Tuesday, May 17, 2005
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
11:05 AM (Pacific)
This blog is archived; please visit the current Health Blog.
--Colleen
Tuesday, July 06, 2004
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
1:33 PM (Pacific)
I have a theory...bear with me.
I think the black American music videos, have changed the American body image.
I say that because that is one of the first things I noticed...when black groups started making music videos and getting them played on tv.
The women in those videos are not fat, but they have good figures. They're never anorexic or "heroin chic." They look good.
What do you think? Everything else--movies, tv shows, fashion--is dominated by whites and the white ideal.
It's possible the body image would have swung around anyway. It does swing, it is not always thin-thin.
But I think the black music videos sped up the swing. Anyhow that's the theory.
Probably the most credit should go to Sir Mix-a-lot. *g* Can I admit I found his video liberating?
--J.
Added 5/23/2007:
Monday, December 08, 2003
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
11:54 AM (Pacific)
Hummm...I also used to be a good 25-30 lbs. heavier than I am now.
I was overweight when I was young. That's bad. That's why I encourage young people to lose extra weight while they're still young. No one ever told me that. So, I ended up feeling unattractive for most of my youth, for no good reason really.
I experienced that "metabolism slow down" only recently. Because I think it starts when your kids get old enough so that you're not spending 16+ hours a day running around like a chicken with its head cut off. i.e. up until then, the weight took care of itself.
Odd...I never worry about getting that fat again. It can't happen unless (knock wood) something drastic happens, health wise.
I mean you don't get fat from breathing air. I think it happens when you're stressed and unhappy. I remember eating until my stomach hurt. I don't do that now. Life is too short...
--J.
Saturday, December 06, 2003
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
1:11 PM (Pacific)
I can't quite figure out where to put these thoughts of mine. I've decided to post them here but maybe the diet blog would be a place for them too.
Last weekend I was visiting my parents house and I got going through their old pictures. As I looked at them I proceeded to pull out pictures of myself when I was at my heaviest weight. I hardly recognized myself in them. I was 10 years younger and a good 25-30+ pounds heavier. My motivation for taking them was that I can look at them when I am struggling with my weight loss and remind myself how bad I looked and how much I NEVER want to let myself get like that again.
A few days ago my husband was rummaging around in our picture boxes. When asked what he was looking for his response was he was looking for the picture I had of him when he was in college. It was his picture from football, we found it, and he looked young, blond and fit.
"What a stud." I told him and I meant it. He looked good. He was 20 years old.
I asked him why he wanted it. His answer?
To remind himself how good he once looked and to motivate him to look like that again.
Oh yes, theres more but I've got to publish this and get off the computer now......
~carol m
Thursday, November 20, 2003
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
11:25 AM (Pacific)
Hmmm...I've been thinking about it, now I've finally put my finger on it.
I feel there is a certain "fat women vs. thin women" mentality going on, here at least (U.S.). Actually that's not new, it has just become more prevalent as Americans get fatter.
It's been bothering me for some time because we are running a women's site. I never wanted one of those obligatory "fat is beautiful" articles on the site. To me, having a politically correct heart attack is not good. Would anyone suggest to men that being fat carries innate virtue? No. If men's lives are that important, I think ours are too.
That said, I've never particularly wanted Atkins on the site either, or diet pills. Good money no doubt. But not healthy.
What I've put my finger on, is that "fat v. thin" feels like just another form of the old dichotomy for women.
Before, say, it was the madonna/whore syndrome. There were two kinds of women. Some did, some didn't. Those who didn't, were to feel morally superior to those who did. Those who did, were to feel judged by those who didn't.
Yet there has always been only one kind of man. It was up to the women to become hopelessly divided.
Another form of the dichotomy of course is "Don't hate me because I'm beautiful." I used to laugh at that ad (yes, there was a real ad for Pantene in which the model made such a proclamation). Then I grew up and realized it was true.
Again the division. There are beautiful women and then there are the rest of us. Those who are not beautiful, are to hate those who are. Those who are, are to try to make as much money as they can while they're still young.
Are good-looking men ostracized by other men? They may be disliked, but I seldom see that same level of outright and righteous hatred.
Well that's one reason why I really like this site:
It's not only because I like Margaret Cho and think she's funny. It's not only because instead of sitting around complaining, it seems to me she's done something. It's not even the clothes per se. I'm not a big clothes buyer; every time there's toothpaste flying or sticky little hands, I am reminded why I wear jeans all the time. It's not even to support a local gal.
It's that I've never seen anything like it. It's so...reasonable.
Maybe it takes a woman to be that reasonable. To explode the dichotomy.
Well that's today's deep thought.
--J.
Tuesday, June 24, 2003
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
11:28 AM (Pacific)
It's odd...my own body image changed 180 degrees after I had my kids.
In some ways my body actually got better, objectively speaking. I suddenly acquired a butt, for one thing...before that I was too thin. Not thin in the super chic sense; just too thin, in the undernourished sense, and I never liked that.
To be fair I'm on the Pill now and that changes your figure anyway, it definitely makes you curvier, which to me is a positive thing.
But it's more than those two disparate changes. And it's more than running after, and picking up after, the kids, which keeps you reasonably fit. It's more that I ceased viewing my body as an object, and began to see it more as a machine.
An object in this sense is something that may or may not have a purpose. It can be beautiful in its own right, it can also be ugly. But a machine has innate beauty of purpose. The more efficient and functional the machine, the more beautiful it becomes.
I like machines anyway; I have always preferred the functional, the necessary, over the purely decorative. I seldom collect objects for their own sake. To me something has to have a purpose. Which is probably why I like the new me.
I suppose it started when I was pregnant. I never understood why some people think pregnancy is ugly. To me it was fantastic. OK, I threw up as much as anyone else, I got tired, I had to sleep on my side, etc. I never bought real maternity clothes, just found some super size loose dresses to wear. I went through health problems during both pregnancies but the whole time, I loved my body. I just did. I never worried about getting fat.
Afterwards it took me about six months to lose the pregnancy weight. I took it all off both times. It was the Pill that made me put on "permanent" weight but again, it's weight in good places.
Before the kids, I can say I had a "plastic" view of what women's bodies should look like (I didn't agree with it, just accepted that most people felt that way). i.e., I thought breasts had to look a certain rather plastic way and then there was that liposuction, nip-and-tuck mentality. I even considered getting implants. It was nuts. I don't think I would have gone through with it, it's expensive and I disliked the thought of having to bottle-feed. But the mentality was there; that there was always something wrong with my body, that perhaps plastic surgery could "correct."
Now as I say it's odd but I never think that way. A body is what it is. It is functional; whether or not you ever have kids, the design is there.
--Josephine
Monday, June 23, 2003
posted by TheBroadroom.Net at
4:56 PM (Pacific)
When I was around 13 years old, a ballet teacher told me I had a beer belly. I was already very self-conscious about my stomach fat. I grew to loathe it. My self-esteem was shot.
Nowadays, even though I workout a lot and eat well, the stomach fat clings on. It just happens to be where my body likes to store fat. I'm trying to accept it. After all, the rest of me looks just fine. At the same time, I've noticed that the clothes I buy do a darn good job of hiding the dreaded stomach fat. That's good, right? I mean, everyone should wear flattering clothes, right? Right. But what about bathing suits? And workout clothes? You can use colour to make you look slimmer from the front but not much will change that little bulge you can see from the side. Bikinis rather scare me... When I wear a bathing suit or workout clothes, I walk around with my arms over my stomach to hide the fat. I'll do that sitting down too. I'm just so uncomfortable with that stomach of mine.
Yesterday, I went shopping with my boyfrfiend. While he was trying on some clothes, I looked at the other customers. A lady walked in with her husband. She was what I would call very curvy. She had way more stomach fat than I did. Not to mention in the butt, hips, thighs, arms, bust... I saw her try on a dress. It was a spaghetti strapped, clingy but not tight long dress. It clung to all her curves. And she looked great. She looked like she liked her body just the way it was. That inspired me. She didn't let magazines, ads, movies, and stupid ballet teachers get her down. She was gorgeous as she was and she knew it.
I went on to buy a clingy dress myself. And a bathing suit that I actually thought I looked great in (which is a miracle in itself given the lighting in those stores). In fact, I got myself a bikini and when I go to the water park tomorrow, I promise not to hide my tummy with my arms...
