This Eid, I couldn’t stop myself from wondering about this
new obsession with being skinny. Like
all festivals, Eid is all about eating holiday food, dressing up and taking
loads of happy looking pictures (to put up on social media ironically). As I
filled up my plate with all the savory chaats
and traditional seviyaan (vermicelli)
, I was more than shocked to hear my teenage cousin lament over how fat those
extra calories will make her , as she put a slice of cake on her plate.
: -\
Geez! When I was that
young, I’d gobble up all the cake in the world without giving two hoots about
my weight! More shockingly, it’s quite
common for girls as young as ten to be self conscious about their bodies
instead of celebrating childhood and health. But the fact is that this fascination with
being model thin has taken over the minds over all women of all ages and it’s
been going on for quite some time now.
Just like our media promotes the idea that white skin is beautiful,
it also quite shamelessly promotes that the only people worthy of being
considered pretty should be thin. Now I
am by no means suggesting that one should be obese and unhealthy, but what I
find highly objectionable are the standards of beauty that the media, both
print media and TV have created for us. Being surrounded with anorexic models with
huge breast implants, airbrushed makeup and photo shopped images, our minds subconsciously
start to believe that is how a woman should look ideally, and let’s face it-
that is how we also aspire to look.
The media has spent years and years drumming it into our
minds, that skinny is sexy and everything else is downright hideous! The startling thing is that the skinniness
they project is not only unachievable but more importantly it’s all fake! But since
the general population has endorsed this twisted concept of beauty , as a
result we always remain unsatisfied with our appearance no matter how good we
look, because we cannot achieve the flawlessness that the media projects. We are always worrying about that little
extra flab, or a fuller looking face or slightly heavier arms. Here’s time for
a reality check-that is what REAL woman look like, and they ARE pretty despite the
slight imperfections!
It’s astonishing to see the extent to which women go in
order to achieve the look of the ‘perfect media woman’. Cosmetic surgery,
liposuction, breast implants, harmful medication and eating disorders are becoming
increasingly common. The situation is so bad that even teenage girls, who are
in their growing stages and need proper nutrition, have started to exchange
health with ‘beauty’ -the new name for being skinny!
What we need is courage - to refuse to be controlled by the
media and instead set our own standards of attractiveness. If Kate Winslet can
refuse to step on the skinny bandwagon and audaciously flaunt her curves on the
same television which promotes skinniness , than that should be a big
encouragement for us ‘ women of the world’ to be able to feel confident and pretty even
if we are not thin. The focus should be on being healthy and most importantly happy!
So ladies, it’s time to
sit back, relax, and have a great time without worrying too much about the weight.
There are far better things in life to focus on.
……..And anyways , the
only thing that looks good skinny is a pair of skinny jeans !
oh man....you should watch this bbc documentary...."the men who made us thin"....they say that 99% of all diets and exercise will not make u thin in the long term....its like you are trying to reverse aging...just wont happen.
ReplyDeleteany ways...good piece...cant wait for the next one
Thanks! Will check it out !
Delete:):) ths is nice go ahead gobble up the cake
ReplyDeleteohh and yes all the junk food :)
Lol yep! But then work out like crazy to stay fitt !
DeleteOnce upon a time someone gained ten pounds of weight from her obnoxious eating habits, especially the notorious, "Prince Biscuits". Well, what to do about it she thought?
ReplyDeleteExercise??
Na! that's for wimps! I'll just rant about how being fat "izz Da nu KWEL and being slim iz sOoOo OLD SKULLL!!!" and here we are....
Your's truly,
Obnoxiously Sarcastic
Prince Biscuits rock ! and you totally missed my point here, perhaps glance at
Deletethe title again . Cheers !
Its a very interesting and well written piece. Despite the fact that all you are saying is making sense, while keeping in view our modernist civilized state of mind which is under rage with many "Enlightened Unifications of different concepts", People obsessed with zero size are not going to be convinced. Rather i would say being convinced doesn't relieve this obsession.If I become a devils Advocate here: there is a substantial body of research on the subject of why people want to achieve the so called lean look. Animal cognition is hard coded in a way that it measures the attractiveness( reproductive potential of the mating partner) by physical features and athleticism. take the example of roosters, you would never see a fat rooster having a "party". I am sure about the fact that our cognitive portion responsible for our animal behaviors/responses is not going to be radically altered despite our over optimistic ascent up the "Civilization Ladder"....
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point, but as everything has evolved throughout history, I hope to see a change in this area as well . Who knows by the next ten twenty years the standards of attractiveness will change drastically ?
DeleteHell even those skinny jeans dont look good on a pair of skinny bony chicken legs...You need some flesh and fat proportionately distributed. and that would be sexy!!!!!
ReplyDeleteLoved this post!
LOL so darn true !! :)
DeleteHey keep posting such good and meaningful articles.
ReplyDelete