Body Image in the Media: Glee Gets It Right, But Are We Ready? | fbomb.
I’m still seeing a lot of people complaining that Glee aren’t getting it right. What do you think? I LOVE the Lauren character.
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Deconstructing Glee 
I love, love, love! Lauren! I’ve seen several people on the web say that she’s “gross” not because she’s fat, but because of her personality. First of all, no one says someone is gross because of their personality. They may be obnoxious or unlikeable, but you wouldn’t event think to use the word gross if fat weren’t equated with grossness.
Second of all, yes, she’s an asshole. So is Sue Sylvester and that’s what makes her one of the most popular characters on Glee. There’s a trope that marginalized people need to be better behaved because they somehow represent their entire group, and fat people experience it as much as any other group. Fat characters don’t have to be played “nice” just to make people like them. Fat people are expected to be any combination of jolly/shy/meek/accommodating/submissive.
It is refreshing to see a fat white girl (because as much as I love Mercedes or any other fat black character, that too, has become a trope) with attitude. She’s not ashamed to be who she is. She’s not afraid to flirt with guys. She’s not desperate and she’s not amazed that a hot guy actually likes her. In those respects she’s like a lot of real fat women.
I’m really enjoying your blog. Thanks for starting it!
D’oh! Italics fail.
Yeah, you’re right about the word “gross”… it speaks volumes.
I kinda love her attitude. She’s a bad girl the way Puck’s a bad boy. Usually bad girl means not being chaste and modest, etc, but in her case it just means attitude. Which is awesome.
And I love the storyline.
And thanks 🙂 It’s only new, but hoping people will start to join in and chat.
My problem with Lauren is the lack of singing and dancing ability. Why is she still in Glee Club again? They no longer need her for the numbers. She doesn’t even TRY to dance when they’re out there — and Mr. Shue doesn’t bother to ask her to maybe pick it up a little?
And maybe as a woman who was an overweight high school girl, I just have trouble with the believability of the character and particularly the Puck romance angle. If Puck liked her and was trying to hook up with her after school when no one was looking, yeah, I’d buy that. I’ve been there. If Puck liked her and was hot/cold with her, sometimes being nice, sometimes being an ass because he’s conflicted about his feelings and the social stigma of liking a fat chick, I could go there. But it’s a little too fantasyland for me.
To have two overweight girls on the show who are totally OK with their bodies and full of self-respect just seems a little bit more like preaching than storytelling. Also, I have a hard time accepting it: if you are really that awesome, really that sure of yourself, why wouldn’t you treat your body with more respect? They touch on that a little with Mercedes when she’s a Cheerio (Kurt tells her she’s replacing love/a boyfriend with tots), but all we see is Lauren stuffing pounds of chocolate and boxes of cookies down her throat. That is NOT self respect and loving who you are. That is an eating disorder.
You’re right.
I’m a person who has always had weight issues and I know that. I know that working out and eating right is literally being good to myself. I know when I’m eating whatever is within arm’s reach, I’m not. Alas, we all have our issues regardless of how grown up, confident, etc we are. But it would be good to see that struggle. Not in Lauren, though, because there just are some people who don’t care and won’t, and I think she’s one of them.
Now, for me, I’ve reconciled that with Puck’s lack of impulse control, he may very well just go for what he wants without fear of “what people will think”.
I would believe Mercedes more (just because her best friend’s views on nutrition might actually get to her at some point) and even though the actress is very comfortable as she is, it would be great to show a kid who isn’t.