Sunday, February 9, 2014

Olympic Body Image

Wow, I just saw someone on TV complain about the unrealistic body image expectations Olympic athletes put on our kids. Well, as I look at it, at least athletes are fit for a reason: they’re engaging in athletic competition, and they’re trying to win, so they have to be in good shape. It’s not like they have eating disorders or they’re just working out to get a good body to make others feel bad about their own bodies not being as fit or anything. (Or are they?)

But on further reflection, I agree completely: Olympic athletes’ super fit bodies likely make others feel inferior, so they shouldn’t be allowed to work out anymore. And if they never win anything ever again, that’s a small price to pay for everyone else not feeling inferior. In fact, I’m not sure we can trust Olympians not to become appropriately slovenly and obese to make everyone feel sufficiently good about themselves, so I think we need a new law that forces athletes to wear a fat suit everywhere.