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| Fitness |
 Scales are for Fish, Not Women - Part
1By Carol Fredrek The current female ideal image is the athletic body. Not only slender, but a “slender and tight” body. The new message is to avoid fat and anything that “jiggles.” The ideal female shape has been getting thinner and thinner. Models in advertisements in the 1990’s are at least 10 kilos lighter than they were in the 1950’s and 1960’s, as stated in the reports available at www.psychology 4all.com/ EatingDisorders.htm. Young girls, in particular, are likely to see themselves as unattractive unless they are able to have the popular ideal figure. We live in a society where thinness is valued, dieting is the norm, and perfectionism is emphasized. In patriarchal cultures - men dominant societies - the media reinforces these values. Thin women are seen as more beautiful and consequently as having greater sexual allure. Power and health are the implicit personality characteristics that are associated with a thin physique. In this society normal eating may be ‘dieting,’ but for women there is more to dieting than just normal eating; it means striving for the ideal image. This ‘perfectionism’ is defined in terms of the perfect body, by shape or weight. Women seek out and are more susceptible to external validation than men are. Consequently, a cycle of striving for perfection, expecting approval and receiving approval becomes established. Over the past 20 years there has been an increase in eating disorders and cosmetic surgery. Consumer spending doubled (fashion, dieting, cosmetics, hygiene) and pornography became the main media category. Men have controlled the means of representing women and their bodies since the triumph of patriarchy. It has not always been this way. Only 3000 years ago patriarchal cultures conquered the goddess worshipping cultures. In these cultures, goddess figures were both fat and pregnant, linking obesity with sexuality and fertility. It is difficult now to conceive of fat, healthy women. Women are socialized to feel that they should suffer to attain the cultural ideal. Is it surprising that in a Glamour magazine survey, 61% of respondents said they were ashamed of their hips, 64% were ashamed of their stomachs, and 72% were ashamed of their thighs? According to Radar Programs, an organization that specializes in the treatment of eating and related disorders including sexual abuse, 50% of women wear size 14 or larger, but most standard clothing outlets cater to sizes 14 or smaller - www.raderprograms.com More facts regarding the weight and image issue: •Diet and diet products are a 33 billion dollar per year industry. •81% of age 10 girls are afraid of being fat. •The average US woman is 5’4” and weighs 140 pounds. In contrast, the average US model weighs 117 pounds. •One out of every four TV commercials sends out some sort of message about attractiveness. •Studies have shown that women’s magazines had 10.5 times more ads and articles promoting weight loss than men’s magazines www.nationaleatingdisorders.org Advocating that the media present more diverse and real images of people with more positive images about health and self-esteem would assist to reduce the pressure many people feel to make their bodies conform to the ideal image, and in the process, reduce feelings of body dissatisfaction. To help promote healthier body image messages in the media, you can: •Talk back to the TV ad that promote only thin body ideals that make you feel bad; •Write letters to an advertiser that send positive messages; •Talk to others about how media messages make them feel. Suggestions to help defend against negative messages: •Be Realistic; •Believe in your own uniqueness and appreciate your body; •Pamper your body; •Exercise to connected and feel better about your body; •Seek out others in your life who value you for who you are and not what you look like, and; •THROW AWAY THE SCALE!! Next Issue: Part Two - What is Body Image? Carol Fredrek, MA is a counsellor in private practice specializing in women's issues, eating disorders, depression, chronic illness; certified in EMDR; individual, couples, groups, seminars. Call 208.4456 or fredrek@shaw.ca |