Today’s discussion was almost scary how much it applies to my life. Within the past two days, I have had almost identical talks with my friends about these issues. A couple of days ago, I was at the DUC with a friend and we were talking about how hard it is to eat healthy food because we think it does not taste as good. But this segued into the realization that healthy foods such as organic and locally grown food is much more expensive than other types of food that happen to be very unhealthy such as McDonalds or any other fast food chain. Thus, size very easily becomes a commentary on social class. And certainly, this has been true throughout history as well. Like Stephanie and Anya outlined in their presentation, it used to be considered a mark of wealth and abundance to be more corpulent. I think that this association is dangerous because it separates the classes visually as well as monetarily.
I also had another discussion with a friend recently. He asked me if I thought that the ideal of very skinny women and muscular men would still be prevalent if we had no movies or magazines. I do not think that we would have the same ideals or at least not to the extreme it is today. The movies and magazines make these tiny women the unattainable goal. However, without this media, I think that society would go back to considering more corpulent women as the ideal as it was before. Either way, I think that society would use weight as a social tool to promote the differences between the classes. This issue in our society is scary. I remember when I was in 5th grade being ashamed of my body. Looking back on that time, I get a deep sense of regret. Especially when you’re a child, you should not be concerned with your body unless it is very unhealthy. I wish this same concept could be applied to grownup today as well. We have so many other worries in life without having to obsess over weight because every woman is different. We all have different shapes, metabolisms, and heights. It is unfair and absurd that we should all be striving for the same goal.
1 comment:
I agree that weight and food had always been in a prominent part of society. I find it disappointing that society tends to give the message that weight (and thus health) can be controlled by what kind of food one eats. Exercise is mentioned as an after-thought, and "balanced life style" hardly exists in one's everyday vocabulary. Appearance has always been prominent in society throughout the ages. Appearance tells everyone a lot about you. Unfortunately, body type has become a large factor in displaying your current status in society. I don't see this issue going away easily. However, the drive towards one specific body type in a society could be addressed. We can change how one perceives others by their bodies. I feel that for Asians especially, if American media and Western media in general did not emphasize the slender body, then Asians would not push for that body because in the current age, Asians wish to do whatever Americans and Westerners want.
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