Thursday, October 10, 1991
"The Cult of Thinness"
by Jennifer Flanagan
Ask a college woman if
she's happy with herself and
nine times out of ten, she'll
tell you she needs to lose
weight. Why are we, as a
society, so consumed with
body image? Who created the
emaciated look that is
considered to be ideal?
Ask a college woman who
smokes why she doesn't quit.
I've heard many young
women tell me it's because
they don't want to gain
weight. Studies have shown
that the average amount of
weight a woman gains from
quitting smoking is five
pounds. Five pounds -that's
it.
And yet, a woman would
rather take years off her life
span and risk getting any
number of health
complications than gain even
five pounds. Why? Why
would women prefer to
deliberately contaminate their
bodies rather than face the
possibility of weight gain?
Almost every young
woman I know has been on a
diet in the past, is currently
on a diet, or feels she should
be on a diet. Young women
talk of rationing their food,
fasting to overcome guilt,
wishing they were anorexic,
and accepting bulimia as a
part of everyday life. Why is
Turning
by Mike Royko
This is a press conference I'd
love to watch, although I know I
never will. But it's fun to think
about.
"...and I conclude by saying
that I am declaring my candidacy
for my party's nomination for the
office of president of the United
States. Now, I will take
questions."
"Governor, there have been
rumors about your marriage, that
you and your wife have had
problems."
"I'll answer that this way. I
doubt if any marriage has been
without problems. For example,
I have heard that your husband
has been known to come home
late at night, loaded to the gills.
Crawls from the driveway to the
front door on all fours. Pukes
like a hog. Is there any truth in
that?"
"Governor, I am not running
for public office, so I don't
believe that the state of my
marriage is an issue."
"Maybe Not, but it would still
be fun to talk about. Let's face it,
we all love a little gossip, right?"
"To get back to my question,
governor. The rumors have
persisted that at one time you and
such obviously destructive
behavior condoned in our
society?
And what is this 'ideal'
body? Pick up any women's
magazine, watch any fashion
show and you'll see it: tall,
gaunt, flat-chested, narrow
hipped with extremely
prominant bones - this isn't
reality, this is the 'beauty
myth.'
This 'ideal' body has been
created by men, for men.
Women generally don't
resemble the image being
offered up by the Industry as
'beautiful.' Every time we see
a beer commercial, every time
we open a magazine, every
time we watch men turn their
heads at thinner women, this
ideal is reinforced.
As often as we hear people
say that super models are too
thin, women are still expected
to live up to this distorted
standard for beauty.
It is a compliment to be
told you have a hard body,
and the slightest curvaceous
flesh is considered flab. Have
we forgotten that women's
bodies are designed with the
capability to bear children?
The broader hips, the fleshy
curve in the lower abdomen -
these are biological facts of
nature - not signs of
imperfection.
All of these issues can be
explained in terms of
the tables on inquiring
your wife contemplated
separation because you had an
extramarital affair. Is that true?"
"That's really none of your
business. Next question."
"Governor, don't you believe
that the public has a right to
know about conduct that might
give insights into your
chaacter?"
"I'll make a deal. I'll tell you
my secrets if you tell me yours.
For instance, were you a virgin
when you got married? Or are the
rumors true that in your
newsroom, they called you Miss
Round Heels? And isn't it true
that even now, while in a state of
holy matrimony, it is rumored
that you've engaged in hanky
panky with that pretty-boy
weather reporter at your station?
Does his wife know about it, or
your husband, tsk, tsk?"
"Governor, if I may
interrupt..."
"Yes George."
"I believe it is inappropriate
for you to make allegations
against members of the media
who are simply doing their job in
questioning you about your
behavior in an effort to give'
voters an insight into your
character. Questions you are
evading."
The Collegian
women's relationships to
men. A woman's self worth
is not determined by herself;
rather, it's decided by
"Tall, gaunt, flat
chested, narrow
hipped with
extremely prominant
bones - this isn't
reality, this is the
'beauty myth.'"
.
society, by how she perceives
that men perceive her.
Ask a woman why she is
losing weight and if she's
honest with you, she'll tell
you it's because she wants to
"Who's evading? I just said
it's none of your business. Just
as it is none of my business why
your wife dumped you. I mean, it
would be an intrusion on your
private life if I asked if the
rumors are true that she left you
because she didn't like the way
you dressed, especially when you
dressed in her underwear and
nightie. By the way, George, any
truth in the scuttlebutt about
your fondness for being spanked?
Doesn't that sting?"
"Governor, that is a scurrilous
statement."
"Nah, not really. If people
be more desirable to men.
Either she wants to attract a
certain man, or keep the one
she has.
If a group of young
women is sitting together, at a
party, for example, and
another woman whom they
perceive to be better looking
enters the room, the group of
women feels threatened,
jealous, intimidated and
competitive toward her.
College women are
notoriously petty and jealous
with each other largely due to
the fact that every woman
sees every other woman as a
possible threat. Women are
constantly judging and
comparing one another. If a
woman is good looking and
self confident she is
considered by most women to
be a bitch before they've even
met her.
This could be why many
women claim to get along
with men better than women;
the competition is too fierce.
There is something ironic
about the fact that men created
the 'ideal,' men help to
perpetuate the 'ideal,' and
women confirm this notion
by jumping over themselves
to knock each other out of the
competition to attain that very
'ideal.' And for what - a
man's attention? A man's
approval?
"The Famine Within," a
knew that you're a cross dresser
and like being spanked, why
they'd think you're more of an
interesting character. By the way,
if you wore a nightie while
covering a story, the ratings
would go up, I'll bet."
"Governor, are you saying
that the public has no right to
know about the private life of a
public official? That they should
be denied information that might
give them insights into your
trustworthiness, character and
moral standards?"
"Good question, Ed. I'm
saying that if, at some point in
my life, I committed an
indiscretion that was not of a
criminal nature, as most people
have done, what the heck does
that have to do with balancing a
budget, pushing through a
legislative program, or vetoing a
stupid bill? Now, some of us
know that the owner of your
newspaper is a notorious
philanderer. I mean, does anyone
really believe that when he
spends two hours every afternoon
with his office door locked, he is
giving dictation to that buxom
secretary? But do you ever rap on
his door and say: 'Chief, what are
you doing in there?' Do you ever
yell through the keyhole: 'I
Page 5
documentary by Katherine
Gilday dealing with this
subject, makes the
frighteningly accurate
statement that "the cult of the
body is the only coherent
philosophy of self that
women are offered in this
society." Women have
become obsessed with the
"cult of thinness," allowing
men to become our judges, as
well as their own.
I wonder when this will
stop: the jealousy and
competition between women,
the utter lack of acceptance of
our own bodies, the struggle
to achieve an impossible
ideal.
I wonder when we will be
allowed to decide our own
self worth, based on our own
criteria, rather than that
handed to us by a patriarchal
society which teaches only
one doctrine: perfection.
Jennifer Flanagan is a sixth
semester English major
whose column appears every
other week in The Collegian.
minds
cannot work for a man with a
chancier flaw such as yours.' Of
course you don't. It's still a good
newspaper, despite his notorious
behavior. So why bug me about
what I might or might not have
done in my more frisky days?"
"Ah, governor, then you are
admitting that you did sleep with
someone other than your wife?"
"I didn't admit that any more
than you will admit to the
rumors that you have been
known to sleep with a life-size,
inflatable Barbie doll. Those
things any fun?"
"That is a preposterous lie."
"Ah, then you deny sleeping
with a blow-up doll?"
"I would not dignify such a
question with a response."
"Ah-hah, then you don't deny
it? Does that mean you admit it?"
"Governor, what are you
trying to do?"
"I'm just working on my
technique in case I lose the
election."
"Your technique for what?"
"I might go into your line of
work."
Mike Royko is a Chicago
based, nationally syndicated
columnist. His column appears
weekly in The Collegian.