Slutty Isn’t Offensive, But Skinny Is

Subway launched a Halloween commercial where a girl objects to her friends eating unhealthy. “You guy’s are eating burgers?!! Halloween is coming. You gotta stay in shape for all the costumes.”

Then she comes out modeling a variety of sexy costumes like attractive nurse, spicy red riding hood, hot devil, sassy teacher…

And people took offense.

But what were they offended by?

Time Magazine was upset that the ad encouraged women to never stop dieting. Elle Magazine even piped in, offended that it not only pressured women to wear slutty costumes, but that they should diet to do it.

Really? Elle is offended that someone is perpetuating women to try to measure up to a sexy standard? Hmmmmm.

Subway pulled the ad from YouTube, but not from TV. I saw it last Sunday night on AMC, long after the controversy.

The buck doesn’t stop at Subway. Enter Wal Mart, stage left, offending people on the complete opposite end of the spectrum with their “fat girl costumes” (that’s a direct quote from their website).

Maybe Wal Mart decided to be more realistic with their marketing to America (After all, we are now the second fattest nation in the world!). Regardless, people were irate that Wal Mart would refer to “plus size” women as “fat girls” (interesting the non-plus size women modeling these costumes).

What are our daughters to think? It’s okay to be sexy… but don’t obsess about our weight… right?

That’s exactly what girls are hearing every day. If you don’t believe me, take a peek at the music charts at this exact moment, and you won’t have to look any further than the No. 1 song, Meghan Trainor’s song All About That Bass. Here’s a glimpse at the lyrics:

Yeah, it’s pretty clear, I ain’t no size two
But I can shake it, shake it
Like I’m supposed to do
‘Cause I got that boom boom that all the boys chase
And all the right junk in all the right places…

Google the rest of the lyrics and you’ll see it. Be proud of your body weight… and flaunt it and shake it for guys.

Congratulations America. I’m glad you were offended. But I’m afraid you were offended for the wrong reasons.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m equally jarred that we are setting a skinny standard for our daughters. But what about the sexy standard? What about the objectification and “sexualization” of women? What about the fact that Halloween has slowly morphed into the one holiday where women are expected to dress like a slut?

What messages are your daughters hearing?