Susie Orbach believes
“fat” or as I would say normal weight is a beneficial way for females to relate
to their bodies or food. I believe this because it kind of gives the finger to the
entire society and all the people who expect women to be perfect all the time
and the. For women It says if you really like me then you’ll want me for me not
because I am perfect and you’ll get to know the real me.Pg:452. States that if
a women is fat she is stronger than other women because she doesn’t give in to
what everyone thinks and wants for her to look, “My fat says screw you to all
who want me to be the perfect mom, sweetheart, [and] maid.”Orbach believes giving
into the image that everyone else makes you think you need to look like is a
harmful way for female to relate to their bodies or food. I believe this
because nobody is perfect and there is nothing wrong with trying to improve yourself
if you are un happy with yourself for some reason but don’t go out of the way
to not eat or over exercise because some people who you do not know and they don’t
know you said that women should look like this. Because then that just makes
you think less of yourself.pg 451 “in the early 1960s, the only way to feel
acceptable was to be skinny and flat chested with long straight hair…..Then in
the 1970s, the look was curly hair and full breast.” Which proves that the
expectations change and its idiotic to try to conform repeatedly to look good
based on what others think.
Carrie Packwood
freeman believes eating whatever you need or should eat to stay generally healthy
is a beneficial way for males to relate to their bodies or food. I believe this
because for the same principle that women should not give into the societies
stereotypes of what a women should be, me should not give in the stereotypes of
what or how masculine one should be, especially when being defined masculine or
not masculine by what foods they eat. However, "advertisers trust we
[viewers] believe that a traditional American male does not eat organic,
plant-based proteins -- he primarily eats meat, which would also explain the
prominence of masculine themes in advertisements for meat products, like
burgers and subs." (Freeman, Merskin 455Packwood believes eating the
poorly advertised fast food that is targeted to men to eat is a harmful way for
men to relate to their bodies or food. I believe this because when one believes
that they are being masculine when eating these foods they for one have a false
sense of masculinity and two are not eating masculine foods but in fact eating
fatty un healthy foods. "perpetuate(s) stereotypes of men in
one-dimensional terms as self-indulgent, womanizing carnivores..."
(Freeman, Merskin 473).
Manuel Ruiz
Susan Orbach reiterates throughout the entire article that women should be thinking of their bodies as a positive thing no matter what it looks like. She makes a statement when she says that these “molds of femininity” are experienced by women as “unreal, frightening, and unattainable” in order to show she believes that these insurmountable goals set by the social world are completely ridiculous. Orbach even goes as far as saying that women who are not “fat” are weak minded and give into the media’s pressure.
ReplyDeleteOn a different note, Carrie Freeman believes that by eating the things that keep a person healthy, such as men indulging in meat, are essentially in relating their bodies to food. Reasons for believing this is because she states that men have always been connected to meat since their ancestors hunted in order to not starve to death. Freeman also highlights her belief that when men are eating "healthy" they are in some way or another harming their bodies. She furthers her belief by including the quote about the man buying tofu; an image that just doesn’t sit right for a lot of people thus, proving her point.
Manuel,
ReplyDeleteI agree and appreciate the way you summed up the readings as well as your outlook towards the topic. I believe these readings portray and demonstrate the pure irony in today’s society, and I think it is a very important and controversial topic regarding issues of being aesthetically pleasing and acceptable in today’s era. Both readings do an excellent job of pointing out how the media is constantly playing into stereotypes of what it means to be masculine and feminine. They state that to protect one’s identity as a female, you must be thin and petite and eat very little, and to protect one’s man hood you must be big, bulky, and ravishly hungry. The irony in this is that times are changing, the changes in today’s world include available and advertised messages of indulgences and temptations, and a message that “the more [material] the better”. This change however, has a direct effect on society which makes it harder for them to live up to expectations (the message of having all you can eat junk food makes one obese). I believe that the text in these two readings are a tiny bit outdated to the current generation of millennial’s. With today’s technology and media, millennial’s are increasingly become more cautious of their health. Yes, they are still fed the same media message of “women must be thin and men must be muscular” as previous generations, however, with the help of collected informational studies and technology I believe that there is an increased awareness and appreciation of wanting to be FIT instead of “skinny” for women. The increased awareness and appreciation of wanting to be FIT for men changes their perspective as well, because they then become aware that to be physically fit even for a man means not indulging at fast-food restaurants. I believe that the sense of “lost masculinity” that they feel in choosing a healthier stereo typically women-type of food is restored when they are able to show off their masculine muscles and physical fitness to society. I also believe that this new found increase and appreciation to living a physically fit lifestyle has given men and women a new found respect for one another.