hey pig, yeah you
How exactly do women view themselves these days? Do the people we immerse ourselves in - the culture, discourse and pressures influence how we see ourselves? I won't deny the insecurities I have about my physical self, especially when it pertains to weight and general slimness. The day to day battles with coming to terms with stretch mark scars, the odd cellulite dimple and of course, the super treetrunk legs... it's never-ending. Among queer women, the incidence of having an eating disorder is statistically much smaller than among their non-queer counterparts. What factors of female queer culture dissuade women from being pressured into conforming to the slim ideal? Is it really just the male influence? I know even from a boyfriend, I'm being indirectly influenced towards striving towards a slimmer self. Of course there are no direct complaints or orders to "lose weight" or "watch" what I'm eating... there's just more verbal encouragement in support for decisions towards physical exercise or acceptance for choices to eat smaller portions/less fattening foods. For me at least, I think it's about desirability. Libido increases, sexual desirability heightens and you're gonna flaunt your moxy. It's weird because I find that the women I consider to be physically ideal (sexually appealing and glamourous) to be nondesirable relationship wise. Perhaps it's the small frail feminine qualities that feel so readily breakable by my clumsy rough self. A more desirable woman would be one who is more supple, voluptuous and rough than the slim ideal. I don't know... it's not like either of these ideals don't exist among queer women, they just aren't as important.
I guess this realization comes after the anxiety of comparing myself to what was his first choice. But in terms of even sexual desirability towards this ideal, I could never commit to emotionally or physically. So meh. Each to our own.
posted by Melba Toast @ 12:22 AM
5 Comments:
Jane!
You are beautiful, senorita. All the instructions to post this are in spanish right now. So I hope this works.
So does a hot lady feel like moving in with a hot blonde? I think I'll need a room-mate to keep me sane.
Campo obligatorio comentario,
Caitlin
I believe our culture heavily influences the way we see ourselves. I think that's one of the things we can pretty much completely blame on our society (unlike violence caused by video games, but that's another argument). Just look at the "desirable" shapes throughout the decades. The "hot" women used to be kinda chunky, like Marilyn Monroe. Hell, way back in the day a fat woman was more desirable because she would be better able to survive a cold Canadian winter. Now we're going through an era where stick thin seems to be the ideal. Although, I think recently that has been changing somewhat, as we've heard stories about models that were too thin getting booted out of fashion shows in Europe.
Personally, I like thin. But not anorexia. LOL.
And I don't think you need to be insecure, Jane. You're far from being fat. :P
My chest is more massive than ever. And my lats rule. I love myself.
lol, I didn't want to come off as being majorly insecure - the only course of action towards healthiness is through regular exercise, a healthy balanced diet and [insert whatever makes you happy].
As for the fashion industry, this might sound absolutely backwards - but there's a reason why runway models are runway models. Too thin is ridiculous and dangerous (one has died this year already from kidney failure from anorexia) but in order to exentuate some of the features of haute couture from major fashion houses, the models need to be slim. Perhaps the next fad is to have super muscular woman on the runway... who knows?
I'm just curious as to who our biggest critics to self image are: ourselves or societal influences?
exentuate? I think you mean accentuate, lol.
I think we become our biggest critics through societal influences.
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