Is The “Biggest Loser” Ageist And Sexist?

[Catsgetnhealthy]

Originally Posted by marlu

I guess by the replies everyone else is fine with the BL discrimination against older women.

Oh well. I kind of hoped I'd have some allies here.

What defines "older women" to you? Maybe there haven't been 60 yr old ladies trying out.

[practiceliving]

I wonder if part of it is older (40+) women being less willing to take that much time away from family/work/other responsibilities. Certainly a 20something student with no partner or kids is going to have an easier time taking 12+ weeks away from their life/commitments than a 40something career woman with a husband and kids, y'know?

I remember looking at the BL application once in the past, and it is DETAILED. There are so many, many things that ANY contestant could be taken out of the running for, that I'm not particularly surprised at the age range of the show.

[Jen]

I wouldn't have said that most of the women were gorgeous, most of them were okay looking, pretty average really. Like people were saying in another thread while this is a reality show it is being produced so that it is entertainment. In that respect who are you going to pick, a pretty young fat woman or an older not so pretty fat woman? I have to agree with what others have said though that they probably don't get quite as many over 40's women applying because of family and jobs. I couldn't just up and leave my husband and son and my job for 4 or 5 months not even for this. Also the people that are chosen generally have no other health problems and have to be able to be in front of the camera. I had to video my husband once for a presentation and he was a blithering fool. Can you imagine having to talk in front of a big camera crew knowing that it was going to be shown nationally? The producers are going to pick the people who look and talk well in front of the camera and have no health/emotional problems and this is what they end up with.

[MariaMaria]

They chose some gnarly looking men and the show seemed to do okay.

Before the current season none of the women was over 31. Seriously. Really. There was NOT ONE woman over 40 who applied who was pretty enough and healthy enough and could bear to bring herself away from the young children that some of you seem to assume all 40-ish women have? Not ONE?

Look around you at who's on 3FC. Lots of women over 30, lots of women over 40. All fat, past or present. Most healthy. Many without young children. Maybe we're just all too fugly but that's not the photos I've seen.

[Jen]

Well I can't speak for anyone else but unless the show is paying me to be at the ranch there is no way I could financially swing being away from my job for that length of time. You have to go into it hoping that you'll make it to the end and so have to be prepared to be away for 4 -5 months. We'd go bankrupt. Considering the fact that the economy doesn't sound like it is in great shape maybe there are a lot of older women who can't afford it. I'm not denying that the show is probably looking for prettier younger women, it is a fact of television life, reality show or not.

[chick_in_the_hat]

I was thinking about this thread last night when a commercial for the Biggest Loser Workout came on....the spokesperson was a 54 yo woman. She was normal looking, in good shape...apparently the after picture. But she did have wrinkles...I was a little surprised. Has anyone else seen this commercial?

[mariposita]

My take:

What to television networks need to do?
Make money.

How do they make money?
By selling advertising.

How do they sell advertising?
By producing shows that get high ratings.

How do networks get high ratings?
By producing shows that people will watch, and watch consistently.

What do people seem to like to watch the most?
Fantasies that may incidentally inform or move them. Even in reality shows, people don't like to watch things that are too real. People want some angst and some conflict, too, so things don't get too boring.

What's the appeal of the Biggest Loser?
I think BL is essentially an ugly duckling story. The transformation of the participants into more beautiful people is the main focus, with personal achievement and health as secondary factors. The fact that the people chosen to represent this transformation look a certain way, IMO, merely reflects cultural norms about female/male beauty. I think this is the reason why in a show like La Fea más Bella slaps a pair of glasses on an attractive actor and makes her the designated ugly chick, as kaplods said. That way we dense viewers can figure out she's the ugly one, without actually having to look at an ugly broad.

[MadamePJ]

^ I agree with you Mariposita ... at the end of the day ... It is network TV ... and BL is a large marketing venue with apparent product placement (The BL Program, Books, Online Tools, Videos) ... Average doesn't sell to the general public ... beauty does ... As far as age ... could it also be that they are focusing appeal widely to their common audience ages when selecting? I would say that it is discrimination ... but to them it's busines ...

[Idealmuse]

I think they do cast with certain things in mind and being cute after weight loss probably is one of them... but we're talking about TV here this doesn't make biggest loser any different then most TV shows.

Also, they have to cater to there demographics which is probably on the younger side to middle age side.

Also they are casting VERY much for personalities. If they don't find the right one they aren't going to cast someone just to fit the bill.

It did annoy me when they used to pick only lighter girls, but they seems to have changed that up and had a very much older male this season, so I think they are headed in the right direction.

Also I don't think some of the girls were all that pretty. One I won't call out by name tuned out to be a lot prettier then I thought she would be when she was overweight.