I received a really interesting reply to my last blog about the perception of beauty. It went something like this (okay, it went exactly like this):
"The tricky thing about weight is the bloody battle is mostly in our heads and what we are told is "beautiful" - I prefer those African tribes that love a woman of the saggy boob – the saggier the sexier!! Some tribes even find attached earlobes the oh-la-la of the lusting world – so much more civilised and interesting then Victoria Beckham and the gaggle of food avoiders we westerners idolise! "This got me Google-ing African tribal cultures, which eventually led me to this video (above).
Instead of rejoicing a culture that reveres fat women, I was actually disturbed at how they force feed girls to achieve their desired result. I guess in our culture, it would be like feeding girls celery sticks till they vomited in order to make them thin (apparently celery has a negative calorie value as it takes more energy to digest that what they contain)... or worse, stop feeding them all together.
This got me thinking about global cultures and their quest for attaining beauty... and then I started to wonder, is it only women who are paying the price...?
I would be so interested to hear your thoughts on this.
Until tomorrow,
Grace
ps. Have decided to blog on weekends, though vowed to keep them short!
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I wrote you a long response to your blogg message yesterday but it got deleted by accident before I could post and I just gave up. But since your blogg pertains to this subject again, I thought I would have another go at it.
ReplyDeleteI questioned your use of the "Barbie-doll" figure in your picture- which I likened, with its unhealthy influence on the young, to toy guns etc. Of course you picture was humourous!! but it had to be said that Barbie dolls . in my humble opinion are too thin. What I also wanted to say was, that a friend of mine who is hovering around 50 and who has maintained a trim figure, said that all she does is imagine at every meal time that the food she eats is used up by her body, that she visualizes the calories being burned, up or perhaps even melting away... The point is visualization! You could apply this to when you are at the gym, you could imagine all the extra weight just melting away... Forza!! Baci, Garrie xxx
Thanks Gaz... I totally agree with your Barbie doll comment. My silly photo is just another example of my quirky sense of humour... it was supposed to send up the perfect body image à la Team America - it was totally tongue-in-cheek... I thought the Cher reference would have been a clue that I was having a laugh... remember Blog No. 4 "Sometimes you have to laugh at yourself".
ReplyDeleteNice tip about your friends' visualisation - when I'm running on the treadmill I just feel young and free... and afterwards when I look in the mirror, that's what I see... tres cool.
Danke schoen
-Grace xx