I refer to the article "Lean Is In", written by June Cheong and published on May 21 2009 in the "Mind Your Body" section of the Straits Times. It speaks of the current obsession many people have nowadays with their body shape and how that obsession came about. Also, it goes on to talk about a small but rising trend of keeping a "Lean and athletic" body shape over the idealized "Muscular" shape for males and "curvaceous and thin" for females.
The question of how the body shape obs session came about can be traced to the media. All forms of media be it American, Japanese, or even local, tend to idealise a certain body shape and image as being "attractive". Most of the time, it involves females with extremely thin but curvaceous bodies.
Due to the frequency at which people are bombarded by such images of the idealised attractive person, they would then form their own "prototype" of sorts on what an attractive person ought to look like, despite statistics showing only one to two percent of a population actually achieve that image.
First impression definitely counts, and anyone would want to give a good first impression. This led to a rise in cases of eating disorders like anorexia and increased business for plastic surgeons all in a bid by the average female to achieve the idealised body shape.
However, I am glad to see that more people are realizing how unrealistic such a idealized image is. Whats more, eating disorders just to stay thin is an unhealthy practice with many undesirable consequences. The rising trend, thankfully, is not a "stick thin" image, but a athletically built frame with a decent amount of "meat" and fats on the body without being overly meaty or fatty .
I think this is not just due to the media, but rather, the non-verbal cues that a lean figure presents. A lean athletic build presents an image of health, first and foremost. Not being overly thin means shows that one is eating a proper diet and not being overly fat shows that one is not lazing around all day.
And it would not be the first time body shape trends of attractiveness were influenced by the non-verbal cues a shape represents. In the past, a round and well-fed body shape was a non-verbal cue that a fat person was a wealthy person since he could afford lavish meals. Now that society is becoming more health conscious, it is a relief of sorts to see that the unrealistically thin or muscular body shape trend is losing steam. People are becoming more rational and not being influenced solely by what they see. Though it would still be some time before the thin idealized prototype of attractiveness is purged from the minds of the people.
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Yes i agree very much with your take with regards to "lean is in". The perception that being slim is healthy was probably directed to the people who are more towards the extreme of obesity, encouraging them to cut down on the unhealthy food that would lead to higher risk of diseases.
ReplyDeletePeople have different opinions on what is their ideal body shape and their views on what is slim. It is definitely good being moderately slim and being in the range of acceptable weight. Too much emphasis on being overly thin will only bring about more problems like dsorders and more people attempting surgical methods for immediate loss of weight like liposuction, which actually have the risks involved.
However, most people might have already been "educated" that "slimmer is better" since young. We can see this from toys like Barbie dolls that girls play when they are young, as Barbie dolls are created out of proportion to make them look "more attractive". Barbie dolls have too thin waists and too long and slender limbs, yet they are the symbol of the perfect image that many little girls have and remember even till they mature into adulthood.
Excellent take on the topic. Yes since from a very young age it has been drummed into us by the media and social interactions that the ideal image of an attractive girl is a thin girl. This leads us to form the mental personal construct of a attractive person and the "criteria" a person must fulfill to be considered attractive.
ReplyDeleteGlad you brought up the Barbie doll part. Yes there was, and i think currently is, a long standing official criticism against Barbie dolls in that it promotes unrealistic ideals about body image.
However is it because we are exposed to such input about attractiveness that we form such mental prototypes of beauty? Or do we allow ourselves to succumb to such input?
A disturbing thing about the article i cited is that it is mostly only adults at an average age of thirty years and beyond that embrace the new "lean" trend and move away from the "thin" trend.
I guess wisdom and rationality does come with age. There would come a point where anyone would realize that an ideal pre-conceived construct is hardly ever possible to be real.
I see that you are all discussing about barbie dolls now. I mean i totally understand that barbie doll figure shape is an unrealistic ideal, but who would want to buy an out of shape barbie? A barbie that reflects the truth about the less than perfect body shape barbie? Even as a parent if both type of dolls are available, which one would you pick up for your daugther?
ReplyDeleteBarbie is "escapism", just like many other things in the media or products that we consume. No one has barbie's shape or "measurements" in real life.
ReplyDeleteThe skinny girl with voluptuous "assets" is only an ideal created to make people desire something and to sell products. People see that ideal image of beauty, they see people's reactions to that ideal image and they themselves desire to have that image.
Like all ideals in life, they usually never turn out the way they are supposed to. But the media will keep on promoting it as long as slimming products producers and weight loss service providers keep sponsoring them.
That makes a lot of sense. When one is mired in a world full of imperfection, one would grow "tired" of all that imprefection and seek a way to escape from that. Imagine a person of average size and shape, leading and average life, recieving little attention from anyone other than friends.
ReplyDeleteTheir greatest fantasy would be to stand out and be noticed. And what better way to be noticed than to be different from the norm. The media capitalizes on that "wishful thinking" of the typical human and spawns their idealised image of beauty. People see that image and think that if one is beautiful, one would stand out.
The problem with ideals is that people may become too obsessed with the ideal. When working towards an ideal interferes with normal everyday life, that is when the problems arise. Wanting to stay skinny is a choice that i would not question. The dangers come when one suffers from a eating disorder or ends up getting malnutrition.
Why is there a need for escapism all the time? Is there a problem with people that they cannot accept themselves for who they are? Why is there a need to be perfect? It is well known that nobody is perfect so why the obsession about perfection?
ReplyDeleteWe have to be able to accept our strengths and weaknesses alike. We do not have to live with our flaws but we have to learn to accept that we are naturally not flawless.
I feel that there is nothing wrong in adopting a 'lean and athletic' figure. Due to the constant media exposure of models and men with six packs and bulging muscles, people tend to follow this prototype and adopt this body image. Like what samuel mentioned as long as there is not an obesession for thin bodies which may lead to anorexia or bulimia, a lean and athletic body is fine. This body type also has many benefits, good health, good body image and attrativeness.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, every body shape is different and unique in its own way. People should not try to tirelessly mold themselves into these images, but create a healthier representation of it that suits them.
It is just to do with the meanings that people attach to a body shape and not the body shape per se. Like what you said, a fat body shape that was once associated with great wealth and affluence is now associated with degeneracy and laziness. It is all the media's fault. I tell you if the media were to hype up a fat body shape as being the "in" thing, most of the people would follow that trend sooner or later. I think this trend of the lean and athletic body shape is not coming from advertisements since advertisements still feature anorexic models. I think its coming from the TV series like CSI, House, and many others. The characters featured in those shows are not at all gorgeous or exceptionally beautiful or overly thin. They have that "everyman" body shape and since such a trend is featured heavily on TV, it influences us.
ReplyDeleteAnd obsession with ANYTHING is unhealthy. If not physical then mental. Imagine a future where people take as much energy bars as they do slimming pills nowadays. Where their everyday lives are disrupted by this obsessions about the ideal body shape. Though in this case, it is a lean and athletic shape, it is still an ideal and it is still an obsession. When attaining a lean athletic body shape cannot be achieved through exercise, people would still turn to surgery and drugs.
ReplyDeleteTrue. Again media is to blame here. Reed-thin models make better clothes-horses. Kate Moss will always be the iconic runway success and the role model (sic) for aspiring models. Even the Desperate Housewives entice us all to want to be desperately thin. However most of us are more inclined towards the maxim that ‘health is wealth’ and try to achieve a balance in our diet and exercise to achieve that. I think that is the pragmatic aspect of our society. As long as I fit comfortably in my clothes and do not need to ‘upgrade’ my dress size I won’t be too hard on myself. I can still have my satay, rojak and ice kachang…umm..guess I’ll dash to the gym now.
ReplyDeletePeople should learn to not be too overly self-conscious. It is nice to see that people are opposing the views presented in the media and sticking with their more realistic and pragmatic expectations. Daring to dream is a admirable trait, but becoming too obsessed by the dream is not. Still, it is too early to judge how human body trends would develop in the near future. We can only wait and see and hope for the best.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your viewpoint. There are so many people out there who might turn to starving themselves or even plastic surgery to be thin. Thus they eventually develop eating disorders. People receive more negative than positive sanctions when they gain weight. Sometimes I feel that people should be more accepting towards others and instead of always judging someone else, perhaps they should look at themselves first. Hopefully with time to come, more people would realize that thin is not that beautiful after all. :)
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