Too bad that dip shit blond is mistaking health for unrealistic and sadistic beauty standards. She's right about the weight loss - look at Carrie Underwood. She's oh so wrong about the reasons.

Let's all send her mail and ask her if she knows what the word 'co-opted' means.

Typical FAUX Nooze commentary.

If that blond woman wants to make an example of an "obese" American idol - why not look at Ruben Studdard, the winner of the second season of Idol?
Jordan might be a little heavier than "average" but she is certainly not obese nor a bad role model for Americans.
Ruben was dangerously obese yet no one seemed to care - maybe simply because of his gender.

One additional point - Roth says that Jordan will lose 40 pounds. The kid would be pathologically underweight if she did that so clearly this isn't about health. I wonder if the interview paid enough for that woman to buy a clue.

Jennie--SUCH a good point. This clip made me nauseous. "When I look at her I see diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol...she's a vision of 'unhealth'" WTF?! I'm speechless.

yeah, I was pretty angry/saddened/frustrated/shocked when watching this. Unbelievable.

what roth fails to realize is that she can't look at a person and see if they are healthy or not. For all we know, Jordin could be healthier than meme's scrawny ass. I mean, really. There's bigger girls out there who are involved in all types of sports and meme would say they're 'unhealthy' because they 'look bigger'? come on.

I'm also appauled at fox for even thinking of airing this. well, maybe I shouldn't be that shocked considering its fox, but still.

*ugh* I think I just threw up a little in my mouth.

"Meme" – how appropriate.

40 pounds less from now, Jordin will be a "better" role-model for women and young girls most-likely encouraging them to constantly crash-diet and/or starve in order to get to an unrealistic body weight that the media and our society has decided is healthy and beautiful. This sickens me.

One thing I like about American Idol is that (despite issues of racism, and behind the scenes homophobia) it has remained a ratings juggernaut while featuring people who represent real body sizes. Some have gotten by on their looks, but the contestants really seem to be judged by the US public for their vocal talent.

oh ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww... just ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww...

By "on their looks" I meant by visually representing the mythical norm perpetuated by the media.
sorry

Beefy? Extra weight? WTF? She's not fat. She's not. I'm sorry. Yes, obesity is a health risk. She is not obese. I am an athletic training professional, and she looks just fine to me.

I totally agree with the other commenters, but I wanted to add something that seems to have gotten overlooked in other discussions of this clip: Jordin is freakin' 17 years old! Her body is still growing and developing! Roth's comments would be inappropriate regardless of the age of the contestant, but it's especially troubling to hear her rail against Jordin's unhealthiness when it would be particularly unhealthy FOR her to subject her body to dieting while she is still so young.

This is why so many young girls in this country starve themselves and have eating disorders to conform to the ideal, "healthy," tiny size.

I think Jordin looks great. Not everyone is meant to be built exactly the same; some women are curvier than others. I don't think Jordin looks obese at all, and she's definitely not sending the message that it's okay to be overweight. She was pretty much saying that if you're not rail thin, you're a bad role model. Ugh.

and did it piss anyone else off that the guy on the other side of the argument barely got to speak?

I hate fox news.

Jennie makes a great point. Where was this woman when Ruban won a few seasons back?

Considering the fact that Jordon is not actually obese, I have a feeling this isn't really much of a health issue. Most of the time when people complain about "obesity in the media" (like how some people complained about the full figured women in the Dove Beauty ads), they really don't care about health. I just think they don't want to see heavier people on TV and they use the obesity epidemic arguement to back them up without sounding like assholes.

I understand the concern for child obesity because it is increasing at an alarming rate. However, I don't think American Idol should adopt some "thin people only" policy because of it.

Are you fucking kidding me?

I love American Idol, and I was absolutely thrilled when Jordin won. One of the reasons I was so happy was because I feel that young women, such as myself, need more role models who don't look like twigs.

Jordin is a beautiful, amazing, talented, full figured teenage girl, and to call your the picture of "unhealth" and to say she looks "obese" is ridiculous. By this woman's standards, I and all of my friends need to lose at least forty pounds.

And so what if she was unhealthy and obese? Mandisa from the season before this one was smoking hot, yet clearly overweight. I agree with Jennie completely—if Jordin was a man, nobody would give a damn about her weight. Last season, Simon Cowell insulted Mandisa after her audition, by making a comment about her weight. He never said anything about Ruben, or any of the other countless males that auditioned for American Idol. But because every girl on American Idol has breasts and vaginas, they have to conform to a certain impossible beauty ideal.

Also, who ever said that overweight is not as beautiful as thin? If being obese is unhealthy, what is being anorexic-thin? If this blonde douche-bag really thinks being overweight is worse than being underweight, she seriously needs to get herself a fucking reality check.

And ErinAmelia, I too am pissed that the guy never got a chance to speak. Thank you, Fox News, for trying to get your misogynistic values across in an oh-so subtle manner.

One of the reasons that I loathe American Idol is that, during the episodes I watched (I like to watch the early episodes with the crazy people), if a woman was 10 or 20 lbs. overweight, Simon felt he had the right to comment about her weight, yet he never said the same thing about the men. I remember he said something to Frenchie about her weight, but she was waaaaay smaller than Ruben Studdard. Total double standard.

Yuck. Jordin is a babe. I wouldn't mind looking that hot. ;)

What kills me is that Jordin - and other American Idol contestants - are not doing something in which any body part save their vocal cords actually matters. She isn't a shrimpy basketball player; she isn't going on Miss America; and she certainly isn't advertising herself as the paragon of health and fitness.

If she were advertising for Hostess cup cakes, yeah, I could understand the problem. She's not - she's a singer. Can't we leave her alone?

PS - Mariah Carey has a butt double. No one complains about that...

Despite the obviously idiotic ramblings of Roth, I was actually waiting for all this garbage about Jordin Sparks' weight. She is a beautiful girl, and far more well-proportioned than I will ever be. But she isn't what the media considers "normal."
I agree with all the comments made that you can't judge someone's health by just how they look. By saying all that she sees are these diseases, it puts out the message that no matter what you do well, if you are overweight than it doesn't matter. You can be the best singer on American Idol Season 6, and that just isn't good enough for some people.
I think her ramblings are the reason why we have so many people who are so focused on their weight that they can't do anything else. I am overweight, and I am an pretty good writer and photographer. Should I give up everything I am good at to be skinny?

This sickens me. How in the world are we supposed to try and raise our daughters to have healthy body images, if women like the blonde (and in my opinion too thin) put women like Jordan down? There is NO WAY she is obese. She looks healthy and vibrant to me. It's women like the blonde in the interview that keep the women of this country insecure and unhappy with their bodies. She should be ashamed of herself. I'm ashamed for her.

That woman's crazy. Jordin looks a hell of a lot more healthy than the average runway model.

I think her position is more about her own problems than Jordin's.

I... don't know what to say, except; you go, Jordin! Show her what you're made of! (And please, make me want to watch American Idol, will you?) Interestingly enough, I haven't heard a word from Jordin herself; has anyone else? But I speak for many people when I say I am so sick of people hating women becasue they don't fit into society's definition of skinny. As the cultural definition of 'fatty', the taunts and comments I recieve (sp?) on a daily basis are the middle school equivalent of this women. Shouldn't we all be over this? For stuff like this, I listen to The Dresden Dolls song, 'Backstabber'. (Has anyone ever listened to it? It sounds like a song about Leslee Unruh, from a pro-choicer's point of view.)

Oops, double post. Sorry, my computer's acting up.

Anyone concerned about obesity should attack McDonald's, Arby's, nutrition classes in elementary school, and school lunches, not individuals, and especially not children. She's 17 years old and she doesn't deserve this criticism.

By the looks of her, Jordin is at least 6 feet tall. And wasn't her dad a football player? I'm almost he was an athlete of some sort. Maybe her size, which is perfectly normal-looking, is genetic.

What isn't genetic is her being pro-life. That's just plan stupid, but I wouldn't expect Fake News to bother with that.

I heard a while back that Jordin is pro-life; what I haven't heard is her reasoning and how she deals with it.

My huge issue with some pro-lifers is not that they oppose abortion (because very few people think it's a good idea), but their proposed methodology.

If we make abortion illegal tomorrow, not much will change. Wealthy women will travel elsewhere or get better birth control. Poorer women, raped women, or women with abusive boyfriends will still be in lousy positions. While I commend anyone for the strength of their convictions (such as singing at a pro-life, or a pro-choice, rally), I do think there are better uses of her time. Does that pro-life rally give money and supplies to women facing unplanned pregnancies? Help to fund vascetomies for lower-income families that have children and cannot afford more?

I don't think that anyone here has something against women (or men) who donate their time to help prevent unwanted pregnancy or give real options to women who are facing an unplanned pregnancy. There's nothing stupid about that.

ooh did that clip make my blood boil.
and didn't it seem like the 'counterpoint' guy hadn't been forewarned that the piece was going to be about jordin's size?
if this woman's soap box is preventing 'unhealth' then attacking a pretty stunning young woman is a gross way to do it. especially to say she'll drop 40 lbs the Second She Wins. like that's the opposite of 'unhealth.'
AND she should be a doctor if she can tell that jordin has diabetes, heart disease and high cholestorel just by looking of clips whence she's singing.
come on now.

Just a suggestion, but I don’t see any need to derail this thread into discussion about Sparks being pro-life. Media treatment of appearance/weight is a really valid topic and needs attention. I’d love to read more people’s thoughts on that.

Wtf? Sparks is not that overweight, not to a point where it is greatly affecting her health (if at all). That blonde freak is at high risk to have shit thrown at her while the crowd screams, "CUNT!" I'm glad she won.

"Unhealth?" Is that a word now? Has it always been a word?

Ugh, every time I watch a clip of Faux News, I want so badly for there to be a punchline. For example, in this clip, the blonde nutter could have keeled over dead from anorexia complications toward the end of the segment. Maybe that's too blunt or insensitive to be funny to many people, but it would be less depressing to me than the reality. Help me, Jon Stewart!

Then again, there are some clips so disturbing that I can't possibly imagine a punchline. Like the clip about a rapist/murderer on the loose in Florida during spring break, during the entirety of which the background stock footage consisted almost exclusively of close-ups of bikini-clad womens' boobs and butts. Wait, maybe Faux News was the rapist/murderer all along! Or at least the guy who compiled that stock footage. YUCK.

This is all completely psycho. If I may borrow a phrase from Sir Mix-A-Lot, Jordin's curves are kickin'. If anything looked like "unhealth" in that clip, it was the blonde's sunken cheekbones and the smarmy holier-than-thou attitude.

Jordin rocks, and I'm glad she won, she's talented and beautiful and probably pretty comfortable with her body seeing as how she's a plus size model for Torrid.

I was really glad to have seen that the last three female contestants were all full figured, and none of them were white!

As for her being pro-life... uhh... what does that have to do with anything? Not only is that completely off topic, but she is 17 years old. I'm pretty sure I had some heavy pro-life sentiments when I was 17 also.

"She'll lose 40 lbs, the handlers will make sure of that". Like she's a damn zoo animal. Jennifer Hudson didn't fall for it, and she looks good carrying the weight she does. And isn't it normal for African American women to be at least a little bit thicker? On her frame that weight looks good and it actually contributes to her voice.

I wish my doctor and I could have five minutes alone in a room with Ms. Meme! I am very overweight and have been most of my 30 years, but my blood tests show that I am a very healthy woman and I am not currently at risk for any of the problems she mentioned. I am active and strong, despite being "two 'Jordins'" overweight. The girl doesn't resemble a lollipop, so Meme looks into her trusty crystal ball and sees that 40 pounds need to come off?! I'm losing weight (nutrition and exercise) because I want to be as fit as possible, not to wear a size 2. Media reports like this are why 200lb. women are signing up for gastric bypass en masse! By the way, I have an aunt who is a size 0 and she taught me about seeing greener grass on the other side… The family was together for Christmas and my aunt received a tiny skirt/jacket set. My (size 16) sister said "Wow, that would be a legwarmer on me!" and everyone laughed. My aunt, nearly in tears, said "You have no idea how hard it is to be this size. I can never buy anything off the rack in normal stores without bringing it in for alterations, which is expensive. Only a few stores carry my size and most of the outfits are too "young" for my taste. No one seems to take me seriously because I'm so small, and larger women often aren't nice to me." Size is a very personal issue and no one conforms 100% to the ridiculous charts that doctors treat as gospel. Welcome to the dark side of fame, Jordin.

I love how Fox and other "news" networks pretend that Meme and her anti-pudge organization are something real.
Her "anti-obesity foundation" consists of herself and no one else! She has zero authority on issues of health and obesity--she's just someone who knows how to write an inflammatory press release and make a lot of noise.
It makes me sick that the "news" (not just Fox, but other folks too) give her a platform where people might actually take her seriously. Uhg.

Jordin full figured? WHAT?

Um...for those of you who keep saying she's a good rolemodel...yes, she's physically VERY attractive, but she's also a pro-life bible-thumper according to her websites. So, while she may be beautiful and talented, I don't particularly feel like buying her album for my stepdaughter.

this blonde douche-bag

Is this an appropriate term for a woman on this site?

Very nasty indeed. One question though: why is it all right to use blond/e the way it has been used in the comments? Isn't the point here to protest against look/size/...isms?