more lessons from tabloids

[anotheranon]

Evidently there is only one weight at which women (regardless of height, age, or overall health) are "perfect". Deviations of more than a couple of pounds either way result in either "scary skinny" or "out of control weight gain" (neither of these are citeable quotes but very much the gist of the headlines).

And any woman who doesn't have abs like a washboard has a potential "baby bump", giving rise to any number of headlines debating whether she's pregnant or just hideously fat.

Is it any wonder that no one (women included) have any idea what real women are supposed to look like?

Comments

[fabucat.livejournal.com]

even more confusing because we don't know what that weight is.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

That's ok - I don't think they do either!

[plaidsheep.livejournal.com]

wonderful.

I refuse to play that game anymore.

I've been reading Geneen Roth's book on "Breaking Free of Emotional Eating" and it really has opened my eyes to how much time (women) waste obsessing about food and what we can and cannot eat.. (translating to.. if we eat that we will get fat and nobody will love us anymore).

I just feel annoyed that I spent so much time and money over the years trying to fix the "wrong" problem.

F'ing tabloids.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

You should feel annoyed - the constant policing of our weight (and other worries about our looks) wind up being tedious wasters of brain cycles that never address the real, underlying concern (if we aren't perfect physically, no one will love us).

Strangely, men are now starting to have the same kind of self-conciousness about their weight: I work with a few guys who really do count how many cookies they eat, etc. I could crow triumphantly that men now know the emotional contortions women go through re: unrealistic body image, but instead I think it's kind of sad - dragging one group into the silliness doesn't really help the others, does it?

[psquelly.livejournal.com]

One of the most enlightening moments I had was at the end of YaYa Sisterhood when Vivi asks Sidalee if she looks fat and Sida thinks something about how she's actually asking if she's taking up too much space.

Take up space!