Susie Orbach believes that being overweight, not obese
though, is a beneficial way for women to relate to their bodies or food. I
believe this because women shouldn’t have to prove themselves as perfect by the
way they look. Orbach believes that being skinny is a harmful way for women to
relate to their bodies or food. I believe that girls shouldn’t have to starve
themselves to have this perfect image that everybody thinks of. In Fat is a Feminist Issue on page 452 a
woman states: “My fat says ‘screw you’ to all who want me to be the perfect
mom, sweetheart, and maid. Take me for who I am, not for who I’m supposed to
be. If you are really interested in me, you can wade through the layers and
find out who I am.” I think this is a perfect quote to describe how women should
view themselves instead of letting other decide who they should be. As for
Carrie Packwood Freeman and Debra Merskin, they think that guys strive off of “meat”,
being food and women. A man that walks through the grocery store picking up
organic and vegetarian like food is looked at oddly even though if a woman did
this it would be perfectly all right. Media portray men as meat and fast food consumers.
Look at the variety of fast food commercials and think of how many actually
feature a woman, not many. The thing that these authors all have in common is
the fact that they point out how media portrays genders by how they should look
and what they should eat. Because of this we all put a stereotypical image in
our heads.
I agree with you Chelsea, because if a man were to walk into a grocery store and buy organic foods it would look strange to others, but if a woman does this it is perfectly okay. For example I went to the grocery store the other day with my friend and we saw a man with a cart full of vegetables and organic food, and my friend looked at me and said "Wow is he gay or something because no man would eat like that in my mind." And I was just astonished that someone would think that about someone just because they are a man or woman you shouldn't be labeled to a certain food group. In Susie Orbach essay "Fat is a Feminist Issue", she explains how women should be overweight because it would only empower us to feel great in our bodies than having to look exactly like these models in the magazines. And I agree with her because yes it would empower our gender to not look like what were are "supposed" to look like to men. As for Carrie Packwood Freeman and Debra Merskin's essay "Having It His Way: The Construction of Masculinity in Fast-Food TV Advertising" explains how men are associated with the "meat" food group. If a women were to eat a lot of meat or fast food groups they would call her a man, but for a man to do this it is perfectly okay. The media portrays men as the fast food and meat consumers and women eat the more healthy food groups like organic food. A woman should be able to eat what she wants and not be judged by it. If a woman likes to eat steaks and McDonald's all the time then let her do what she wants to do, and don't call her a man because you think she may eat like one. The media creates the stereotypes in our society by putting thoughts into our minds and making us think that that's the way it is supposed to be. But a woman should be able to eat like a man and a man should be able to eat like a woman with no judgments about it. We are individual people and can do what we want to do.
ReplyDeleteI agree that men are looked at “oddly” if they choose vegetables over meat but I don’t think it’s just because it’s alright for women to do it. Freeman and Merskin really believe that, historically, hunting and meat eating was a beneficial way for men to relate to their food. I believe this because women were the sole providers of food because they were “the more revered sex for their roles as food gatherers and procreators” (p. 456) and men used hunting and killing animals to prove their “status for themselves” (p. 456) . So, it’s not really that vegetables or organic foods took away their manhood, its more so that it wasn’t their area of expertise. Men had come from the bottom of the barrel as have no more use than protection to then having power by their dominance over food selection and in turn over larger groups of people that they could rule. If it had not been for their masculine ability to hunt more efficiently than women then they would still have little importance in the society. So when one man sees another man buying vegetables and shames him it’s almost as if he is saying, “Hey, man. We’ve come to far to go back now.”
ReplyDeleteWomen are featured in commercials for food just maybe not with the same freedom or position that the men are. Freeman and Merskin really believe food commercials are a harmful way for women to relate to their bodies. I believe this because they give countless examples of how women are presented as these weak individuals with no say so in what they want where as men have the only control in the whole dining situation. In a previous Carl’s Jr. commercial, there’s a man eating wings and a waitress who is conventionally “sexier” than the girlfriend that he’s there with. When the waitress comes along, her boyfriend’s gawking at the other woman obviously and intentionally disrespects the woman he’s with. It’s perfectly fine for him to disrespect her given the fact that he’s the meat eating man in this setting and it’s “not his fault that” the waitress is more voluptuous than the girlfriend. Hence, he can’t help but look and its alright to subconsciously body shame the girlfriend. In other Carl’s Jr. commercials, thin girls are seen eating these foods that, if they really ate, would not allow them to have the figures they have. The presentation of the commercials are a perfect example of how unattainable the body image that is expected of women to have is and yet the media is encouraging them to eat these unhealthy burgers that would consequently keep them from being able to be as glamorous or voluptuous or thin as the women in these commercials. It’s completely unfair to women and it puts there false images of what a woman should look like into the minds of both men and women who view these commercials.
Chelsea, I couldn’t agree with you more. This country is consumed with the idea of “the perfect body”. Women are constantly falling victim to starving themselves to fit a certain image. To me, this is disgusting. Most people nowadays judge an individual’s personality solely based on how they look. I don’t believe that your personality is formed by your outer appearance. It may sound cliché, but the person you are comes from within. I agree with what Susie Orbach says completely. Overly skinny girls don’t look healthy. Girls who have meat on their bones look more healthy and beautiful to me. Health is beauty. As Freeman and Merskin stated, men are expected to fit a certain image as well. A man who buys only organic food is judged and looked upon as “gay”. Why? Why isn’t it okay for a man to eat HEALTHY food? Our society is twisted in several ways. We are all expected to maintain that status quo and keep to our gender norms. As a woman, I am perfectly comfortable in my skin. I am happy with the fact that I don’t look exactly like the models in the magazines. I also love who I am and what my personality says about me. Our nation will never adopt that mentality, but we should stop judging those based on their “fat”. Let’s face it, we all need fat to survive. These reading offered a nice and refreshing outlook on what we should really be focusing on rather than what we already focus on.
ReplyDeleteI’m with you on this one Chelsea, that there are so many stereotypes for what women and even men should eat. I also do think a lot of the blame does go to the media for only using ads that feature men. I don’t understand this because men are not the only ones that eat meat. In the reading “Having It His Way: The Construction of Masculinity in Fast-Food TV Advertising,” Freeman and Merskin really point out all the different fast-food commercials and how they really reach out to younger men by their sayings in the commercials. I don’t think food should be the choosing factor of your gender. Also, in Orbach’s articlce about womens roles to have the perfect body and the list of all these other things are so demanding. Women should be able to have the choice to be and look however they want and not have anyone slandering them for it. It goes for men as well, if they want to eat vegetables over meat than they should without being criticized. Media uses magazines and commercials to show society what to eat, how to dress, what size you should be. But, in reality not everyone is the same and shouldn’t have to be. We’re all different and we shouldn’t be relying so heavily on these stereotypes.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Chealsea ‘s statement about the text of Susie Orbach, Carrie Freeman, and Debra Merskin. The many stereo types portrayed on television (though highly looked over), are actually detrimental to our wellbeing as a member of this society. In this culture we put a huge amount emphasis on doing what others want us to do instead of being happy in your own skin. Orbach talks about how all the magazines and commercials are mostly geared towards women with dietary or weight loss plans or beauty tips. If a woman doesn’t already fall into these categories of beautiful then they will start to feel less than and either fall into the hype of beauty tips and weight loss or either rebel against the machine and do as they please, such as gain weight on purpose. (The quote from the text that Chelsea uses speaks volumes and pretty much sums it all up). On the matter of meat I just believe it is all jibber-jabber, yes I understand the history on it, talked about by Freeman and Merskin, but I think that the info gathered was just commercial based which is essentially just a broad generalization of man and mankind (to reach a broader audience). Meat is good, good for you (if prepared correctly) and very delicious, most of everyone (men & women) in all cultures consume some type of meat in their dietary plans. They speak on athletes and pro players supporting “more meat” but what some don’t know is that though they do eat meat they also have to eat healthy and take supplements to maintain their health and quality performance. My brother does bodybuilding (“the perfect man sport”) and his diet has to be down to a T for max benefits, and he doesn’t just eat meat, it is also packed down with a lot of fruits and veggies to maintain quality fitness (mostly there is more veggies than meat in the typical meal). Your body needs more than just meat, if u had an all meat diet in everyday life then you’ll most likely have bad health or be dead soon.
ReplyDeleteAll the authors speak on how in most of the meat commercials on TV women are played as side roles or after thoughts, and if they do get center stage then they are usually pretty or over sexualized. Bottom line is that they are taking years of progress for equality and setting it back and making women second rate citizens, only looked upon as a commodity. As viewers (if not educated on the subject) we would look at these commercials as harmless and meaningless, but mentally your mind picks it up whether you realize it or not, and that harmless fun just becomes a part of thought process. After seeing a bunch of commercials like these then the mind starts to make connections and mainly these falsities might be seen as truths in some eyes; thusly meat becomes a “mans food only” and women become “afterthoughts and consumables”.