Humor in arguments

     This week in class we read about using humor in arguments. Humor in arguments can range from satire to sarcasm and when used appropriately they can strengthen an argument. Authors must be careful though because use of humor inappropriately can hurt credibility.

      Last week we read a few chapters from the book Skinny Bitch. This book used humor in the form of sarcasm to grasp the attention of the audience. Humor made the arguments in Skinny Bitch more memorable, but the heavy use of sarcasm came off as condescending, and made me feel less likely to agree with the argument of the authors.

       This week in class we also looked an pro-ana and pro-mia websites. I was surprised to see that such a controversial site would be available for view to the public. The girls on that site seemed not only to purge their food, but also purge out feelings of hatred toward their body. They all wanted to lose weight even though they were already severely thin and even asked for tips on how to lose weight from other girls. All the comments that I looked at seemed to be supportive of the feelings of hunger and hatred toward food. I never saw a comment suggesting that any of these girls receive help. In my opinion, the pro-ana and pro-mia websites seem only to be reinforcing the behaviors of anorexic and bulimic girls. I also found it odd to see the girls trying to fight their hunger with images of really thin girls and celebrities in “thinspo.” 

Style Me Thin

When I think of the word style, thoughts of the latest fashion trends come to mind. I envision runways with stick thin models looking “fierce” and fashionistas posing for pictures on the red carpet. Style, as used in “Everything’s An Argument”, refers to the way in which an argument presents itself and can be modified with words and punctuation.

This week in class we discussed the in-your-face- book “Skinny Bitch”, which happens to have a very distinctive style.  It has a low informal style that gives readers the feeling that they are talking to a friend, a very loud, blunt, condescending friend. “Skinny Bitch” also uses punctuation to exaggerate its in your face attitude by throwing in a few exclamation points every now and then, usually after taking a blow to your ego and body image of course.

Style can also be conveyed through images, such as in the movie “Thin”. This movie gives off more of a middle toned informative style. The movie shows the struggles of women staying in an eating disorder treatment facility and emphasizes the negative effects that arise from being or trying to be stick-thin. Images of twig-like arms and bare backs where all the vertebrae are visible is enough to make viewers cringe. 

After seeing the women in the movie ”Thin”, I still cant grasp how someone could let the desire to be thin take over their life. Food is so delicious and people shouldn’t have to stress over calories. Enjoy a guilty pleasure or two, but in moderation, it’s a bit gluttonous to indulge on a dozen Dunkin Donuts by yourself.  

Epidemic Shmepidemic

Recently, in class, we’ve been talking about the so-called “obesity epidemic.” I feel that obesity indeed is a problem, but not to the extent that the media is taking it. Chapter 10 of Everything’s an Argument discusses casual arguments which are apparent in everyday life, such as obesity. It can be argued that insecurity of body image is an effect arising from 1: the over exaggeration of obesity by the media, 2: Emphasis of “perfection” in the media, and 3: Values on body image from parents and peers.

I’ve never been one to fuss about weight and body image; weighing a mere 100lbs give or take what I had for breakfast, but after being bombarded by media images of perfection, worries about “catching” obesity, and seeing my own mom strive for bodily perfection with the aid of diets,  concerns about body image began to stir in my mind. I was a nutrition major for a while and spent just about everyday learning about the content of food, what is healthy, and the definition of obesity. While taking Nutrition 311 I became obsessed with reading the Nutrition labels on everything I ate making sure that I avoided trans and saturated fats at all cost in order to lessen my risk of getting that little belly pudge and becoming overweight. What was I thinking? I became miserable; a slave to the nutrition facts label and food pyramid, and my surroundings didn’t exactly help to alleviate the concerns with body image. I’d watch E! News everyday and see the latest updates on the glamorous Kira Knightly or how Angelina Jolie was the epitome of perfection; noting on how both were skin and bones. During commercials, the woman from Cheers (Kristy Alley, I believe) and Valerie Bertonelli would come on Jenny Craig commercials and praise the product for making them thin, and in lines the values of the media; beautiful. That’s still not the end to my evil influences of thin is beautiful. My twig-like best friend would take me shopping with him and complain of how he moved from and extra small sized T-shirt to a small, (how terrifying!), while I’d get periodic phone calls from my mom proclaiming her delight of how skipping breakfast helped her lose 5 pounds and allowed her to reach her ideal of 115 again (yikes!). I’m surprised I made it without turning anorexic.

In the end, after completing Nutrition 311, I decided that being a nutrition major just wasn’t for me. I just enjoy the delicious saturated fat and empty calories of Hostess cupcakes way too much and my life is stressful enough minus the added stress of worrying how many calories I’m about to put into my mouth and how many miles I’ll have to run to work it off.  The media and society are over exaggerating the whole problem of obesity in America. I think that all these influences and ideas of perfection are merely causing people to think they are “morbidly obese” when, in fact, they are actually quite healthy.