Week 4 Eureka moment

I was sitting last night reading my homework and reviewing posts that were on the Discussion Board while my daughter was watching some reality tv show. It's no wonder our society is so screwed up! This show (I think it was called Bridal Bootcamp), was ridiculous! There were maybe 10 or 12 women that signed up to go away to a bootcamp style weight loss camp. They are all about-to-be brides that wanted to lose weight to be able to get down to a smaller dress size specifically for their wedding dress! Not that they wanted to get healthy, not that they wanted to lose weight, but so they could fit into a dress. The winner of the show apparently gets her "dream wedding" as the prize. While the pretense of getting fit is a wonderful idea, it was clearly apparent that these women -by virtue of their candid conversations, were only doing this to fit into a wedding gown! It really bothered me. Has society really ingrained in our psyche that we have to look like Cinderella (a CARTOON character!) in order to be beautiful on our wedding day? Why isn't there a show for men to go away to bootcamp to look better in their tuxedos? This show portrayed these women as self indulgent but willing to sacrifice, catty but supportive, competitive but submissive, angry and bullheaded but also soft and tearful. My goodness - it makes women look like schitzophrenics - all for the chance to win a dream wedding! Obviously, you probably guessed my wedding was relatively simple - outdoors in the fall, comfy casual dress, we had a wonderful time - no formality, no fuss. My daughter, thankfully, agrees with me that the show is ridiculous and these women give women a bad name. We started talking about all the reality shows out there and she doesn't know of any that essentially show men that aren't parallel playing in their version of reality - fishing shows, hunting shows, sports, etc. covered in fishing gear, camoflage or whatever. Why a woman's idea of reality is all about getting down to a size 6 for their wedding day is beyond my personal comprehension but it clearly shows how culture has forced women to believe in and want the fairy tale that Disney has spun for us. As I sat there with my daughter (who is 20) laughing at how ridiculous these women were and talking about her own idea of a fabulous wedding (a summer barbeque in a park), I was grateful I didn't buy into the fairy tale images growing up (I ws the one out hunting and fishing with my dad and brother and uncles/cousins) and that I conveyed that gender-less culture to my children! Now that my kids are grown, I'm working on a much younger generation - my great niece - her 1st birthday is in a few weeks - she's getting a bubble mower from us! It's a great outdoor, fun, loud, messy, obnoxious toy that only comes in primary colors!!! I know she's going to love it! :-)