Fat people on Tv

There are a couple things really bugging me lately, involving fat people on reality tv. (Disclaimer: Yes, I am fat.)

One of my fave shows is Say Yes to the Dress! This show is set in one of two high end bridal stores, either in New York or Atlanta. They carry THOUSANDS of dresses, yet for the vast majority they only have a "sample" size to try on- which is a 0 or a 2, I am not sure which. How many people can try on these dresses? Rarely do you see an overweight bride, yet in America, sixty percent of people are overweight. (note- on Bridezillas, another fave show, I would guess 99% of the brides are overweight- from chubby to quite heavy. Yet on Say Yes to the Dress, 99% of the brides are thin. Wonder where the Bridezilla ladies get their dresses??)

If you do see an overweight bride, she has a compelling "story"- an excuse to show her. There are three possible outcomes to her dress hunt at these stores, where a bride can easily spend over ten thousand dollars for a dress-

1. She picks one of the few (and cheap) dresses that have a dress to try on in "plus size".
2. She walks out without a dress because all the dress pictures she brings in are only available to try in the "sample" size, and she can't fit in them.
3. She buys a dress WITHOUT ever trying it on, just by looking at the sample size dress. This does freak me out a bit- would you put down thousands of non-refundable dollars for a dress you have never even tried on???

Pry the next time I see a slightly chubby lady walk out without a dress it will put me over the edge and I will quit watching.

It seems to me that any business would kill to double the clientele. If these stores carried sample dresses to try on in normal sizes, say maybe an 8 and a 16 or so, just think- they would over double the clientele! Hellooooo.....

This has been bugging me for a while, so why did I decide to write this today? Well, I watched another fave show last night, Project Runway. (The Thursday night showing is opposite Real Housewives, so I watch it on Saturday night!)

The challenge was to make over a bridesmaid dress for a "regular" woman. The ladies came out, and all were thin/normal weight except for one kinda chubby girl. The first designer to pick a model ADMITTED he chose based on the lady's figure, not the bridesmaid dress. Naturally, the chubby girl was chosen last. I was okay so far, but disappointed in the attitudes of the designers.

As they worked on their projects, OVER AND OVER they commented on how the guy with the chubby girl had such a "hard" challenge. Ohh, he had a tough job. Oh, good luck with that girl. On and on. The girl was beautiful!!! Why is it harder to make her a dress than the usual stick thin/no boobs models they have every week? Are you a designer for WOMEN or for little girls???? Hello!!!! All the whining and saying sorry for his challenging job was very very irritating. I bet when the girl watched the episode she died- he was so nice to her in person, and moaned away about her size behind her back. Jerks. Now I don't want ANY of them to win.

Off to eat some cake now,
Anne