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In Reply to: Re: Body Image in the Statesman and the Renaissance posted by Madena Hanson on February 11, 1999 at 13:13:32:

:If obesity becomes thouroughly acceptable, how many more people in our country :would be overweight? Societal restraints hold many people's weight in check.

I just have to say that I do not agree with this at all. I don't think that more people would become overweight if we took the stress of being thin away. So many people starve themselves, and then when they start eating again, weight balloons. Society is making the weight issue worse than it really should be. Look at Europe. They don't have all the stress that the United States has because they don't care, and Europe does not have a high obesity population. I think that your statement of holding people's weight in check is the complete opposite of what is really happening.
As for the article that was written, I have yet to read it, but you say he says that people shouldn't be influenced by other's views or current fashions. How many times have you picked up a magazine and thought that one of the cover models was beautiful? Have you ever spoken to a sixth grader to high school senior? It may be "ideal" not to be influenced, but that is not the case. Girls are taught at a young age that guys go for the thin and beautiful, and that is how they are going to see it for many years.

Men do have a problem with weight, but when a man is overweight, it usually isn't pressed an issue as women. Although, in England, where football (soccer) is very popular, anorexia has begun in men. So, it depends on the society as to what the problem is, but maybe the U.S. takes these images one step too far.

I think the issue is a sensitive one, and it can be debated for a long time, but in order for obesity to stop, we need to start representing the human body as beautiful, no mater what size, shape, etc.

Just a few thoughts,
Hillary

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: :If obesity becomes thouroughly acceptable, how many more people in our country :would be overweight? Societal restraints hold many people's weight in check. : I just have to say that I do not agree with this at all. I don't think that more people would become overweight if we took the stress of being thin away. So many people starve themselves, and then when they start eating again, weight balloons. Society is making the weight issue worse than it really should be. Look at Europe. They don't have all the stress that the United States has because they don't care, and Europe does not have a high obesity population. I think that your statement of holding people's weight in check is the complete opposite of what is really happening. : As for the article that was written, I have yet to read it, but you say he says that people shouldn't be influenced by other's views or current fashions. How many times have you picked up a magazine and thought that one of the cover models was beautiful? Have you ever spoken to a sixth grader to high school senior? It may be "ideal" not to be influenced, but that is not the case. Girls are taught at a young age that guys go for the thin and beautiful, and that is how they are going to see it for many years. : Men do have a problem with weight, but when a man is overweight, it usually isn't pressed an issue as women. Although, in England, where football (soccer) is very popular, anorexia has begun in men. So, it depends on the society as to what the problem is, but maybe the U.S. takes these images one step too far. : I think the issue is a sensitive one, and it can be debated for a long time, but in order for obesity to stop, we need to start representing the human body as beautiful, no mater what size, shape, etc. : Just a few thoughts, : Hillary

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