Human society is a complex phenomenon where people are discriminated against by others only because of the physical or mental differences they might display. Among these differences, additional weight is one of the often reasons for discrimination. This paper focuses on the examination and comparative analysis of two essays dealing with the topic of weight-based prejudice in modern society. These essays are One Picture Is Worth a Thousand Diets by Charisse Goodman and Big Fat Girl: A True Story by Judith Moore. This paper will attempt to examine the argument techniques used by the authors to support and develop their points of view.
To begin with, Ms. Goodman (2007) starts her argument by stating that “movies, television, magazines, newspapers, and preachifying self-help books all reinforce and amplify the ignorant stereotypes about fat people that America holds so close and dear; taken together, they constitute a framework of “petrified opinions” which few dare to question” (Goodman, 2007, p. 605). The points Ms. Goodman implements to support this statement are based on her research that lasted “for several months before [she] realized this research was the waste of energy” (Goodman, 2007, p. 606). During her research, Ms. Goodman addressed 11 mainstream journals, local and national newspapers, advertisements, TV commercials, etc. only to find out the pitiful statistics comparing 645 images of thin females to only 11 pictures of the “heavy women” (Goodman, 2007, p. 606). As contrasted, the arguments Jane Stern uses in her Moore’s work review are based not on research but on the personal ideas by Ms. Moore who tried numerous diets and exercises but remained fat simply because her “fat resists loss” (Stern, 2005). Thus, touching the same topic, the two works analyzed use different means of supporting their ideas.
Another interesting technique that Ms. Goodman uses in her essay is the wide implementation of quotations from famous people in the world of literature of civil rights. For example, the opening quote of the essay is used by the author to place her argument in the context of the social stereotypes against the fat, or heavy, people in America: “Loyalty to petrified opinions never yet broke a chain or freed a human soul in this world – and never will.” (Mark Twain as quoted in Goodman, 2007, p. 605). This phrase is the generalization of the issue that Ms. Goodman takes her time to present in detail in her work. Supporting the stable, and often wrong opinions, has never made any person free, and the current state of affairs does not allow us to assume that the situation will change soon. She repeats the term “petrified opinions” several times in her essay to refer to the ideas of the public mind that are formed and developed by the mass media, advertising, etc.
Moreover, the quotations are used by Ms. Goodman to address the more specific problems, like for example the issues of males being oriented on the female body shape and look rather than on her human qualities: “Be any race, be yourself, but be beautiful” (Goodman, 2007, p. 625). All the essence of today’s social attitude towards fatness is manifested in these lines, as being “fat” is in most cases synonymous in the public mind with being “ugly”. Therefore, Ms. Goodman tries to draw her readers’ attention to the issue by quoting these lines and several other newspaper advertisements, TV commercials, comics, etc. in which the image of a fat person is presented as the one of a disadvantaged and lacking human being.
As compared to Goodman’s essay, the work by Judith Moore does not address any scholarly publication, research works, etc. The essay titled Big Fat Girl: A True Story is a mere personal account of a woman who was a fat girl and grew up to be a fat woman by which fact she is not ashamed though. Ms. Moore brings her argument in its development from the angry period when she hated herself for being fat to the time of understanding that fatness is her nature: “My belly juts out…I hate myself. I have always hated myself.” (Moore, 2007, p. 601) However, the essay is not “a litany of complaints” (Stern, 2005); it is rather an angry voice of the woman tired of the social stereotyping and feeling guilty for only her additional weight. Growing older, Ms. Moore realized that guilt is not what she must feel, and she changed it for strong will and readiness to defend herself: “The older I get the less pleasant I am.” (Stern, 2005) Thus, Big Fat Girl: A True Story is rather a personal story than a scholarly attempt to solve the issue of the discrimination of fat people, but it helps to solve this issue as well.
To conclude, the two essays considered deal with the topic of the discrimination of fat people and their resistance to it. Ms. Goodman uses scholarly research and relevant quotations to support her argument, while Ms. Moore addresses her personal experience only. Though created through different techniques, both essays are rather convincing and credible, which adds to their validity in an anti-discriminatory struggle.
Works Cited
Goodman, Charisse. “One Picture Is Worth a Thousand Diets.” Everything’s an Argument (with Readings & IX visual exercises 4th Ed.) Andrea A. Lunsford, John J. Ruszkiewics, Keith Walters. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007. 605 – 629.
Moore, Judith. “Big Fat Girl: A True Story.” Everything’s an Argument (with Readings & IX visual exercises 4th Ed.) Andrea A. Lunsford, John J. Ruszkiewics, Keith Walters. Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2007. 601 – 604.
Stern, Jane. “Judith Moore’s Big Fat Girl: A True Story.” New York Time (2005).