Well this video recently surfaced in my facebook feed (thanks Gina) and I woke up singing the song and thinking of these adorable animals. It was much more pleasant than the mental tug of war that is finding a topic for a blog post today. And then it hit me–do a blog post about adorable animals playing with their pals. Win. Win.
So today, I’m going to talk about body diversity. The super cool thing about this video is how all the animals are different. The monkey can play with the dog without telling the dog to look more like a monkey. The dog and the dolphin can swim together without the dog having to engage in a streamlining program or getting a blow hole cut in his noggin. And the dolphin can swim with the dog without feeling any particular need to join “Crazy LEGS(TM) a new process to grow legs in just 8 weeks!”
And it really made me think about our current standard of beauty. It made me think about how so much of our society is shaped around the notion that if we just looked like a movie star or a beauty queen or a male stripper, everything would be just peachy keen and wonderful. This is so silly, and so sad and so very, very wrong. It’s a Barbie world, where all the girls should look like Barbie–tall, tiny waist, large breasts, smooth and flowing blonde hair, tiny feet and all. Never mind that many believe that Barbie’s proportions are not only unlikely but also perhaps impossible. (Some suggest if Barbie were an actual women, she would be 5’9″ tall, have a 39″ bust, an 18″ waist, 33″ hips and a size 3 shoe. She would have a BMI of about 16 and would likely not menstruate.) Yet as we’ve heard before and will undoubtedly hear again, it’s a Barbie world.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41ygV80ZLag]
But seriously, where’s the fun in that? It would be pretty boring if we all looked the same. And trying to turn dogs into dolphins or vice versa could be endlessly profitable (if anybody could convince them that this needed to happen) but doesn’t seem likely to meet with any success or lead to happier canines or aquatic mammals.
So here’s to our diversity. Here’s to our beauty in all it’s differences. And here’s to keeping our money to go out and have a whole lot of fun with our very best buds.
Love, Jeanette DePatie (AKA The Fat Chick)
P.S. Want me to come and speak to your school or church group or organization or business about body diversity? Check out my speaking page here!
