Our society is obsessed with weight loss, gym-culture and the pursuing of an absolutely healthy lifestyle. Essentially another brand of distractions to keep people occupied and oblivious to reality.
Why are we so preoccupied with achieving the ideal body type? Everyday I see people going to all sorts of extremes to fit into the mold of the socially accepted body shape. As if there is such thing as one and only ideal/healthy body type, a notion invented and promoted by the media.
One could easily argue, that these cruel notions of absolute health and ideal body weight, derive essentially from Nazism and the need for ideal soldiers. The more fascist a regime, the less window for 'deviant' body types.
The sad truth is, that people slightly larger than average in our society, still face extreme prejudice, just like any other non-conformist of any kind. I still do not get this necessity for everyone to fit into a stereotype. As a dancer, I have encountered many fat people who are dancers too, capable of doing whatever their thinner counterparts can.
Just look at her:
Nietzsche attempted to alter the traditional relation of the biological with the cultural by dispersing the commonly accepted saying: “a healthy mind in a healthy body.” He explains that there is no such thing as a notion of absolute health that could be applied to all, with such a term as health, being completely perspectival: “there are innumerable healths of the body”.
Thus, the bodily health of one can easily be the sickness of the other. For instance, each person has his or her own bad habits that up to a point provide their happy disposition and if those are in anyway altered for the sake of bodily health, then the person’s mental health is likely to suffer bad consequences. In the same manner, a particular body type can be ideal for one person but fatal for another, concluding that there is no such thing as an ideal health.
Therefore, the pursue of health is essentially brutality and one pursues it relentlessly since it is demanded by the society, at the end of the day one does so at the cost of his own health.
I would say that the desire for a fit body comes from an evolutionary standpoint, as fitness guarantees strength and survival.
However, there are many traits that are purely cultural trends.
For example, some centuries ago it was desirable for a woman to be fat and pale, since that meant she had wealth and the necessary means to survive without having to work in the fields.
Today, its quite the opposite. A slim, tanned woman is more desirable in western societies. As a symbol though, it means the same thing: wealth and status. A wealthy enough woman who can afford the gym, a healthy diet and tanning trips.
I guess the desire for wealth and status is yet another evolutionary trait!
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So true! I guess what I'm saying is that it's just lame to assume that one is inherently inferior just because their body type does not adhere to current trends, which as you have pointed out are interchangeable.
Some people just have other priorities, than appealing to potential mates and winning the approval of strangers.
Although everything to a good measure, if you are obese for no good medical reason, it probably means that there is something mentally wrong with you, like lack of respect for your body, lack of discipline etc.
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Exactly. I believe it's less about inferiority and more about the assumption you mentioned in your last point. One sees an obese person and can't help but wonder if something is wrong with them. It might be a physical illness; if not, perhaps a problematic mental state: lack of discipline, low self-respect, and the like.
Obviously this goes for the extreme cases. Obese, or underweight. People can't stop thinking that a person ended up anorexic because they just cared too much about others' opinion and perception of them.
You are right that the ideal body type is a cultural phenomenon. When I lived with Iraqui women, they loved it when I put on some weight and hated it when I got tanned and slim in the summer - they'd say I looked sick while I felt at my best-looking moments!
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It's just sad to see these assumptions dominate the dance world, and in effect I presume similar sports, which put unnecessary emphasis on weight loss. I have been discouraged from pursuing my dearest hobby just because I am not skinny. Even after I've proven myself as capable as my thinner counterparts, I was still dismissed from the show and told to lose weight if I ever wanted in.
As long as someone is healthy and capable, there shouldn't be a problem. At the end of the day, stereotypes are damaging in their every form.
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I dont care you word.
I only like the girl
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Where you come frome
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Cyprus and you? :p
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Hahahahahaha.
Funny lol
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How so?
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No thing.
You must teach me , how to get many vote when we post a blog
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It's still my second day here lol, so I don't possess such knowledge yet :P
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I see in your blog.
Your post is good vote you got
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