I think that a good way to summarize these readings is how Joan Brumberg starts off her piece: "Body Projects." She says, "In the twentieth century, the body has become the central personal project of American girls" (97). And the sad thing is that there is no way for us to deny it. Girls become aware of their age at such a young age. As Valdes points out, · “In this study fifty percent of nine-year-olds, and nearly eighty percent of the ten- and eleven-year-olds, had ‘put themselves on a diet because they thought they were too fat” (26). What was so interesting to me was to be able to view the older generations views on dieting when it first became such a large fad. This new way of defining themselves was a way for women to redefine themselves in terms that did not necessarily go along with how men viewed them. However, they were willing to take more risks and show more skin, to the extent that would have been thinking able before the 1920s. Brumberg notes at one point that Yvonnes new self image was one that she had "read about in women's magazines and popular advice books" (107). This idea that women's magazines would be encouraging women to put themselves out there displaying more of a sex appeal would contradict the the overall message that Ms. was trying to convey. Ms. magazine avoided placing ads in their pages that would send the message that they were not meant to be taken seriously. However, it is clear that today the image that sells is one that can promise to make you thinner. Valdes notes in her book that she is able to work at all of these high end fitness clubs where wealthy women came to maintain their slim figures. However, she feels as though she is betraying herself and her ideals by making money off of encouraging women to be thin. She even goes as far as to note, that “Anorexics fill my classes like worshipers in church, and no one stares” (Valdes 31). Being thin has come something that is so prominent in our culture today that we hardly think twice when we see someone so thin. We are getting sent the message in numerous aspects of our lives. It was nice to read about a women's magazine like Ms. that was not interested in making money off exploiting women, however, as I was reading the article I was also not surprised to hear that Ms. was not making much of a profit. In order to make money in todays society you have to endorse what sells. And unfortunately today, making women skinny is what sells.
Emily is absolutely right. And we talked a lot about this in class on Tuesday--of course Ms. Magazine wasn't making much of a profit. It doesn't objectify women or incorporate men as a prominent theme in the magazine. Women's health, I strongly believe, should not be associated with the idea that women MUST be skinny. I agree with most of her points but why does Valdes feel bad for encouraging women to get in shape? ...As an aerobics instructor, that's the kind of thing you DO want to achieve. She says, "I knew better than to encourage women's obsession with their appearance, including my own"(28). Unless I am misunderstanding, I really don't get why this is such a bad thing. You should want to encourage women to feel and look their best. You don't see men's fitness instructors or personal trainers feeling sorry for pushing their clients or instructing them to try their hardest. I think that when it comes to women's health, a woman should want to be healthy and fit and be their best self--that's what exercise is for after all. However, girls are very aware at a very young age about their weight, as Emily pointed out. So why must they immediately feel as though they are fat? Why is the pressure to stay thin in young girls' minds from the start? This is something I strongly encourage people to think about. how old are we when we first realize we "need" to stay thin? And what is the reason for these initial feelings?
ReplyDelete