I saw it twice on television last week. Or rather, I saw it twice on the two channels that my TV set chooses to receive on a regular basis, but still, twice on only two channels is quite a feat. Maybe some of you saw it, too.
They started out as an average Italian family: morbidly obese.
And I can say that because I come from a very Italian family. (My mother just called me a few minutes ago; she's sending me a huge pasta pot.) Not all of us are morbidly obese, I'll give you that, but we all know how to eat. Italian meals start with antipasto at noon and don't end until sundown.
This particular obese Italian family decided to do something about their overeating. One of the daughters - who later convinced her parents, cousins, siblings, and LIVE IN CHEF to follow her lead - got her stomach stapled.
For those who don't know about this lovely procedure, the surgeon removes something like three-fourths of the stomach, similar to surgery used for stomach cancer, and staples the rest closed, making a cute little miniature stomach. Some intestine is also removed. Then, the person feels full after eating four ounces of anything. Four ounces! So after half a glass of water, the person feels stuffed. You can imagine how this goes over in an Italian family.
From then on, the pounds come off. Why? Since the person is eating so little and feeling so full, their body basically FEEDS OFF ITSELF. All the fat reserves are sucked back and used as energy, since the body obviously can't use four ounces of water as fuel.
Sooner or later, the stomach stretches out, although never to its original size. Around four follow-up surgeries are needed, and if there is ever any spillage of the acids from the stomach, the patient can die, since the stomach acid will EAT THROUGH THEIR FLESH.
This leaves the patient who used to weigh 360 pounds now weighing in at 139, wearing size fours and somehow keeping her tits.
The rest of her family followed suit, including their live in chef. No one would have thought that maybe the root of this whole problem WAS the live in chef. All the family members lost over 100 lbs.
My question is, why is something like this considered a "technological advancement" and triumphed, while anorexia is a "disease?" Why is one so fashionable that even the lead singer of Blues Traveller will get it done, and the other sends its victims to the psych ward? Why is the one that costs money and hospital time considered healthy, while the one that you can do at home in your spare time considered a tragedy?
The only difference between the two is that anorexics have the willpower to stop eating on their own. The Italian family and friends network, total of seven people, had to have most of their stomachs removed so that they wouldn't eat. But the mentality behind these acts, and the emotional state that provokes them, is the same.
Still somehow one ends up on Entertainment Tonight, which shows these glamorous people as brave, gorgeous, and fashionable, and the other ends up strapped to a hospital bed, her veins filled with valium.
Hopefully this seems strange to some other people besides myself. I've heard about a dozen stories about stomach staplings so far in my life, and I'd die a much happier person if I didn't hear about any more of them.
Losing weight to fit in with other people's perception of beauty isn't that important. And it only means something when you do it with your own hard work and will power. A surgery for forced-anorexia is dangerous to your life and disgusting.
I feel sorry for anyone who feels they need to fork over a load of money for a surgeon to remove a scoop of their insides. Being able to afford the right kind of surgeries doesn't make you more attractive, it just means you had the money to afford the right packaging.
Alycia Smith is a junior English majorand columnist for
The Cardinal. Contact:: alycia_smith@louisvillecardinal.com
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