“Women, "health", and the beauty standard - Feministing” plus 1 more

Women, "health", and the beauty standard - Feministing

Posted: 14 Jun 2010 12:15 PM PDT

*Note: possible eating disorder related trigger

So I've been thinking a lot about how much of women's "health" is aimed at things other than, you know, actual health. I speak here, personally, as a young, fairly thin woman. Not fashion model material, but measuring as the so-vaunted hourglass figure. I also speak as someone who has watched a mother gain weight from medicine, and the aftermath of that.

To start, a few personal stories. At one point, I basically stopped eating. I was having solid food once every three days or so. A number of people complimented me, told me how good I looked, how wonderful it was that I had managed to lose weight. Even though I was already at the very bottom of the "healthy" scale. (My BMI is naturally somewhere between 17 and 18.)

Another incident: Last semester I enrolled in a strength training class. Yes, for my health. Primarily because exercise helps my mood immensely, secondarily because I just plain want to be a bit stronger and thought it would be better to get some training in a supervised environment instead of hurting myself on my own. I was amazed at the number of responses that, explicitly or implicitly, said that I was doing it for my weight. Some were outright warnings not to "get too into it," because I would start looking "masculine" if I gained too much muscle mass. Some were comments like "Why would you do that? You already look great!"

Note one thing in common here: while both situations were framed as being about my health, neither really ended up having anything to do with my health. My "health" apparently consists, almost exclusively, in how attractive I look. This, I think, is the important point. Our society frames healthy in terms of what it thinks is attractive. These need to be divorced from each other. The most obvious connection is in eating disorders, but this affects all of us. Health is a complex thing, and we are almost expected to sacrifice it for the sake of beauty. In closing: take care of yourself, sisters, no matter what body shape you have, and don't let anyone tell you that you are healthy or unhealthy based on whether you are thin or fat.

Oh, and, feel free to discuss more ways this affects heavier-weight women, women of color, etc. Like I said, I am naturally thin, I'm sure there's plenty of effects that I'm missing here.

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6 Comments

Sweaters were my best friend when I was having eating issues. I really didn't want the more unsightly aspects of that time to be visible, to myself or others. Some of my friends were worried regardless.

Even though I know I shouldn't care, I can't help but think of my appearance whenever I think about my health and weight. My figure (what little of one I have) is important to me. It frustrates me, because I'm all about being accepting of different body types, yet at the same time I want the 'ideal' figure for myself.

I see this all the time. I'm overweight, but I'm not unhealthy. I mean this as in I go to the doctor and my BMI registers as obese (what a loaded term). But then you look at my other indicators (blood pressure, cholesterol, etc,) and I'm in the normal range. I'm 5'3" and 185 lbs for those of you familiar w/ US measurements.

I now eat (mostly) healthy and I exercise for one hour 2-3 times a week, in a high intensity cardio setting. In addition, 2-3 times a week I exercise leisurely in walks or swims.

However a few years ago my blood pressure was getting disturbingly high for someone in their 20's and I had to admit I wasn't exercising hardly at all. So I started these activities that I now love. And of course, when doing these activities, I got the feedback that, "Oh I'm sure you'll see the pounds just come off soon!" Or "don't go shopping, you don't want to buy clothes that will be too big in a few months."

But it couldn't be about weight for me anymore. If I want to be healthy, I have to get my mind in the right place first...meaning I have to accept my body as is. When I didn't, I was too ashamed to try things...like yoga or kickboxing, which are actually great fun for me now.

I totally agree. Thank you for sharing. The "will to health" is such a powerful moral imperative in our society and I've seen very few feminist analyses of what that means for women's bodies, which are always policed to meet the ideal beauty standard (whatever that is).

As a woman recovered from an eating disorder, I look back now and see how frighteningly easy it was for me to cover up my illness because I was doing what was "healthy" (in terms of diet and exercise).

I'm now in your situation, too. I strength-train to improve my mood and feel stronger. (Plus, it's good for your bones if you have had an ED.) And I get the same comments! I really wish people would stop warning women away from strength-training.

Thanks for posting so honestly about your experiences.

I've had similar issues regarding the assumption that thin=healthy, and that people only pursue health because they are trying to lose weight.

I work out every day for half an hour, and a lot of people will make comments like, "You don't need to work out, you're already skinny!" --as if weight loss is the only reason for exercising. Actually, I'm trying to get some nice biceps because I think strong arms are sexy. Weight loss has nothing to do with it.

A few days ago, a dude at a cafe said, "Why would you want green tea? You don't need to lose weight!" and I was infuriated. I don't even believe that green tea has an effect on weight loss. I drink it because it's a kickass antioxidant and tastes good.

My respect for women who go against the cultural status quo and build some muscle is enormous. I don't think that there's anything masculine about it, especially given how much harder it is for women to bulk up. I also have much respect for women who do real pushups.
I am baffled by the cultural pressure that women are under to avoid becoming stronger. It is totally awesome to have your girlfriend able to carry her end of the couch. There is so much pressure on women to accept that they are weak and should be weak, and that sucks in a bad way.

Yes, exactly, agreed, well-said. I went to a nutritionist when I came home from Peace Corps, because I wanted to start a habit of eating well. And that's what I told her. Within ten minutes, she said, "We'll get that weight off you." and I was majorly taken aback--because I never said I was there to lose weight. She just assumed.

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Second Street Dollar General opening nears - Review

Posted: 19 Jun 2010 08:16 PM PDT

WELLSVILLE - Village shoppers have a new place to shop for everyday essentials with the opening this week of the new Dollar General at 348 Second St.

A grand opening celebration is set for 8 a.m. July 3, according to company officials, who said special deals and free prizes will be offered to customers during the grand opening event.

The first 50 customers at the store that day will receive $10 Dollar General gift cards and the first 200 shoppers will receive Dollar General tote bags and other giveaways.

The new 13,503-square-foot store features a fresh layout designed to make shopping simple for customers, officials reported. Some of the store's new features include seasonal products in the center of the store, easily recognizable departments with visible signage and coolers conveniently located, they added.

Between six and 10 people are employed at the new store, and applications are still being accepted at www.dollargeneral.com, which also provides more employment information.

In addition to convenience for customers, Dollar General offers national and private brand foods, housewares, seasonal items, cleaning supplies, apparel and health/beauty care products.

The company also is involved in the communities it serves and is an ardent supporter of literacy and education, having founded the Dollar General Literacy Foundation in 1993 which has since awarded more than $40 million in grants to non-profit organizations.

The company has more than 8,800 stores in 35 states, more retail locations than any retailer in America, according to promoters.

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Health and Beauty

Saturday, June 19, 2010