Positive and negative body images blog

[isthishealthy]

I would like to introduce all of you to my blog:

In this blog I am to address the unhealthy body images that are projected by hollywood and the media. Through my posting and your comments, I hope that together we can reach women who buy into the stereotypes. If we can prevent one girl from developing an eating disorder we will have quite a victory on our hands. Please visit and contribute to the discussion!

www.isthishealthy.typepad.com

[debbie]

there is so much pressure on women in society that even i at one time was anorexic. i was 98 pounds at 5 foot 6 inches. i was sick all the time too. when i was a teen i weighed 85 pounds at this height. i was always looking at how other women looked and thought i was fat. instead i was a rail.
this rises some good statements. i think being a good healthy weight should be our attitudes. not a stick.
thanks for posting because i know how hard this disease is. i have been there. sometimes i still battle with it. now that i have gained so much weight from being sick i am hard on myself when i shouldn't be. i should want to take care of myself.
that's what all women should do. take care of themselves.
we are all beautiful in our own ways. :o

[KareBare]

in my honest opinion.....obesity is just as bad as anorexia or bulemia. both cause major health side effects. it would be gret if everyone could be a 'healthy' weight but sadly that will not happen. i honestly beleive to stick to a diet and a exorcise routine you have to be a bit finatic and take on some characteristics of a person who suffers from anorexia or bulemia...otherwise eventually you will go back to old patterns. i have a friend who eats only at meals and will not overeat and everyone calls her anorexic and i truly dont think she is. portions now a days are inflated. i think shes eating exactly what everyone should be eating and is the size of a normal person. thers a big differance between starving yourself completly and being on a strict diet. i havnt researched much on the topic but i cant think that being obese is anybetter then being anorexic or bulemic.....people should be as worried about obese ppl as they are 'scrawny people'. im not trying to offend anyone this is just my honest opinion. thanx.

[Irishgirl]

Here's my opinion for what it's worth..I have been on both sides of the issue..I have been thin and I have been overweight..The thing that disturbs me the most is that several high-profile actresses are so thin that they literally look like clothes hangers..Why? Well, they are products we buy just like something off of the grocery store shelf and if their images aren't just so..Well, there goes their careers. I have no clue as to why Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, and Rita Hayworth style bodies aren't celebrated more in this society. It was OK then..It was sexy then..So what the heck is wrong now?

Obesity & eating disorders have become an epidemic in this country..I am gonna be blunt too..There are European and Eastern countries that do not have the eating problems or obesity problems America does..Why? They eat "clean" and America has more processed garbage, chemicals, fast food joints, etc..than any other country. Obesity has only become an epidemic since the evolution of Fritos and Big MACs. So we have generations of people hooked to sugar like it was crack while the media throws size O's in our face. Japan has a 50% lower lung cancer rate even though their people smoke like chimneys..I wonder why this is? Could it be they drink Green Tea and have a better diet that's high in antioxidants? I think so. I think the drug companies, the FDA, and these other secular agencies know exactly what's going on..I also believe there's a reason why the FDA doesn't regulate natural/holistic eating & supplements..Could you imagine if "someone" found out that there were natural cures or a handful of natural supplements that could cure what's ailing this country? I do..I can just hear all the briefcases at Merck, Pfizer, etc. dropping and the profit margins too..I have no prejudices against obese people nor the skinny people..What I am prejudiced against is this country's hipocracy in general on this health issue and many others..What exactly is IT that we have bought into all of these years? The U.S. could learn a thing or two about eating problems just by looking at some of our international neighbors..

Okee Doke..Off my high horse! So "cheeky sistuhs" unite!!! I think there was a conspiracy with Colonel Sanders and Ronald McDonald..Ya think? ;)


I would like to introduce all of you to my blog:

In this blog I am to address the unhealthy body images that are projected by hollywood and the media. Through my posting and your comments, I hope that together we can reach women who buy into the stereotypes. If we can prevent one girl from developing an eating disorder we will have quite a victory on our hands. Please visit and contribute to the discussion!

www.isthishealthy.typepad.com (http://www.isthishealthy.typepad.com/)

[isthishealthy]

I think you all make excellent points. I you could, it would be great if you could post them on my blog!

I do plan on going into the overweight issue as well ... believe me, I'm just getting started.

[Irishgirl]

I didn't mean to get all political..LOL! I know that it's within us how to eat and take care of ourselves..It's ultimately our responsiblity..I just get annoyed that America is so critical of obesity/eating disorders/etc. yet look at the number of fast food commercials, fritos, etc..that's shoved down the public's throats..Not to mention reading anti-wrinkle/better eating columns in Allure magazine while the material is mixed in with cigarette ads..or a story about the dangers of an eating disorder with photo shoots of drug-addicted/hungry models. I suppose it's hippocracy that ticks me off the most..Praise the Lord that Queen Latifah was on the cover of InStyle magazine recently..It's about damn time!



I think you all make excellent points. I you could, it would be great if you could post them on my blog!

I do plan on going into the overweight issue as well ... believe me, I'm just getting started.

[Stacy]

Posted by Irish Girl "I have no clue as to why Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, and Rita Hayworth style bodies aren't celebrated more in this society. It was OK then..It was sexy then..So what the heck is wrong now? "

Actually I think those body types ARE very celbrated right now in this society. Jlo, Britney, Janet Jackson for examples all have curvy fit bodies that are ALWAYS on the best body lists. And Carmen Electra is tiny but I wouldn't say *stick thin* - She is curvy w/ a little hip and booty. Actually, most stores now even the manaquins (sp? :o ) are bigger than they were a few years ago.

[Irishgirl]

I am starting to notice this..It just seems that those body styles are the minority and not the majority..I just hope the trend continues in this direction and that Beyonce & JLo keep continuing the trend.



Posted by Irish Girl "I have no clue as to why Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell, and Rita Hayworth style bodies aren't celebrated more in this society. It was OK then..It was sexy then..So what the heck is wrong now? "

Actually I think those body types ARE very celbrated right now in this society. Jlo, Britney, Janet Jackson for examples all have curvy fit bodies that are ALWAYS on the best body lists. And Carmen Electra is tiny but I wouldn't say *stick thin* - She is curvy w/ a little hip and booty. Actually, most stores now even the manaquins (sp? :o ) are bigger than they were a few years ago.

[Lara]

I LOVE this topic!!! I too had an eating disorder (I've also been on each side of the extreme with weight weighing as much as 200 pounds and as little as a pencil), but it ultimately led me into my love for health and fitness.

I agree. I too hope that "real" women will be used more and more in the media. In addition, I also think that airbrushing should be used less so that women will start to embrace the fact that cellulite is as normal for women to have as is a belly button. LOL. Trust me girls, I've seen women with 5 percent bodyfat who STILL have cellulite.

This isn't to say that we should embrace obesity either. I have to agree with KareBare that obesity is just as bad as anorexia and bulimia. AND, Irishgirl is right about our international neighbors. They don't live in an instant gratification society like the US. They are also more active.

How sad it is that we have fast food, processed garbage and all you can eat buffets on every corner, yet iconsize the perfect, stick thin, air-brushed-to-death models? No wonder weight loss products are a billion dollar industry!

[isthishealthy]

I totally agree, which is why I'm trying to show both unhealthy angels, the fat and the too thin.

We must embrace what we are naturally. For some this is a size 2, for some a 12.

[Heather]

I got down to 100 lbs in law school, and I am 5'3". I would not eat more than 700 calories per day, which is way too low, and I was beginning to look very gaunt. Right now, I'm the heaviest I have ever been, which is about 133. I think it would behoove me to keep it at aroung 115 lbs. Also, no matter what your size, if you don't nourish your body with healthy food, you are just destroying it. I'm trying to do better and eat clean foods. I want to live to be 100 years old!

P.S. My nickname is Halo, not because I'm an angel ...lol. It is because my name is Heather and I have the J-Lo booty, for sure. So my friends condensed it and call me Halo. I sort of like the nickname...lol. :o

[isthishealthy]

Sounds like you were very tiny! Glad to hear that you're back from the brink.

[BrownEyedGirrl]

I just wish Society advocated a positive body image
regardless of your size...
If every woman felt good about her body instead
of focusing on "faults" real or imagined,
Weight wouldn't be the issue -
Feeling good about yourself would be!!

I have little patience for people who focus on their "faults"
while disregarding all the great features they have!!
My friend has a great hiney!!
all the guys love her bum
but all I ever hear is how she wants to change it!!
Does she want to change it??
or does she feel like she should change it!??

[leagunner]

I've been both, underweight and overweight. When I was in high school, I had surgery and ended up going down to 92 lbs (at 5 foot 3) and I was a stick. Even though I didn't have anorexia, I looked like it. But, the problem was that as I started to gain the weight back, I started having weight issues and didn't want to get "fat" again. Or what was "fat" in my head, which was really only what I had been before and was healthy. I got passed those issues and was about 115-120 for a few years.

Then, I moved in with my dad for my University years and it was just the two of us and he would buy a whole cake for dessert and lots of goodies that I wasn't used to when I was with my mom, and it was just soooo hard to resist! He would bring me Burger King for dinner, donuts for a snack, etc. My weight went up to about 150, which doesn't seem like too much, but being so short, it was unhealthy. Well, after university, I made myself find time and I started dieting and exercising. I lost it all and I'm at about 112 and healthy. The problem was that a lot of people (my parents included) thought something was wrong (bulimic, anorexic, anything) because I lost the weight really fast (probably in about 4-6 months). I really was doing all the right things, but my body shape/type is naturally small, so it just seemed to come off like nothing.

Society often judges "skinny" people as being sick or having an eating disorder, even when it's not true. I'm a size 0-2 (depending on the store/article of clothing), but I'm not sick, yet everyone tells me to eat more. Truth it, I probably eat more than a lot of other people. We'll sit down for dinner and I'll eat more than my mom and sister. And my boyfriend & I will each have a pizza and we'll both finish it! I eat all the time, but it's always smaller meals.

As a side note, I've noticed that it's the "skinny" people who freak out about their weight more than others. When I was heavier, I didn't really "care" and I just enjoyed whatever I wanted, whenever. I wasn't completely comfortable in certain clothes or bathing suits, but I was comfortable enough. But now, although I let myself indulge, I find I freak out more if I indulge too much, if I'm bloated, haven't exercised, etc than when I was heavier. Maybe 'cause I've been heavier and I don't want to go back there. But then again, how many stick thin people do you hear talking about how fat they are? And of course, I'm the one in the office who groans when there are donuts brought in.... lol

[Caitlin]

I agree :( It is not always the media though. The pressure comes from parents, teachers, nurses, doctors, the news, everything and everybody. When you have a distorted view of yourself, any remark made about your appearance will be taken in and tramled upon by yourself until it is dust. I have been afraid of getting on the treadmill or doing any form of excersise other than ab and arm stuff because when I was in Fourth Grade I began excersizing and obsessing over my weight to the brink. I would eat very little and excersize about 3 hours a day (seperated from morning to afternoon to night time.) I stopped over time. Since then I have purged and then stopped that after a few months.

This all was not from Britney Spears or Christina Aguilera (who get flack for girls eating disorders all of the time, very unfairly imho.) It was from the news complaining about kids' weights every day, it was from the fear of diabetes which runs in my family, it was from my dad always watching what I ate, and it was from the teases from other classmates. I was not fat, either. I had a bit of a belly, but don't all little kids? My best friend was heavy, and she always worried too. We would discuss strategies on getting thin together, and now as I look back, I'm sickened over how much I worried over this. I still don't have a very good view of myself, but I am glad to say that I won't ever resort to an eating disorder ever again.

Something else that makes me very, very angry. People who call Hilary Duff and Lindsay Lohan fat, and mean it. Right in front of their little ten year old fans. It's terrible. When girls and guys get up the courage to ask for help, people call them cry babies and attention whores! It's ridiculous. Mary-Kate Olsen is getting so much flack for being skinny, and Kirstie Allie is getting so much flack for being fat, and even more flack it seems like for losing weight! I wish people knew the effects of their comments. I really do.

[isthishealthy]

Wow. You've given me a hell of a lot to think about.

Your right, the pressure does come from all sides. I do feel that when celebs give into the pressure to lose weight, and reject their healthy body images, they do so much damage. Have you seem pictures of Lindsay Lohan within the last week or two? She's droped down to under 100 pounds and she says she's overweight. She acutally told teen vogue that for an actress she's overweight. She is certainly one girl who has been brainwashed by all the pressure. It's sad, because she used to look so fit and healthy.


My heart goes out to you for all you have been through. I think perhaps I need to address that on my blog ... maybe an open letter to the relatives of a young girl, anytown usa.

Keep your eyes peeled

Alice
www.isthishealthy.com

[Davis]

Brilliant absolutely brilliant........thx for starting this.

I did my PhD on health and beauty,,,,that was my dissertation, so I read alot on this for many years......its nice to just sit back and hear what you all say about this stuff...

My thesis, in a nutshell, is that each society creates a "cultural image of health", a set of images, values, sensations and beliefs which denote health. Its based on each culture's assumptions about what health and beauty are. In the Western world, our images of beauty are derived mostly from the ancient Greek and Roman cultures....more Greek, to be precise.

Each individual constructs what I called the "somatosophic image" of health. That is their own experience and the interpretation of the cultural image of health. If these two images, the social and the personal are not aligned, are different, then the person and society says they are not healty nor beautiful. Most of the beauty and health care industry is based on helping people reduce image set dissonance and bring about image set alignment.

This can be destructive, as in anorexia nervosa.....or wonderful, as in glamour photography and art.

[isthishealthy]

Thank you so much!

I only wish I were are smart as you. Then perhaps I could convey my messages and ideas in a better way. I try very hard. However, based on some of the comments that have been posted on the blog itself, I am not getting the point across correctly. Many women seem to believe that I'm arbitrarily attacking slim women. That couldn't be further from the truth. But, I suppose that with an message or idea, some people just aren't going to ever "get it".

[Caitlin]

Have you seem pictures of Lindsay Lohan within the last week or two? She's droped down to under 100 pounds and she says she's overweight. She acutally told teen vogue that for an actress she's overweight. She is certainly one girl who has been brainwashed by all the pressure. It's sad, because she used to look so fit and healthy.


I just saw her do a commercial for SNL, she even poked on it.
"I'm so excited to be hosting the season finale of SNL, I haven't eaten anything in six months!"

She really does look abnormally thin, it's scary.

[Irishgirl]

I just checked out your blog since the posts here are so interesting/thought provoking..I made my initial comment before checking out your blog as it was off the top of my head about how I feel in general. I think everyone here has made some valid points..I do not feel the media is 100% entirely to blame for eating disorders of every individual person. There are too many other variables to this like the possibilty that the person suffered abuse at the hands of parents, genetics, nerves, etc..Alot of times, a person that was already pre-disposed to any eating disorder has other internal issues and the media images may just add "fuel to that fire" to begin with. Weight is such an individual issue and the reasons why it may go up or down..Medical issues? Society? Genes? Could be a lot of different things. I do think the media/designers/print magazines play some responsiblity since we all "want that dress" or "makeup" after seeing it on a celebrity most of the time.

Something must be changing though..There are a whole pack of actresses/models that are very thin or have become thinner lately. Someone has to be planting that idea in their heads right? Studios, directors, society? I don't know but the reasons aren't always so black & white. Somebody or something must be changing as Queen Latifah was on the cover of InStyle with quotes about how much she celebrates her own figure. Bravo! Still, I can't remember a time in my life where the phrase "thin is in" hasn't been the catch-all phrase. Now, it seems as though we have a handful of entertainers that are starting to push the envelope and erase that thinking like: JLo, Beyonce, and Queen Latifah. Their images are starting to make a lot of women feel better about not physically being able to achieve a size 3. Some of us just aren't built (bone-structure) or genetically able to be quite that thin. I don't advocate obesity or anorexia; I just think an even balance of acceptance all around would be wonderful but will most likely never happen. It's unrealistic to think everyone in the world will get along and completely accept the way one another looks. If everyone saw things in the same way, we would be in Iraq?

Alice, your blog brings up some good points & issues but it seems somewhat slanted toward the "too thin" issue..For example, I can't see much of a difference in Gwen Stefani's before/after picture as far as weight is concerned. Sophie Dahl's after picture looks quite healthy to my eyes. By no means am I trying to criticize you because everyone has a right to their opinions. I think it would be cool if you wanted a variety of opinions on the issue, to showcase both sides of the coin. Ya know? Showing underweight & overweight & in-between. It would probably provoke a lot of different opinions and then the reader could make the choice without feeling offended that the issue was slanting toward one end or the other..That is, if that was what you were looking for. But I am just assuming you wanted to keep it within the "too thin" issue specifically? If so, scratch out the above..lol!

As I approach 34, even though I could stand to lose more weight, I am not pre-occupied with being a size 5 ever again which I once was. I was 5' 6"/120 lbs. and people were constantly telling me how sick I looked. For me, my ideal is about 145 which may be fat to someone else but I feel looks good on me. More and more, I just don't care what anybody thinks anymore as long as I am comfortable in my own skin. It's not about "my looks" anymore as it my health..So as far as I am concerned, obesity as well as anorexia are both dangerous to one's health. I just take each day as it comes and try to be more mindful of what it is I am putting in my mouth..(The quality of food; that is.)

[isthishealthy]

Obesity is a growning trend, but it's not a trend that young girls want to emulate. That's the difference. People love and emulate Oprah, but no one was trying to gain weight to look like her (before she got into the shape she's in now). I feel that since my focus is so celeb specific, covering obesity isn't a priority.

[Sherry]

Well, I can tell you a shocking experience I had with a very high profile model. We were chatting about this very same subject when she told me that in order for her to continue modelling, "someone" insisted that she lose 2 inches from her hips. She had NO fat to lose whatsoever from her hips so she elected for surgery. This involved shaving each hip bone down to the required amount for her to be the successful model that she is. Drastic? I think so, but why, why, why, wasn't she good enough before? Because what we see in the media has to be something that we cannot physically obtain through proper diet and nutrition. If they were shaped like everyday people, we wouldn't "ohhhh and ahhhhh" over them. It is a shame, but we women are our own worst enemies. When we stop thinking that the physically enhanced women are the be all and end all, we can actually start being happy with ourselves. I never hear men saying that Marylin was too fat, or J.LO.....the only people I hear calling other people fat or chunky is other women - that is not girl power! The only people I hear (for the most part) calling someone too skinny that they look horrible is men. Most women will admit that they are skinny, however they are still "hot" and want to know everything about them and what they eat, what makeup they wear etc., so they can be "just like them". As long as you are healthy (not underweight or obese) - that should be your goal - not pleasing the masses that don't even know what they want!! Cheers and be happy!

[sweetcarolinagirl]

I'm also an eating disorder survivor. I think we all are surrounded by messages that tell us to dislike or not be satisfied with our bodies. I am so happy this is being brought up on this message board because eating disorders are so incredibly prevalent in the beauty "business". It is my firm belief that we will live to see a day when the negative body talk from our society will quiet down. I am actually a volunteer with an eating disorder awareness advocacy group so my voice is actually one of many! ;)

Best wishes to you all!

[isthishealthy]

Sherry, I think that's why I'm running this blog. Have yoyu checked it out? www.isthishealthy.com or www.isthishealthy.com/espanol