I have enjoyed everybody's comments, and I'm sensing a theme of not just how we feel healthier when we fit in our clothes, but we feel better about ourselves. And, though most of my examples have centered on women, I know quite a few men in my life that are just as concerned with wanting to lose weight, and I welcome any comments from men as well.
I have an issue with the word, "fat." I do not know why and I know that there are quite a few overweight people who have taken this word as their own and I suppose have tried to create a sense of power behind the word.
I stumbled across a chat forum called 3 fat chicks on a diet. I immediately cringed at the use of the word fat - almost as if it's okay to say that because soon they will not be "fat." According to the main website, About Us section, 3FatChicks.com was started as a support resource for three sisters who were starting a diet.
I'm thoroughly interested in some of the posts and threads within the forum, but one in particular caught my eye. It is called, "Nine year old daughter eating chocolate secretly" and it is about a mother who restricts sweets to once a week, but her daughter is sneaking food. When her mother "gently" questions her about why she had empty chocolate wrappers in her bag and a receipt for a Snicker's bar, dated the day before, the little girl breaks down in tears and won't answer. The mom is concerned that this is a sign of a future eating disorder and relates the situation to her own childhood and how she would sneak food. She is also implying that she has shared her own struggles with weight loss with her daughter. She is very careful to state that her daughter is of normal weight and she is not trying to force her daughter to diet, but rather to teach her the concept of moderation.
I am not concerned with saying whether this situation is bad or good. I think there are a lot of factors that go along with this that we cannot know. However, it does make me question where our eating habits and ideas about food and body image come from? It's easy to blame the media, but I think my earliest memories stem from watching and listening to my family. So, knowing that little eyes are always watching, what is the right message to give children about food?
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Lara, I think you bring up a good point about parents placing limits upon certain types of foods to children, I wonder if the reason the daughter hides/sneaks the food isn't that she sees her mom eat them? Rather than simply banning types of foods, it seems like the parents should be open to talking about nutrition. What about alternatives? Some of the organic snacks may have served as an alternate? Personally speaking, I remember as a child my parents really didn't restrict what I ate, but then again their dietary habits (or lack thereof) never made me want to sneak anything. Is there a certain way that this type of parent-child interaction may play out in other arenas? Or maybe I'm just sliding down that fallacious slippery slope
ReplyDeleteMy earliest memories of any limitations with food are really non existent. I didn't have any restrictions. I agree that little eyes are watching. If the parents have issues with food they will pass this down to their own children. I have a friend who has always felt overweight (she isn't). When she had a child she would constantly monitor what the child ate and would tell the child if they ate certain foods they would become fat. My friend has always felt affected by this weight issue because of the value she has placed on it.
ReplyDeleteFat has become a dirty word, and I think that part of your unease may involve the value judgment placed upon individuals who are fat. Part of this I think is the slippage in our language of multiple terms/concepts clustering around fat: overweight, obese, belly fat, fighting the bugle, huge, and so on.
ReplyDeleteThus, to be considered fat involves a value system of negative judgment. To be fat is opposed to being skinny (which is the ideal).
Yes, it is an issue with the word. Same thing with the word "big." There are so many connotations and I clearly take issue with the definition that I have in my own head about this.
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