That Peloton Ad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pShKu2icEYw

I find complaints about the Peloton ad e useful because I interpret them as revealing the complainers attitudes about exercise and their gender politics. My question is not whether the ad is saying that a slender woman needs to lose weight. It is whether that is really the only reason the viewer can imagine to exercise. In other words, there are a LOT of possible reasons, among them:

1. Health
2. Energy
3. Focus
4. Training for a specific biking event
5. Increasing endurance for another sporting or life event
6. Weight loss

I put weight loss last. One could put it anywhere they want, of course, but I have a hard time understanding the complaint unless weight loss is #1.

A reader said that this reaction would be found among those who only exercise to lose weight. I suspect it would be even stronger among two groups, one psychological, the other political:

The psychological: they DON’T exercise, see weight loss as the only reason to do it, feel they need to lose weight (or feel pressured to do so by others or their own inner voices) and feel guilt, shame and fear.

The political. These take the position that women are judged primarily for their appearance, and that men are just trying to control women’s bodies. As long as one grasps that men are just as judged for their power and income, this has some…