A recent blog entry on Blogher titled Bathing Suit Season is Coming Ladies, Start Your Diets made me shudder. Thankfully it bugged Liz and it bugged Skye and it bugged Candace so I got to sit on my hands for a bit and hope the shuddering passed. It didn’t, so here I am. Why, why, WHY do we do this? I say WE because I do it too, at work. It’s a quick and easy way to pull women into a discussion about diet but it’s wrong, wrong, WRONG and I am vowing never to do it again. Not for any reason. EVER.
Have you ever seen an article about diet, about bathing suits or about warm weather that is titled "Bathing Suit Season is Coming, Men, Start Your Diets"? No, you haven’t and I assume you never will. In fact I hope you never see that article because it’s still wrong.
Diet should not ever be about fitting into a bathing suit. It should not ever be about having fun in warm weather or going swimming. Diet should be about overall health and not going to the beach, the lake or the pool. Enjoying the beach or the lake or the pool or any other activity should not ever be dependent on how you look in your bathing suit or any other item of clothing.
And while I’m ranting, weight loss or maintenance should not be a tool for empowerment or something that reminds you that you are "being all that you can be". If so, those anorexics and bulimics are soooo all they can be, aren’t they? Controlling that food intake and managing the laxatives is certainly empowering. Go eating-disordered people! And those folks with metabolic disorders and hormone related weight problems or who are just plain happy in a size 14 or size 20 certainly shouldn’t feel empowered and aren’t being all that they can be, either – who cares if they are perfectly HEALTHY at such a weight?
As long as we give food and diet that sort of "power" we are at risk of disordered eating patterns of some type. If you only feel emotionally strong or empowered when you are controlling your weight then you are risking your emotional well-being everytime you sit down with a bag of chips or order a nice dessert at a restaurant. I’ve eaten an entire bag of chips in one sitting and I liked it! And it does not cause me any emotional harm nor does it make me feel less powerful. FOOD does not OWN me. My WEIGHT does not CONTROL me.
Looking beyond the initial post, at the comments, Kalyn did talk about how important it is to lose weight and eat properly for better health. But those comments were only in response to women who found the initial post troubling. And she returned quickly to the topic of looks and appearance and what other people might think of us if we are overweight. The idea behind the first post was dieting in order to look good this summer and at no time did Kalyn manage to turn that around to anything healthy – either emotionally or physically.
Why do women continue to perpetuate the dieting for bathing suit beauty myth? Why do we continue to use the phrase "thin is always better than fat"? Why do we encourage each other to believe that we can’t enjoy a happy, physical life unless we look GOOD in our bathing suits? Is it any wonder anorexia and bulimia are on the rise? Is it any wonder our daughters grow up thinking they are ugly and hating their bodies? I don’t think we can blame "the media" or "hollywood" or even "men". I think the blame lies squarely with us.
Technorati Tags: diet, weightloss, women, swimsuit, bodyimage, thin, fat, feminism, blogher
I noticed that post heading and avoided it. My head can’t handle it right now. But I do remember wondering what you thought about it.
I get told by a lot of people that I’m “lucky” that I don’t “have” to go to the gym. I look at people like they are nuts. Yes, I’m small framed but I ought to work as much as the next person for general health and fitness. I’m just to damn lazy (err and cheap) to do it.
But since summer is coming I’m going to start my engines and get moving. Not because I want to look good in a bathing suit but becuase it’s now actually warm enough to do stuff outside without freezing my butt off.
You just got a big old “AMEN” from me, sister. We’ve never had any women’s (or girl’s) magazines in our house for that reason. We need no help in the self-loathing department. Great post! I’m off to read the other stuff now, too.
GREAT rant!
Frankly, it seems to be getting considerably WORSE, not better. It seems we’ve learned nothing.
Yeah, it doesn’t only seem to get worse, it is getting worse. Now men are starting to become anorexic too.
And has nobody wondered why every single women’s magazine has a title like “Lose weight to look good in your bathing suit” every year in spring. This should be prove enough that diets don’t work.
I’m even doubtful of that healthy eating thing. One year it’s healthy and the next year it isn’t.
Hey everyone – glad to see I’m not alone in this. It sometimes feels like I am, ya know?
RIGHT ON…. It makes me boiling mad and also filled with sadness every time people talk about it with the assumption that only does everyone think that way about their bodies… but they *should*…