The Culture of Women

Are we addicted to too-skinny women?

2005-04-07T16:23:00.000-07:00

Okay, I admit that I am an MTV reality show junkie. One show I've lately been enjoying is Making the Band 3, where P. Diddy creates a new band from scratch. If Making the Band 2 had poor ratings due to the uninteresting bandmembers, creating an all-female band is sure to bring in the viewers. Put 15 + competing girls together in a house and you are certain to have drama.

Yet, surprisingly, the drama as of late has not consisted of the stereotypical "cat fighting" characteristic of most of these kinds of shows. Instead, the girls have united against a common enemy--Jason, a large gay man, the "den mother" P. Diddy brought in to keep the girls on schedule and focused. Yet Jason has been less of a nurturer (I've yet to see him mention anything about scheduling to the girls--and they're still late, missing appointments etc), and more of an unnecessarily harsh critic. That is putting it lightly. He is clearly power-crazed, thinking he has the right to command the girls to do as he pleases at his will, and just down-right mean. But tonight's episode when he gets fired should take care of that. As the previews show, P. Diddy ominously says, "there can only be one king of the house" (or something to that effect).

What I've noticed particularly is how Jason feels obligated to comment on the girls' weight. He made mean weight comments to a girl who is 95 pounds, he pointed out to another girl that she had a fold of skin when she sat down and leaned over, and he threw out most of their food without their permission, putting them on a "no carb" diet, without consulting a doctor of any kind. Now, from my experience, men I know who are gay tend to feel more at liberty to comment on a woman's weight. This makes sense, in part, because they don't have the fear of criticising, as most girls do, and they don't have the fear of rejection (i.e. "She won't have sex with me if I'm a jerk") as straight men do, since a gay guy doesn't want that sex.

But still. Is this too much? One could argue, and I've thought this myself, Well, these girls are in the music business. They knew what they were getting into before they signed up for this. That's the way it works.

Yes, true. That is probably right. But when did it become acceptable for us to openly practice and encourage such unhealthy and next-to-impossible goals of weight on women in the entertainment business? We all have issues with weight in our own way, but girls in the biz definitely have it harder.

However, what I'm saying is probably not news to you. I know we have crazy standards for models etc. You know that. Even people in that business know that. So if we know all this, then why isn't anything changing? Why aren't we doing something to rectify this?

The only answer I can think of is that we do not WANT it to change. Americans in this culture know how to make things change. We have money. We shop. We watch tv. If we don't like a new series, it gets canceled. If we think a product is useless, it fails. If a company doesn't cater to our desires, it goes bankrupt. We can't claim to have no power over this as a society, and we all know that our preference of women's bodies comes and goes like a trend. But the television model shows are thriving. Fashion week in NYC is still huge. Vogue (which I also subscribe to) and Glamour give us our too skinny covergirls.

So do we really LIKE this? Our obsession with underweight women in the entertainment world? Is it something akin to our love of fast food--it's unhealthy, but we want it anyway? Is that, then, considered an addiction? Am I missing something with this whole issue...?

Tanning Salons

2005-03-17T17:12:00.000-08:00

We've all heard frightening facts about tanning salons:

15 minutes in a tanning bed is equal to 2 hours of unprotected time in the sun.
Use of tanning beds can lead to skin cancer.
Use of tanning beds can lead to premature aging and wrinkles.
There is no such thing as a "healthy tan."

Of course, people who tan themselves regularly, or owners of salons, claim that tanning is better than being in the actual sunlight. It prevents burns, which are more harmful than tans, they say. It is regulated by the government, so it is safer. It activiates vitamin D which has been linked to preventing certain kinds of cancers.

Intuitively, most of us know that tanning for a long period of time (even a short period of time) is not that great for the skin. Some sunlight is okay and even beneficial, but tanning salons aren't usually utilized to give people quick exposure to the sun to activate vitamin D and positive moods. They are used to make people LOOK tan.

So why are people so obsessed with tanning? When you see a woman who is practically orange or so tan that you have no idea what her natural skin color is, one has to wonder, what is motivating this?

Now, I should admit, I have gone to a tanning salon before. When I was in my senior year of High School, many of my female classmates were going to tanning salons before our Senior Prom. I had never been one to tan too much before, but I tried it with results that were astonishing. While I wasn't one of those people that looked unnaturally tan, I did have an average tan--more than I was used to. And I liked it. I wanted to get darker, to tan more. It became a mild obsession.

Luckily, I didn't have the finances to support such an obsession and I stopped going after the prom. But the feeling of elation in seeing my body turn to a smooth tan was exhilerating. Perhaps my mood was elevated due to the UV rays. Perhaps I was happy to see my skin tone even out with the color. Perhaps I was happy not to blind so many people with my whiteness. Or perhaps I equated it with beauty.

I haven't been back to a tanning salon in a years. I have to admit, I'm less apt to wear short shorts without a tan. I felt thinner, more healthy (ironically, of course), and better about myself. I love my am happy with my looks now, even though I am not so tan, but I have to wonder how much happier I'd be with a tan. And I hate that aspect of myself.

How old is this girl?

2005-03-08T14:03:00.000-08:00

I recently purchased Girl Culture, a collection of photographs and interviews taken by Lauren Greenfield. In this book, she examines pop culture, fashion, weight, sex, dating and other issues facing girls and young women. While her pictures, at times, look like they are from the 80s or early 90s, I am drawn to them and intrigued by her interviews. I'm not shocked by most of her findings, but I am saddened by many of them, and it certainly spurs conversation, thought, and questions for what we can do to be positive role models for girls younger than ourselves.

Speaking of role models...here is an exerpt interview. Guess how old you think this girl is:

"Britney's a role model. She's fashionable, and she has movements that I like. Madonna, Britney, Christina Aguilera, Destiny's Child: They're role models 'cause they like action and movement so much.

"(Teenagers) dress up cool so boys like them. I saw it in a movie. They get dressed so fashionable, like a doll and stuff. They usually do this cool makeup, like lipstick. And a really blushy face. It's cool.

"If I don't dress well, I feel geeky. And if I feel nice, I feel like people like me. Fashionable clothing is way better and cool. My mom is fashionable. She blows her hair straight. My mom's pregnant, so I'm going to get a new sister to boss around and dress up with nice, funny outfits and cute, sweet outfits and stuff. When my mom lets me."

Click here or on the comments link for the age of this girl.

Hi!

2005-02-02T18:54:00.000-08:00

Just saying hello--don't have much else to say yet--just am starting the blog.