Thursday, August 21, 2008

something else to think about...

check out this article on body image. regular readers know i've been thinking, struggling, wrestling with this for a long time (ever since i grew up and out!). it's a fantastic article with lots to discuss...now if we can only reach the point someday where we don't obsess about our bodies. now wouldn't THAT be amazing!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

really interesting article, kristi!
thanks for pointing us to it...

i especially liked the "scholarly experiment" with girls in swimsuits taking a math test... um, i think i'd have a hard time concentrating on equations, too! the absurdity of that mental image made me laugh out loud :)

you know, like the article says, it's good and important to try to "vote" with our dollars as consumers. i won't shop at victoria's secret anymore, i go inside to complain about the advertising, too. the sales people look at me like i'm crazy, but hopefully if they write down "someone complained," it will finally add up somewhere. it's the least i can do, even if it is unsuccessful in changing an industry. i emailed cnn, too, to let them know i disapproved of advertising by victoria's secret on a news site!

i've even gotten rid of our tv... crazy, i know, but i have so much more time now to do things, it's great. and if we want to watch something (like lost or wipeout, love those!) we can always watch them without commercials on the computer. it's been great for the kids, too. i never had much self-control about what i watched in front of the kids. i always told myself, "oh, they don't understand, or they didn't hear that" but of course they did!

even with all that, i'm still messed up in the head about body image and self-objectification. i think about how i look all the time, and spend a significant amount of time planning how to lose weight (now, if only i spent as much time actually working out! hee hee) i wonder what life would be like without those thoughts/ worries!?

anyway, thanks for giving me something to think about! sorry for the super-long comment :)

Amelia Plum said...

Thanks for the link to the article kristi. gosh, what woman in america isn't messed up in the head about body image and self-objectification?! It makes me sad when I think about my daughter being exposed to all of this - and those awful hypersexualized tart Bratz dolls, ugh! As much as her strong personality might wear me out I'm hoping it will mean she'll be empowered and not take that awful advertising seriously. I don't think you can isolate your children by the influx of advertising everywhere but I hope that I can teach them to be critical thinkers and understand the difference between the reality and the idealized package that's presented to make you buy whatever dream they're selling. And thank God for PBS and smart kids shows without all the awful advertisements!