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cassidyroseIn case you missed it, there is is a new competitive reality show that is a combination dance and weight-loss contest called Dance Your Ass Off, airing on fat-hating Oprah's own network, Oxygen. The contestants are fat people who all have sob stories about how being fat is ruining their lives and how it is all their fault because they are fat. Most do not have any sort of dance background. They are boarded in some sort of standard-fare reality show house which includes cabinets full of donuts, cookies, chips, crackers, etc., alongside fresh food, because you know, it wouldn't be good TV unless the fat people were "tempted" by "junk food." The contestants are put on crazy diet/workout plans and taught a partner dance every week with an ostensible "dance professional" most of whom don't dance or choreograph all that much better than I do, which isn't a slight against me but at the show's choice of pros...a true "professional" should be doing those things way better than me. Each week the contestants dance their dance with their partner and are scored on their dance. Then they are weighed on a scale the size of which puts most freight scales to shame. Their total score and ranking for each week is based on their dance score and the percentage of their body weight lost. To top it off, most all the female contestants (and some male) are often costumed in fairly ill-fitting, crappy spandex costumes which show a lot of flesh and border on fetishistic. The Fly Girls have some costumes that are essentially lingerie or underwear and they fit better and look less over-the-top than these and that is saying a lot. I do not have a problem with the flesh showing (see my icon), but read below if you want to know why I think there are huge issues with the costume choices for this show.
So, there is your background. Since the show debuted a few weeks ago there has been a fair bit of fat-o-sphere chatter about whether or not the show is exploitative and how bad it really is. Some have argued that show promotes "loving yourself as you are" and that the host is promoting the same thing. I disagree and here is a somewhat modified comment I posted elsewhere in response to those claims:
In thinking about the costumes more, I do think what bothers me a lot is that it seems they are being costumed as "before" pictures. They are all supposed to be losing weight so weeks from now they are supposed to look smaller and less fat. The super-tight shiny spandex used in many of the costumes highlights the contestants' size and shows all rolls and dimples. Now, I do not feel that there is inherently anything wrong with this and can certainly see doing this in the interest of fat-activism or if you just really like shiny, tight spandex. What I do have a problem with is that people on a weight-loss show are being dressed in ways to show their fat when the show is not about fat acceptance and they are earnestly trying to rid themselves of said fat. It is exploiting the fat and the fat person for entertainment value. I think the producers' intent is to shock the audience with the contestants' fat (why else would they have them weigh-in on camera in their underwear?). I am not arguing that fat dancers on any show should be costumed in caftans, but I do think nicer costumes could have been made, ones made of something other than spandex and ones that seemed to actually fit the contestants. I will freely admit that I am not a a fan of shiny spandex for costumes for any size dancer because I think it often looks cheap, so some of this is a style issue for me. But I have to ask, if the Fly Girls, on a child's-size-shoestring budget can create sexy, nicely-fitting, flesh-revealing costumes that look great and not like something we bought at the Halloween Superstore, then why can't a television show do the same?
But, really, the costumes are the least of what's wrong with this show. Really.
So, there is your background. Since the show debuted a few weeks ago there has been a fair bit of fat-o-sphere chatter about whether or not the show is exploitative and how bad it really is. Some have argued that show promotes "loving yourself as you are" and that the host is promoting the same thing. I disagree and here is a somewhat modified comment I posted elsewhere in response to those claims:
- The host, Marissa Jaret Winokur, who in a former life played fat and fat-positive dancer Tracy Turnblad in the Broadway production of "Hairspray" (and won a Tony for her performance to boot), is publicly dieting for weight loss and is endorsing such by hosting the show so I hardly think she is all about fat people feeling confident and sexy as they are. If the show was about people being confident and sexy as fat people there would be no weight-loss element to the show AND contestants would not have scores based on their weight-loss...they would be scored based on their dancing alone.
As a fat dancer with a fat dance company the show disgusts me. It is about making people thinner and smaller for entertainment and not training them as dancers. There are no fat professionals dancing with the contestants and the dancing and choreography is mediocre at best. Basing a show around weight loss is quite problematic (and by that I do indeed mean "it is complete and utter bullshit") and adding dance and sexy costumes to the mix does not make it any less so. Additionally, I do think that the costumes are meant to highlight the fat, and not in a good way. While we (fat-positive folks) may look at a fat bare-midriff and think "Wow, sexy" I would argue that many, many people look at it and think "Ew, gross. At least I am not that fat" and the producers of the show know that and want that. I would bet money the producers are putting the contestants in tight, skimpy clothing not because they think it will be liberating for the contestant or the viewer, but because they know it has shock value and they know people will be drawn in by the display of fat and the opportunity to ridicule. I also find the costumes pretty ugly and our dancers have much better, much sexier, much better fitting costumes and we have probably .01% of the budget the show does.
At the heart of it, I do not believe that a show can be about people being comfortable with who they/what they look like while actively engaging in making changes to those things and rewarding those changes.
In thinking about the costumes more, I do think what bothers me a lot is that it seems they are being costumed as "before" pictures. They are all supposed to be losing weight so weeks from now they are supposed to look smaller and less fat. The super-tight shiny spandex used in many of the costumes highlights the contestants' size and shows all rolls and dimples. Now, I do not feel that there is inherently anything wrong with this and can certainly see doing this in the interest of fat-activism or if you just really like shiny, tight spandex. What I do have a problem with is that people on a weight-loss show are being dressed in ways to show their fat when the show is not about fat acceptance and they are earnestly trying to rid themselves of said fat. It is exploiting the fat and the fat person for entertainment value. I think the producers' intent is to shock the audience with the contestants' fat (why else would they have them weigh-in on camera in their underwear?). I am not arguing that fat dancers on any show should be costumed in caftans, but I do think nicer costumes could have been made, ones made of something other than spandex and ones that seemed to actually fit the contestants. I will freely admit that I am not a a fan of shiny spandex for costumes for any size dancer because I think it often looks cheap, so some of this is a style issue for me. But I have to ask, if the Fly Girls, on a child's-size-shoestring budget can create sexy, nicely-fitting, flesh-revealing costumes that look great and not like something we bought at the Halloween Superstore, then why can't a television show do the same?
But, really, the costumes are the least of what's wrong with this show. Really.