The Nintendo Wii that was recently brought into my household has me addicted. My two younger sisters, my parents and I hop onto the Wii Sports every day and see what our fitness age is, and rather competitively. I recently beat everyone's high score in "Picking up Spares", and I lie in bed hoping that when I wake up I'll still be the top runner. Having never really played much more than Freecell, I understand the attraction, and I'm all up for getting the chillers off the couch, even if they're not sitting in a puddle of water for an afternoon, poking at ants with a stick, much like I used to.
Recently, however, my cousin brought over Wii Fit (you know, the one with the strangely anthropomorphic white board that you aren't allowed to jump on). Before you can play Hula Hoops, or Ski Jumping, or do any of yoga moves, you have to have your BMI tested, and then you have to set a goal to loose a certain amount of weight before a certain time.
My youngest sister is 13, and is having some body image problems. My partner and I try to undo some of the damage by explaining to her why she feels fat when she's just a different shape to the coathangers that clothes hang on <insert basic feminist thought on body image here>.
It doesn't help when a machine uses an outdated method of measurement to test whether or not someone is "underweight", "ideal", "overweight" or "obese", tells my sister that she's overweight. In fact, my girlfriend and I were the only ones who were "ideal", which of course made everything much harder when we tried to explain that it's because we don't have as much muscle as my sister.
But it doesn't stop there, my feminist friends. The Mii that you make gets fatter or thinner depending on what your BMI is. That's right - the avatar of you swells to a ridiculous size if your BMI is over 25. It then asks you how much weight you want to lose. My girlfriend was 22, and the machine still suggested that she lose some pounds. I nearly punched it - the women in my life were being told that they aren't thin enough to play a videogame... when and where will it stop? Just when you think that showing ridiculously (and impossibly) thin people everywhere is as bad as it's going to get, they come up with the technology to make you feel unattractive directly.
I'm not saying that people shouldn't have motivation IF they want to lose weight. Surely, though, cartooning the problem and teasing them (gently, one might say, but I can see that it is still violent) is not the way to go.
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thanks for caring :) i actually just went on a 45 minute rant the other day to my boyfriend about how debilitating it really is to go clothes shopping. in one store you are a size 12 in another store you are a size 16, even this stupid sizing system blows. it is kind of everywhere, you log onto facebook and the ads say "are you a fat bride?" "need to get rid of that muffin top?" etc. It is really everywhere. The BMI stuff is actually a bunch of crap, it doesn't take into account muscle mass because my boyfriend weighs 220 lbs and is 6 feet five inches supposedly he is overweight. (He also played basketball for 11 years of his life). If you were to see what he looks like I wouldn't even say he is average I would say he is thin if anything. Sigh. :(
Thank you for this. This is exactly why I refuse to buy a Wii Fit. As much fun as it sounds, I will NOT use one until they re-release it with the BMI test removed. I'd settle for the BMI test staying in there if it were optional. Truly optional, meaning if you don't want to take it you never have to. Not even initially. And you should be able to use it without setting a weight loss goal. My goal is to ave fun while doing something physical. What my weight does in the process is really up to my body, not me.
I started running last year and I've lost 60+ pounds because of it. My BMI is still something like 37 or 38. The Wii would tell me I've got one foot in the grave, but I'm in the best shape I've been in since high school (or possibly ever).
rootedwillow, I had that same problem on facebook too so I changed some of my information on there - if you list yourself as male or "no gender" you get waaaay less of those ads. And you can also click thumbs up/down on the offensive ads and mark them as "offensive" or "irrelevant".
Nintendo took some grief over this, especially since BMI calculations just aren't accurate for people under a certain age. I know they issued an apology, but I don't know if they've taken any steps to change things in future releases.
One thing I wondered when I first read about it was whether Japanese culture views weight issues differently than the US does, and in which ways. Of course, when it was localized, Nintendo of America really should have done some editing.
alixana, there are culturally different views, but IMO since they change various things about other games for international releases, there's no reason they couldn't edit this one. Also, if you read about the game's creator, Shigeru Miyamoto, is notorious for an incredibly biased and hateful view about overweight people and a nearly obsessive quest to get everyone thin and "healthy."
It makes me incredibly sad that someone like him is behind the greatest video game series ever (he also created the Legend of Zelda games).
What if your goal is weight *gain*? My son is 12 years old and 53 lbs. If I was to bring a Wii Fit into the house, it wouldn't be for anyone to lose weight, it would be for him to get some physical activity, since he does nothing but play video games. And if he exercised, he would likely build muscle, which weighs more than the skin and bone he's got now.
How dare they create a game for *fitness* which assumes that everyone wants to lose weight? Fitness may include gaining weight, or staying at the same weight while converting fat to muscle. And what if you're a fit pregnant woman who wants to use the game to remain fit? (You're not supposed to *start* an exercise routine if pregnant, but if you're accustomed to exercising it's perfectly healthy to continue to exercise.) Pregnant women are pretty much never supposed to lose weight, based on today's health guidelines.
This is bullshit. I won't buy this game.
"I nearly punched it"....Just find the guy who designed it and punch him. You know it's gotta be a guy.
Wow. I had no idea you had to do this is Wii Fit. It looked like it might actually be fun (I've really enjoyed some of their other games - if I get another console, this might be it). But why can't they have games that encourage fitness as just a fun activity? That's the healthy attitude, not seeing exercise as existing for the purpose of beautification (and yes it is about thin ("fit") = beautiful, which is of course of upmost importance) - I mean, the fatty avatar? Come on. Like the above poster said, what if your goal is to gain weight? Regular exercise should be promoted as part of a good life, not as your lot in life when you're fat.
What if your goal is weight *gain*? My son is 12 years old and 53 lbs. If I was to bring a Wii Fit into the house, it wouldn't be for anyone to lose weight, it would be for him to get some physical activity, since he does nothing but play video games. And if he exercised, he would likely build muscle, which weighs more than the skin and bone he's got now.
Yeah, I'd be in that same category, I'm thin, I'm fine with my weight, a few more muscles would be cool, though (and I'm a fat activist ally, and pro-HAES). So would they condemn me for my underweight-ness? Would I get a skeletal Mii? Even when I too feel perfectly healthy?
Profoundsarcasm; THANK YOU!!! Why am I thanking you? Because just last week on the news (in NZ) they were telling us that if your BMI is in excess of 35 it will be almost impossible for you to lose weight...well; that isn't true now, is it?
But I think the BMI thing is good. Outdated or not; I'd like to know just how fat I am...just as a justification.
Actually if you're underweight it puts you on a reverse diet, aiming towards a higher BMI. What's annoying though is it doesn't tell you how to do this and even when your Mii goes onto training exercises in the WiiFit it tells you 'this will help you burn calories'- I was on the jogging exercise thinking I'd gain muscle that way and it was talking about 'burning those caleries'.