Bryce is about to start taking steroids. Megan has been bulimic for eight years. Kaitlyn is recovering from anorexia and has banned herself from Instagram. Ashy believes plus size women are bad role models.
These young Australians appeared on a live TV panel last night, Hack Live on Body Obsession.
During the 75-minute ABC special, the panelists thrashed it out over body image issues from surgery to steroids. And there was one discussion in particular worth watching: the debate over whether fitness guru Ashy Bines’ recent attack on plus size model Tess Holliday was justified.
Watch a segment from the Body Obsession special here. Post continues after video…
Bines last month attacked Holliday as “not a good role model” in an Instagram post. And on last night’s show, Bines defended that attack on live television — before being forced to listen to a medical expert who said she’s only partially right.
“[I]t’s sad that women who are obviously eating a lot more than what they need and not moving their bodies to be fit, strong and healthy are getting praise,” Bines wrote of 30-year-old Holliday in the original, February 2016 post.
She reiterated that message last night, telling the program’s host Tom Tilley: “I understand that her message [is] to love yourself no matter what size you are, and I totally agree with that. But Tess isn’t saying, ‘I love myself here and I’m on a journey to be healthier.’ She’s saying ‘I’m a plus size model, I’ve got this many followers, I’m getting paid to be this size, this is okay’.”
Bines said any doctor who looked at Holliday would say she didn’t look healthy.
And while she doesn’t believe young women shoukd look to Holliday as a healthy role model, she thinks she’s a shining example herself.
As she put it on last night’s show: “I think that I’m a really good role model for the younger generation.”
Dr Ross said size-22 Holliday wasn’t his idea of a role model, but conceded that Holliday could “still be modestly healthy.” He continued: “We know beyond a doubt that people who are carrying extra weight… don’t tend to be as healthy. [But] there are people who are considered obese who are not diabetic. So it’s not as if every obese person will get diabetes, cardiovascular disease, but there is no doubt that you are much more prone to that, the more weight you’re carrying.”
Dr Ross added that slightly healthy people can have longer lifespans than slim people. “If you’re looking at say a BMI over 40… there is no doubt that’s very unhealthy,” he said. “But, for example, if you’re looking at somebody who’s in the overweight range — BMI 25 to 30 — and if you compare to people who are thin… there’s a six per cent lower death rate in people who are carrying a little bit of weight.” He also added that when assessing people’s health at different sizes, we shouldn’t overlook the importance of mental health. “The most important drug on the planet as far as I’m concerned is a thing called happiness,” he said. “I think we should be trying to strive for happiness every moment of the day.”
Holliday’s response post.
The panel discussion followed Holliday’s 1 March response to Bines’ body-shaming post.
In that response, Holliday shared a photo of herself exercising in the gym and said she does stay active — but it’s for herself, not to conform to anyone else’s idea of what she should look like.
“Our society is so engrained [sic] to think that all bodies (especially bigger ones) shouldn’t be respected and appreciated, it’s heartbreaking,” she added.
“We ALL deserve to be treated with dignity regardless of our size, gender, race, sexual orientation, abilities, etc. and should demand that of those around us,” she stated.
What did you most agree with from the show last night?
Top Comments
Was the doctor trying to be politically correct after seeing the massive backlash against Ashy?
Everyone is getting so bent out of shape over nothing. Would men be looking at a fat bloke and a thin bloke and getting their undies all in a wedgie about their 'size' and their 'health'? It's another way for the patriarchy to keep women in their cage and fighting with each other while they continue to rule the world. Wake up.
Men give each other shit about body shape all the time. It just happens face to face and not online.