Students taking a fashion course at Centereach High School in Long Island were given reading materials that taught them “quick-and-easy, tried-and-true ways to reduce the appearance of those mini-rolls.”
Included in the course materials were helpful tips on how to deal with “Bad Bad Butt” (by not wearing “mom jeans” because “looking stumpy is never good”), what sort of bikini bottoms and swimsuits to wear to flatter your body type and this helpful rule to live by: “The softer the flesh, the chunkier the fabric should be: knits, wovens, any fabrics.” Because “Ever see a really chubby person in some super-thin T-shirt fabric? Yeah. Not pretty. Don’t be that person.” The students also received helpful tips on dealing with “back fat” — because “Busty? Good. Booty? Good. Back fat? Eh, not so good.” Another page recommended that girls whose thighs rub together should avoid wearing shorts.
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This in the year 2015, when in the United States some 20 million women (and 10 million men) suffer from eating disorders. Don’t educators know better by now? I can see course materials on teaching students on how to dress for the occasion: Don’t wear a swimsuit to a funeral! Wear a hat and gloves when you are outside in January and it’s snowing! Don’t wear high heels if you will be hiking! But this sort of body-shaming nonsense is ridiculous and has no place in a high school curriculum, especially when young women are so susceptible to low self-esteem, body dysmorphia and eating disorders and are inundated with media that tells them they have to be a certain size and look a certain way to be attractive.
According to Long Island News 12, the Middle Country School District “is investigating the use of inappropriate classroom material. Further use of these materials or materials similar in nature will not be permitted, according to the district.”
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That’s good news, at least, but you would think the teacher who handed out this information would have known better to begin with. I’m going to celebrate this happy news by putting on a very thin T-shirt.
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