I'm really interested in people's perceptions of overweight and underweight people, and how the media or other influences might affect those perceptions.
I am personally appalled by the media's perception of what is ATTRACTIVE.
(UPDATE: I just read this great article that capsulized my thoughts about AMERICAN culture at this moment>
"As a newly affluent "youth market," it was baby boomers who helped usher in a commercialized popular culture that has become more powerful and awful than they could have imagined. You don't have to be Bob Dole or Dan Quayle to believe that virtues such as self-restraint and discipline are getting harder to sell, and ever more socially desirable. Adolescent drift and empty hedonism can't be brushed off merely as a phase, readily outgrown. For some vulnerable teen-agers, these traits can't be outgrown. Think of all the inner-city girls who have babies, and all the inner-city boys who are dead.[Hulbert, Slate 1996]"
A lot of how we perceive the world is governed by how we perceive ourselves. Not in all cases though.
Subconsciously people say things that are forced into their brains by media and NOT JUST fashion mags but MEDICAL SOURCES.
I have found the medical industry to be just as OFF as the fashion industry because they want to sell drugs like fen-fen and redux and such just like the fashion police want to sell their clothes.
When you're 42 and wearing size 14 and want to go to the beach this summer and you need a swimsuit...where do you go buy one? Does it matter if you buy it online or at a department store where most of the women shopping with you are the same size? Yes, in that department store are racks filled with suits best for your teenage daughter. Why is that? Cuz, your teenage daughter is obviously the BIGGEST market at the time. Society is telling our overweight mothers to not bother going out to the beach with their daughters! And the daughters are saying, I'd rather not go out to the beach with my mother anyway...sad, but true. The family unit is being trampled on and most families aren't doing a damn thing about it. It's all about the love of profit in the media. Parents be on guard what you allow into your household...even certain attitudes.
Most kids today in HS and JUNIOR HIGH are being praised more for their athletic abilities than for their cerebral ones. So, the corruption in perception is being propagated by major leaders of the community, teachers and coaches. I wish extracurricular sports was more about learning how to play as a team rather than competition and athletic prowess (which is purely genetic in some sports i.e. basketball, but short people can kick ass too; there lies the personal perception thing).
I know my body will not look like this forever. I know I will have to start eating better and excercising more. My maternal grandmother is overweight and has diabetes. My mother is overweight and has hyperglycemia. I'm 25 and the same height as them at my age; 5'7.5", and weigh the same as they did at my age BEFORE they had children; 145lbs. We are all big boned. So, I guess having kids has a LOT to do with changing body chemistry!
So, all those models out there with kids have told us that they had to work DAMN hard to keep their body in shape after giving birth 3 or 4 times.
My family has had to deal with "fat" comments from everyone including, yes, even ME. I've learned this about it. It was very sensitive for them and way out of line for ME to tell them what they should do with their bodies and about something as personal as weight. I know, that if I wasn't the little ms. I am that I would be hurt too by the slightest insinuation that I was too fat...even though I already knew that as a fact. However, my mothers being who they are did not immediately WHACK me in the face...they just were obviously hurt and said so in a nice way. They even said they understand why i was saying it and that they had thought the same thing....and that was that...end of discussion...never bring up the topic again. It didn't mean they didn't NOT like being overweight, it just meant it wasn't something they wanted to discuss with someone who had NO IDEA what it was like yet.
More recently, I have noticed more and more of my female friends jumping on the FITNESS bandwagon. These gals have NO kids AND they're already skinny! Why are they paying 30 bucks a month for gym aerobics? Cuz, it's the cool thing to do. Now, these are women who are very wise and think very well of themselves and know looks is not everything and that health is important...but PLEASE...why do they have to go to a gym? I'm thinkin it's more of a social thing cuz all the "other" women friends are THERE. We all know the owners of the gym personally and we know they are fat...however, we NEVER say it.
I was out with my lanky friend one day and she's married with no kids. She just came right out and said...."I need to workout cuz I need to get rid of this tummy." NOW, for HER this tummy is like a NATURAL curvature of the stomach after one eats a meal. It's like 3 cms out at the MOST. I tell her she doesn't have a tummy, but what she tells me is..."I can't fit in my dresses, I don't want to buy new ones...so it's a problem"...and I say, "The problem is that you don't buy the right clothes to begin with...the stretch kind". The point is...she obviously perceives herself as being THINNER than she really is otherwise she wouldn't buy the sizes she does. Lesson being....we need to be realistic about our bodies and buy for the times we'll be eating meals and not for the times when we'll be FASTING.
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So everytime i see in a commercial on t.v. talking persperation, bad breath, feminine odors, menstration, makeup, hair, etc. I know that it's the corporations trying to find my weak spot in my self perception. They want ME to feel that I NEED their product to be a productive/healthy woman in society; to be attractive. However, I know that I'm attractive and will still be attractive even after I'm "fat". Cuz, my mothers still are married, still have jobs and still have self-respect and are productive/healthy citizens! HA HA. They don't take themselves too seriously when it comes to human foibles. Thank you God for my family and my somewhat good genetics. I was born with all my braincells and fingers so I could type this "opinion" tonight. That's what matters.
[This message has been edited by ]{arao]{e (edited 05-13-2002).]
