I found this assignment very interesting, especially after reading the articles and watching the films. The question posed, “Why do you think we live in a culture where people are increasingly larger and heavier, where obesity has been on the rise for years, yet the media projects extreme thinness as an icon for female (and often male) beauty?”, I feel has always been in the back of my mind, but I have never taken the time to sit down and rationalize why this could be. The first thing that comes to my mind on why American’s are so overweight is because of the timely schedule that we run on. Working American’s work much more than some other countries, leaving us less time to go home with our families to enjoy a nice home cooked meal. This leads me to my next point. About 50 years ago, it was very uncommon for women to have a job; instead they were stay at home wives or mothers. These days however, many women work which means that they are not always home to have a meal prepared for their families. I can’t seem to fathom why our media portrays a skinny society. Who ever said that being skinny was attractive? Why isn’t being over weight attractive? These questions I have wondered for quite sometime. The one thing that I feel greatly effects the way media portrays women and men, is
Martin, Katie, Ferris, Anne. "Food Insecurity and Gender are Risk Factors for Obesity." Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior 39(2007): 31-36.
3 comments:
It is very strange to think about the fast pace of most Americans lives today and the effect that has on our eating habits. I remember being younger and having to run from school to some lesson to baseball practice back to school for some event and eventually home to do homework later that night. I have no idea what I remedy for situations such as these are, since I think the more opportunities children can have early on, the better! It is difficult to find a balance between home life and social activities. In situations with such busy families leading such busy lives, it unfortunately becomes a neccesity to simply eat fast food or something instant.
In response to Ashley, "over weight" WAS once attractive. Ever heard the term "Rubenesque?" This refers to the ample women that Peter Paul Ruben was famous for painting. He was a VERY successful artist. And Marylin Monroe was a size 14.
In response to Adam's comment, I read an interesting article that stated that people are less happy when they have more choices. It was specifically referring to the time it takes to decide on which of the fifty shampoos you want. When I'm standing in the aisle trying to decide which one, I totally agree with that article. Surely, my life would be easier with only five shampoo options. So I don't necessarily agree with Adam that it's great for kids to have "more opportunities...early on." We're self-improving ourselves to death/insanity.
The lack of time can be attributed to the theme of Americans getting more obese as time is passing, but as I look around the world I don't believe that the general public has time to workout or keep themselves skinny so I don't know if obesity is directly linked with our busy schedules. I do believe that it definetly has a big impact on it and I did enjoy this point of view.
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