonald’s less affordable won’t make people healthier. Like you said, the goal should be to make healthy foods more affordable and attractive to lower-income (including the vanishing middle class) families.

By: Sarah W.

Sarah W. — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 17:53:08 +0000

I tend to agree with Nat. Whether stereotypes are good or bad, they come from somewhere. In the last 5 years I ran into medical problems that took me decidedly out of the “middle class”. What I’ve found is that it is extremely hard to feed yourself well on $1,000 a month. If you ride public transportation and see someone who is “bigger” most people assume that a) they don’t take care of themselves and/or b) that they are poor. It’s an unfortunate stereotype but it’s not completely wrong. It takes money to feed yourself well. The $1 menu and McDonald’s looks awfully tempting when you are trying to feed yourself or a family on very little money. I think what we should really be looking at is the difficulty of accsessing healthy foods.

By: JOHN BROWN

JOHN BROWN — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 17:31:09 +0000

UNFORTUNATELY MY X-WIFE DIED 1 YEAR AGO FROM BOLEMIA. i GUESS YOU KNOW WHERE MY DAUGHTER AND I STAND ON THIS!
HELL WHY NOT HAVE BOTTOM OF THE GUTTER PROSTITUTES AND DRUG ADDICTS DO FASHION SHOWS? THEY ARE ALL SICK AND WE SHOULD NOT HELP THEM CARRY OM WITH THE DISEASE AS EVENTUALLY THEY WILL DIE.

By: Nat

Nat — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 14:04:41 +0000

(If we sing in chorus, maybe they’ll listen to us, ‘Squared.)

By: Nat

Nat — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 14:01:32 +0000

And, speaking of observation and evidence, I never wrote of “the poor.” I was writing of the middle class. You know; we, the majority. The middle class is getting progressivly fatter, and progressively poorer, every year. And, the slender, aerobic, stay-at-home soccer mom is going out of style.

By: Nat

Nat — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 13:58:03 +0000

Andi,

One’s feelings are rarely affected by the evidence of scientific methodology, but more by gestaltic systhesis of the totality of experience. That is to say, stereotypes. Certainly, slavishly following cultural stereotypes makes one a ’sheeple’, but rejecting them all outright makes one lose all understanding of humanity. Neither submit to nor reject your stereotypes. Analyze them, and see where they come from and what function they have. You need some of them.

By: Dsquared

Dsquared — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 20:32:37 +0000

Nat, I *swear* your comments weren’t before mine when I posted. :)

By: Andi

Andi — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 19:24:57 +0000

I like how everyone is assuming that only poor people are “curvy.”
Look around, in our day, looks aren’t as much associated with class.
You put a group of different sized people in identical clothes, and I bet you can’t tell which people are rich and which are poor.

By: Nat

Nat — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 17:22:19 +0000

Of course, when the rich folks’ wives stop being considered the acme of femininity by the common people, the rich folks, as a class, are in trouble.

By: Nat

Nat — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 16:57:08 +0000

However, it may be that times they are a changing: The rich of the US are now so far away from the middleclass that we are not dreaming so much of that 80’s Rich B____ Girl, of which Hall & Oates sang, nor the Skinny Trophy Wife of the 90’s. Now, a zoftig, office seat spread bottomed girl is not unappealing, in our modern times of two-income families.