Down to the Bones

If we all took off our clothes right now (stay with me here), and then stripped off our hair and skin and muscle and organs, what would we find underneath? Why, our bones, of course!

Have you seen this remarkable video?

It’s a wonderful message about how alike we all really are, and how we all make judgments about others based on labels. From the official video YouTube description, the creators say:

[…] many of us unintentionally make snap judgments about people based on what we see—whether it’s race, age, gender, religion, sexuality, or disability. This may be a significant reason many people in the U.S. report they feel discriminated against.

We’re touched by this video because it reminds us that we are so very much alike, down to our bones. The creators of this video challenge us to rethink our biases, and remind us that Love Has No Labels. Of course, I wish that the video included the lesson that Love Has No Size, and that the creators had mentioned size in the description I quoted above. That said, there are references to size bias on the website. Great!

Anyway, this video got me to thinking about a new ad from Reebok, as part of their “Be More Human” campaign. It caught my eye because it’s a commercial about athletes, and, sigh, features no fat bodies. (I’m not surprised, but I am disappointed.) This is the “Freak Show” commercial, which is the only one I’ve seen on the telly; there is also one called Honor (“How will you honor the body you’ve been given?”) and one called Play (“How often do you let your inner child out?”); neither feature fat bodies.

So! I decided to go to the website and find out how human I really am. Here are my results (click the image for a closer look):

reebok

Well, “sturdy” is definitely not the worst thing I’ve been called. (I do find it funny that I scored highest in fitness. Doesn’t the quiz know that fat people aren’t fit?!) I’m a little concerned, though, that I’m only 87% human. What’s the rest of me, Cylon? Time Lord? If you want to find out if you are part alien, too, be my guest.

While the quiz bases humanity on a variety of factors, the advertising campaign seems to say that your level of humanness is centered around what your body looks like because of the fitness activities in which you partake (because, obviously, everyone ends up looking lean and muscular…). I guess the people who came up with this campaign missed the message that we’re all the same in our bones, eh? Well, I suppose they must have done some market research that proves you make more money preaching their message, rather than one about how we’re all wonderful and worthy, no matter what we look like.

Despite what Reebok (and thousands of other companies with their eyes on your wallet) would have you believe, your degree of humanity isn’t determined by or dependent on how you look, what you do, what you believe, how old you are, or who you love. So here’s a challenge for you: Go out in the world and see people’s bones. Look through the things that make us different – race, age, gender, religion, sexuality, disability, and size – and see what makes us all the same.

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