Unsafe diets, eating disorders and psychological effects are a few of the negative solutions females turn to when cultural pressures pervade and healthy solutions fail to yield desired results. Becky Thompson highlights the variety of issues such as sexism, emotional/physical abuse, and racism to show how eating disorders originate and ways females justify their disorders. This is a feminist issue because feminists can help women understand the multitude of healthy, proactive and positive alternative solutions to combat feelings of inadequacy and discontent. While women may feel that they are exerting control over their bodies by starving themselves, dieting, or purging, feminists can illuminate the joys in developing self-regard and the community of women who are more than willing to help new feminists mature. By reaching out to women who feel powerless and, quite literally, are starving for attention in a misogynistic society, feminists can rally new activists which can have a snowball effect in how they raise their children, how they view political and domestic issues, and who they can share their story with to facilitate more support and awareness of feminism.
On a more optimistic note, many feminists have taken a stand against the mounting cultural pressures and groups such as PPPO (Pretty, Porky and Pissed Off), fat-feministist activist groups, media awareness through campaigns such as the Dove campaign, and parents taking a stand against gender socialization by raising their children in an environment that encourages all forms of gender expression. PPPO is a particularly informative group for feminists and future-feminists alike in that members discuss intersectionality (ethnicity, race, class, gender as an interwoven system) openly and attacks the standards of beauty our society constructs. This is critical for women struggling to learn how to accept their bodies due to the influence of intersectionality on not only individual perceptions but also the perceptions of other members of society. By joining or advocating the views of an organization such as PPPO, feminists could spread awareness to other women, instill hope for change in all ages of women who feel weighht of monolithic beauty standards taking a toll on them, and provide a voice for minorities to express how they view their bodies in relation to their culture or ethnicity rather than hold themselves up to Ango-Saxon, hegemonic standards.
The well-known Dove campaign for "real women" and "real beauty", comparably appropriates feminist themes of empowerment, "inner confidence, and promotes diversity while PPPO reveals the pain and isolation that pave the road to positive solutions such as the self-worth Dove intended for viewers, yet also reveal the anger that can lead to emotional suffering and eating disorders. In addition to joining feminist groups, spreading awareness through activism and broadening one's individual understanding about standards of beauty and body image related to feminist issues, parents and educators have the opportunity to redefine the gender socialization process that most adolescents experience from birth to adulthood. By exposing children to multiple facets of gender identities, children will be given the rare privilege of being able to decide for themselves what gender identity they wish to claim (if any at all), and how they desire to express themselves. Rather than associate their body image with the media's pictures and television shows valorizing the seemingly impenetrable gender binary, children will grow up seeing gender as a fluid category and will be more confident in claiming their bodies as unique rather than inadequate. Glorifying the individual, the unique, the intelligent, and the fearlessness behind standing up for what you, and so many others around you, believe in; that's the message our generation needs to send and we will do it by living by example and making our voices heard!
Unsafe diets, eating disorders and psychological effects are a few of the negative solutions females turn to when cultural pressures pervade and healthy solutions fail to yield desired results. Becky Thompson highlights the variety of issues such as sexism, emotional/physical abuse, and racism to show how eating disorders originate and ways females justify their disorders. This is a feminist issue because feminists can help women understand the multitude of healthy, proactive and positive alternative solutions to combat feelings of inadequacy and discontent. While women may feel that they are exerting control over their bodies by starving themselves, dieting, or purging, feminists can illuminate the joys in developing self-regard and the community of women who are more than willing to help new feminists mature. By reaching out to women who feel powerless and, quite literally, are starving for attention in a misogynistic society, feminists can rally new activists which can have a snowball effect in how they raise their children, how they view political and domestic issues, and who they can share their story with to facilitate more support and awareness of feminism.
On a more optimistic note, many feminists have taken a stand against the mounting cultural pressures and groups such as PPPO (Pretty, Porky and Pissed Off), fat-feministist activist groups, media awareness through campaigns such as the Dove campaign, and parents taking a stand against gender socialization by raising their children in an environment that encourages all forms of gender expression. PPPO is a particularly informative group for feminists and future-feminists alike in that members discuss intersectionality (ethnicity, race, class, gender as an interwoven system) openly and attacks the standards of beauty our society constructs. This is critical for women struggling to learn how to accept their bodies due to the influence of intersectionality on not only individual perceptions but also the perceptions of other members of society. By joining or advocating the views of an organization such as PPPO, feminists could spread awareness to other women, instill hope for change in all ages of women who feel weighht of monolithic beauty standards taking a toll on them, and provide a voice for minorities to express how they view their bodies in relation to their culture or ethnicity rather than hold themselves up to Ango-Saxon, hegemonic standards.
The well-known Dove campaign for "real women" and "real beauty", comparably appropriates feminist themes of empowerment, "inner confidence, and promotes diversity while PPPO reveals the pain and isolation that pave the road to positive solutions such as the self-worth Dove intended for viewers, yet also reveal the anger that can lead to emotional suffering and eating disorders. In addition to joining feminist groups, spreading awareness through activism and broadening one's individual understanding about standards of beauty and body image related to feminist issues, parents and educators have the opportunity to redefine the gender socialization process that most adolescents experience from birth to adulthood. By exposing children to multiple facets of gender identities, children will be given the rare privilege of being able to decide for themselves what gender identity they wish to claim (if any at all), and how they desire to express themselves. Rather than associate their body image with the media's pictures and television shows valorizing the seemingly impenetrable gender binary, children will grow up seeing gender as a fluid category and will be more confident in claiming their bodies as unique rather than inadequate. Glorifying the individual, the unique, the intelligent, and the fearlessness behind standing up for what you, and so many others around you, believe in; that's the message our generation needs to send and we will do it by living by example and making our voices heard!
Video on Fat Activism
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnPshDFS8bc
Thought provoking article on Body Image in relation to Tyra Banks
http://www.backinskinnyjeans.com/2007/05/apparently_tyra.html
References
Taylor, Judith and Johnston, Josee. Feminist Consumerism and Fat Activists. 2008. Feminist Frontiers, 9th edition (McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, 2011) Verta Taylor, Nancy Whittier, Leila Rupp.
Thompson, Becky.“A Way Outa No Way.” Feminist Frontiers, 9th edition (McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages, 2011) Verta Taylor, Nancy Whittier, Leila Rupp.
Teen Eating