This is a response to “Funny Bones: Eating Disorders in Comedy.”

Flooded online are messages promoting self love and putting yourself how but how? Harmful assertions about weight and eating disorders are portrayed in film and everyday media. How is it possible to love yourself when there are contradictory messages all around.

Harmful messages about food are inevitably connected to messages about self love in popular media. Oftentimes in shows, girls are depicted as feeling less worthy due to how they look or how much they weigh. This connection is usually laughed off and is depicted as being normal. Or, it is often glossed over with self-love jokes that always land back with talk of weight or food.

To do better, the media first needs to stop hiding self-deprecating humor in jokes to appeal to an audience that does not find those jokes funny. Also, in order to preach self-love, characters need to be depicted as loving the whole of themselves and not just live in a world of fake confidence that is brought down at any second by someone who gives them a so-called-reality-check.

The media needs to do better, for young girls who will end up hating themselves or parts of themselves after watching tv where they feel like nothing about themselves will be good enough. Self-love and confidence directly related to attraction from the opposite sex is also a narrative that needs to stop being portrayed in the media.