http://www.upworthy.com/look-at-all-the-ways-pop-culture-discriminates-against-a-certain-body-type-how-wrong-is-that?c=ufb1
I can't wait for this documentary to come out. Like we've discussed in class, beauty standards hold women (as well as men) to impossible standards. The question should be about health rather than size; fat should not be villainized.
I particularly liked the quote: "Many studies show that when you're calorie deficient you're not as cognitively active as you would be otherwise...So it's a way of weakening women and keeping them focused on something irrelevant so they can't be as powerful in the world".
This quote reminded me of Naomi Wolf's "The Beauty Myth" (which if you have not read yet, I highly recommend it. I am not exaggerating when I say it changed my life and my way of thinking about beauty norms.) Wolf says:
The ideology of semistarvation undoes feminism; what happens to women’s bodies happens to our minds. If women’s bodies are and have always been wrong whereas men’s are right, then women are wrong and men are right. Where feminism taught women to put a higher value on ourselves, hunger teaches us how to erode self-esteem. If a woman can be made to say “I hate my fat thighs,” it is a way she has been made to hate femaleness. The more financially independent, in control of events, educated and sexually autonomous women become in the world, the more impoverished, out of control, foolish, and sexually insecure we are asked to feel in our bodies. Hunger makes women feel poor and think poor. (p.197)
I, personally, know many women who struggle with eating disorders, and I can't help but see how pop culture has helped contribute to that. If you know anyone with an eating disorder you understand how all consuming and damaging it is; bright, charming women are reduced obsessing over calories and what they're going to eat and when, or whether or not they should be eating at all, instead of doing work out in the world and bettering themselves intellectually. If not taken to level of full on eating disorder, most women I know HATE their bodies and are constantly on a quest to "just lose ten pounds". Again, our culture needs to stop fixating on weight, and hopefully this documentary reaches a lot of people.
“A cultural fixation on female thinness is not an obsession about female beauty but an obsession about female obedience.”
The trailer to this movie looks really interesting. When the one academic talks about how a lack of calories hurts cognitive abilities thus weakening women it seemed very relevant to many of the discussions we've had in class about creating ways to keep women from paying attention to things other than their bodies.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is really important to look at the implications behind what society determines makes a woman beautiful. The example I always turn to is of the fact that larger women used to be considered to be more beautiful because it was a sign of wealth, but now being small is a sign of wealth because it means you can afford healthier food and a gym membership. There are deeper reasons behind everything that is socially constructed.
ReplyDeleteI think Kurtis makes a great point. If you reflect back in time, beauty standards have changed tremendously. Just 50 years ago, Marilyn Monroe was considered to be one of the sexiest women alive, yet she wore an average woman's pant size. All of a sudden, the norm as become fad dieting and being as skinny as can be. This isn't to say that skinny isn't beautiful, especially with both women and men who are just naturally skinny individuals, but I think our society's beauty standards need to encompass all body types, hair textures, face shapes, etc. because we all are unique individuals who do not resemble one another.
ReplyDeleteReally interesting trailer and I'm curious to see this documentary. I agree with Kurtis and Kirstin in that weight has been socially constructed and i have said this before in class that what really upsets me is that i feel more pressure from women to look a certain way than i do men. I think this is a huge issue that needs to be addressed as well.
ReplyDeleteThis was great. I have always been fat but I never let it stop me from doing anything in life. I wouldn't be until I mad someone mad that they would remind me I was fat.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your suggestion of the beauty myth. I have read a few reviews of it, and it seems to be highly acclaimed within the feminist community. This is an issue that I, personally, struggle with, and this seems to be a must-read for all feminists struggling with this issue.
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