At Spelman College, a program tackles tough issues of weight, health and self-image
By Donna Britt, Published: May 2
ATLANTA — As part of its new plan to address black women’s wellness- and obesity-related health issues, Spelman College recently hosted “The Best Advice I Ever Got: Conversations with Wise Women.”
Featured alongside health and fitness professionals was plus-size comic-turned-Oscar-winning actress Mo’Nique. The star told students how she for years owned the “sexy big-girl thing,” sticking with it when industry experts warned she’d never make it in Hollywood.
The big-and-sexy trademark worked so well, Mo’Nique said, that when her husband asked her weight, she told him, “proudly, as sexy as I could, ‘262 pounds.’ ”
When her husband responded, “That’s too much,” Mo’Nique was dumbstruck. Until he added, “I want you for a lifetime.”
No loved one had ever told her, “That’s too much weight.” Deeply moved, Mo’Nique reflected on all she secretly carried that was “too much”: too much depression, too much anger, too much shifting the “poison” of her rage onto others. Her “best advice” to Spelman students: Shush the “fraudulent” inner voice that suggests you settle for less. “Will yourself to win.”
Mo’Nique’s revelation cuts to the core of an issue that consumes countless sisters like me — and like Beverly Tatum, president of historically black, all-female Spelman. Tatum understands the pride that makes black women — the nation’s heaviest group — report they’re happier with their looks than other women.
But Tatum also knows that obesity can kill. More than half of Spelman’s students have high blood pressure or Type 2 diabetes or are obese. That’s why Tatum redirected the college’s annual $1 million intercollegiate sports budget — programs serving about 80 students — into a campuswide “fitness revolution” that benefits all 2,100.
Now she must convince students to redirect their focus from how they look to what matters more:
●How does it feel, hefting 30, 70, 100-plus more pounds than your skeleton was designed to carry?
●What’s beautiful about being constantly tired, out of breath and worried that extra pounds are hurting your health?
Anyone who wonders why many African American women harbor a complex mix of pride, feistiness and shame regarding their bodies should look at our history.
Black women have a thing about ownership.
For two centuries, most African American women’s bodies were literally owned by others; our choices in clothes, hairstyles and adornments were severely constricted. Long after slavery’s end, our beauty — a subject vital to women of every culture — was disputed. Our skin, hair, noses and lips were decreed to be too dark, too nappy, too wide, too full, too . . . wrong. Not just by a pervasive culture that valued whiteness above all else, but by loved ones whose affection didn’t always prevent them from judging us by those toxic standards.
But a funny thing happened to black women’s self-acceptance in regards to our body-image: Most of us rejected the thinner’s-a-winner Hollywood standard. After generations of being owned, sisters now own the my-body-rocks-whether-you-like-it-or-not mind-set.
Sure, some curves-celebrating sisters would secretly like to be thinner — without mimicking the toothpicklike Taylor Swift-Angelina Jolie-Victoria Beckham archetype. But decades of dodging unwarranted criticism about their looks makes them loath to admit it.
And although this attitude holds health-related risks for overweight women, trust me, it’s great seeing your ample rear the way many women view their large eyes, lips or breasts, as — pun intended — an asset (just ask Beyonce, Kim Kardashian, Christina Hendricks and countless men) .
Black women’s appreciation of their curves is hugely bolstered by many black men’s frank admiration of “thick” women. In a recent Sports Illustrated article on offensive linemen — illustrated with photos of eight massive black players — a coach said such athletes’ power comes from their “hips and ass — that’s where your biggest muscles are.”
I couldn’t help think, “And many sisters’ biggest source of sex appeal to black men.”
But the focus, Tatum insists, should be less on what’s attractive and more on what’s life-extending.
Too much weight, too little exercise
Embracing your full hips and thighs needn’t mean ignoring Centers for Disease Control reports that more than 40 percent of black women older than 20 have hypertension, or that black women are twice as likely to develop Type 2 diabetes and are more likely to die from stroke, heart disease and other maladies linked to being overweight and not exercising enough.
“Thirty minutes a day of exercise will address many of those things,” says Tatum, who attacks her treadmill’s “hill burn” program daily. “Being sedentary is as damaging to health as being a smoker.” A National Institutes of Health study that found that by age 17, most black girls reported no leisure time physical activity.
More here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/spelman-college-program-tries-to-address-black-womens-weight-related-health-risks/2013/05/02/1f498780-b33e-11e2-baf7-5bc2a9dc6f44_print.html
By Donna Britt, Published: May 2
ATLANTA — As part of its new plan to address black women’s wellness- and obesity-related health issues, Spelman College recently hosted “The Best Advice I Ever Got: Conversations with Wise Women.”
Featured alongside health and fitness professionals was plus-size comic-turned-Oscar-winning actress Mo’Nique. The star told students how she for years owned the “sexy big-girl thing,” sticking with it when industry experts warned she’d never make it in Hollywood.
The big-and-sexy trademark worked so well, Mo’Nique said, that when her husband asked her weight, she told him, “proudly, as sexy as I could, ‘262 pounds.’ ”
When her husband responded, “That’s too much,” Mo’Nique was dumbstruck. Until he added, “I want you for a lifetime.”
No loved one had ever told her, “That’s too much weight.” Deeply moved, Mo’Nique reflected on all she secretly carried that was “too much”: too much depression, too much anger, too much shifting the “poison” of her rage onto others. Her “best advice” to Spelman students: Shush the “fraudulent” inner voice that suggests you settle for less. “Will yourself to win.”
Mo’Nique’s revelation cuts to the core of an issue that consumes countless sisters like me — and like Beverly Tatum, president of historically black, all-female Spelman. Tatum understands the pride that makes black women — the nation’s heaviest group — report they’re happier with their looks than other women.
But Tatum also knows that obesity can kill. More than half of Spelman’s students have high blood pressure or Type 2 diabetes or are obese. That’s why Tatum redirected the college’s annual $1 million intercollegiate sports budget — programs serving about 80 students — into a campuswide “fitness revolution” that benefits all 2,100.
Now she must convince students to redirect their focus from how they look to what matters more:
●How does it feel, hefting 30, 70, 100-plus more pounds than your skeleton was designed to carry?
●What’s beautiful about being constantly tired, out of breath and worried that extra pounds are hurting your health?
Anyone who wonders why many African American women harbor a complex mix of pride, feistiness and shame regarding their bodies should look at our history.
Black women have a thing about ownership.
For two centuries, most African American women’s bodies were literally owned by others; our choices in clothes, hairstyles and adornments were severely constricted. Long after slavery’s end, our beauty — a subject vital to women of every culture — was disputed. Our skin, hair, noses and lips were decreed to be too dark, too nappy, too wide, too full, too . . . wrong. Not just by a pervasive culture that valued whiteness above all else, but by loved ones whose affection didn’t always prevent them from judging us by those toxic standards.
But a funny thing happened to black women’s self-acceptance in regards to our body-image: Most of us rejected the thinner’s-a-winner Hollywood standard. After generations of being owned, sisters now own the my-body-rocks-whether-you-like-it-or-not mind-set.
Sure, some curves-celebrating sisters would secretly like to be thinner — without mimicking the toothpicklike Taylor Swift-Angelina Jolie-Victoria Beckham archetype. But decades of dodging unwarranted criticism about their looks makes them loath to admit it.
And although this attitude holds health-related risks for overweight women, trust me, it’s great seeing your ample rear the way many women view their large eyes, lips or breasts, as — pun intended — an asset (just ask Beyonce, Kim Kardashian, Christina Hendricks and countless men) .
Black women’s appreciation of their curves is hugely bolstered by many black men’s frank admiration of “thick” women. In a recent Sports Illustrated article on offensive linemen — illustrated with photos of eight massive black players — a coach said such athletes’ power comes from their “hips and ass — that’s where your biggest muscles are.”
I couldn’t help think, “And many sisters’ biggest source of sex appeal to black men.”
But the focus, Tatum insists, should be less on what’s attractive and more on what’s life-extending.
Too much weight, too little exercise
Embracing your full hips and thighs needn’t mean ignoring Centers for Disease Control reports that more than 40 percent of black women older than 20 have hypertension, or that black women are twice as likely to develop Type 2 diabetes and are more likely to die from stroke, heart disease and other maladies linked to being overweight and not exercising enough.
“Thirty minutes a day of exercise will address many of those things,” says Tatum, who attacks her treadmill’s “hill burn” program daily. “Being sedentary is as damaging to health as being a smoker.” A National Institutes of Health study that found that by age 17, most black girls reported no leisure time physical activity.
More here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/spelman-college-program-tries-to-address-black-womens-weight-related-health-risks/2013/05/02/1f498780-b33e-11e2-baf7-5bc2a9dc6f44_print.html