Analysis That lean and hungry look by Suzanne Britt Jordan

That lean and hungry look by Suzanne Britt Jordan: Analysis
The author, Suzanne Britt, refers to Julius Caesar in the tile “Lean and Hungry Look.” Julius Caesar thought that thin people are dangerous. Thin people were unsettling to Caesar who apparently though the company of fat people was way better than thin people. In his mind the fat men were more appreciative and trustworthy. According to Caesar heavier people are often nice because they do not have any reason to be mean to anyone while thin people are often rude and aggressive to the fat people because they are unable to perceive fat people for whom they really are. Jordan is trying to fight the stereotypical and hasty view in the generalization of the character of fat people vis-à-vis that of thin people. The truth is that all or most heavier people will not be necessarily ebullient not will thin people be necessarily stuck up and mean to the fat people. Jordan is trying to convince the audience that fat people have admirable attributes if only other people would care to look beyond their physical appearance. The logic used by the author is one of comparing fat people with thin people and presenting arguments that are discriminative of thin people with the hope that she will convince the reader that fat people are better.
Jordan compares mental characteristics of the thin and heavy people when talking about happiness. In the writing Jordan thin people are portrayed as bothersome. The thin people, according to Jordan, believe too much in logic and the detailed 2,000 point plans that must be followed if happiness is to be achieved. On the other hand fat people are presented as being aware of the fact that happiness cannot be defined. Jordan use the approach of contrast and comparison between the thin and fat people as a way of demonstrating that fat people have an advantage that most people are unable to perceive because they are under the delusion that fat people are unhappy and unattractive. Although Jordan is trying to appeal to a society that has been led to believe that ‘thin’ is good and ‘fat’ is bad, the approach used is blatantly stereotypical. Being fat is always associated with sickness, neurotics, and sadness. Jordan tries to appeal to the society that being fat is not as bad as people think it is.
Jordan also uses connotations in her article. She is trying to make the word fat sound acceptable. Normally the word fat is associated with negative connotations. Jordan uses it in the article in such a way as to make the word feel positive and perhaps a little better than thin. She argues in such a way as to make the audience support and vouch for fat people instead of the usual thin people. The fat people are made to look more approachable, more supportive, more understanding and less judgmental. Jordan also uses the word thin as a connotation. Her arguments point to the fact that ‘thin’ is not always as attractive as people would like to think.
The predominant argument used by Jordan is a humorous argument. This forms the ethos of the article since it allows Jordan to tackle deep stereotypes in the society without hurting the audience. Jordan uses a phrase like “If God was up there, fat people could have two doughnuts and a big orange drink anytime they wanted it” with a view of lifting the ego of fat people. She is appealing to logic. Humor, in the article, is used as a tool to entertain and to persuade the reader. Jordan seeks to rubbish the notion that thin people are fun and beautiful. Her article points to the fact that it is possible to enjoy life despite size. The use of humor works to build her argument and prove her point without necessarily distracting the audience from the main argument. The humor is entertaining. It makes it possible for the audience to introspect through her clear descriptions. Humor beautifully enlightens the audience to believe that thin people are not necessarily perfect and people who believe than thin is better are often wrong.
Discriminative and stereotypical attributes have negatively affected the society. This is because the music, media and news we see and listen to have allowed us to form delusional impressions. Superficial aspects of the society have taught us erroneous lessons of how we should dress and look. When people don’t follow the acceptable societal standards they are criticized and judged. It is this societal perspective that led Suzanne Jordan to pen down an informal argument. The goal was to reverse the cultural stereotype that judged fat people. The theme of her argument points to the value of happiness. She argues that no one needs to be thin in order to realize happiness. Her arguments are quite appealing to the audience. She effectively uses compare and contrast arguments, effective humor, relevance and logic, language, connotation and biases to drive her point home.
References
Jordan, S.B. (2014). That Lean and Hungry Look. Retrieved 3 October, 2018, from http://www.putclub.com/html/ability/Forliteratures/20140626/88081.html