Fat People : SWA#9

In the excerpt from The Fat Girl’s Guide to Life the author, Wendy Shanker, presents good ethos. She presents good character and fair-mindedness. Shanker does not criticize those who are skinny or those who are fat, she simply suggests accepting who we are and rolling with it. She represents a very interesting and empowering point of view. She makes it easy to agree with her, no matter what side of the weight spectrum you are on. I find it easy to accept and appreciate what the author has said simply because of the way she worded her argument. She took something that society views as a one-eyed monster, and compared it to rape, poverty, lack of health care, and civil war. Which makes weight and appearance seem exceptionally trivial. I believe Shanker’s target audience is anyone who feels uncomfortable with the way they look. The main argument being for ‘fat’ people, however she does mention on page 245 that women that wear a size 2 still feel crappy about themselves.
In “The Big Fat American Kid Crisis…and 10 Things We Should Do about it,” Eleanor Randolph presents her argument as a major problem that needs quick attention. Randolph includes statistics about obesity rates among children, as well as the many diseases that are rapidly increasing among the young, such as diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and sleep apnea. I think Randolph is very effective in making her proposals seem feasible. Her ideas to ban junk food in schools, regulate junk food ads, and upgrading school snacks are definitely within reach. She presents good ideas and seemingly easy ways to incorporate these thoughts. The inclusion of statistics also helps make Randolph’s proposals more viable.