I wrote a huge response, which LJ ate. In brief, I am a tall woman, but I also have the body type that packs on the pounds. I was actually thin when I was cooking because the last thing you want to do after you've been handling food all day is eat. Although I didn't see myself as thin, interestingly, I saw myself as still chubby. However, now I see myself as normal, which I am not, and in the interest of staving off diabetes I am trying to make some lifestyle changes. I don't want to be slender, I don't want to be a diabetic. That's powerful motivation to get my ass off the chair, the ONLY thing that makes me lose weight.
So, my daughter is actually society's ideal. She's my height but takes after my husband's side of the family. She weighs 105 pounds. And she gets shit for it (she's built exactly like Keira Knightly). To add to this, she's totally beautiful with a face that is model worthy. You'd think she'd be in easy street. No. She gets marginalized because of her size. People pick her up all the time. People try to insist that she has an eating disorder (she doesn't not). It DOESN'T matter that she's the ideal.
This brings me to my bigger point, which is that I think this constant harping on how women are supposed to look is essentially telling us, you know, it doesn't matter how you look. It's ALL wrong. The fashion industry is determined to push the ideal of us being adult children to reduce our power in the marketplace. Notice that the more powerful women become in business the tinier we get on the runway?
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Date: 2011-07-23 03:42 pm (UTC)So, my daughter is actually society's ideal. She's my height but takes after my husband's side of the family. She weighs 105 pounds. And she gets shit for it (she's built exactly like Keira Knightly). To add to this, she's totally beautiful with a face that is model worthy. You'd think she'd be in easy street. No. She gets marginalized because of her size. People pick her up all the time. People try to insist that she has an eating disorder (she doesn't not). It DOESN'T matter that she's the ideal.
This brings me to my bigger point, which is that I think this constant harping on how women are supposed to look is essentially telling us, you know, it doesn't matter how you look. It's ALL wrong. The fashion industry is determined to push the ideal of us being adult children to reduce our power in the marketplace. Notice that the more powerful women become in business the tinier we get on the runway?