Steroids and Starvation...
As I was riding my bike the other day, I got to thinking about exercise and the idea of the perfect beach body. We hear a lot about "bathing suit" season and working out or dieting to look decent on the beach in the summer.
The point of this goal is the way things LOOK. The goal (for most people) isn't necessarily to be healthy but just to look good. Its about appearances.
That got me thinking about all the people pumping iron and using drugs, or starving themselves on unhealthy diets to get thin focussed on a facade.
It hit me, that the whole "fitness" or "fashion" industry does not actually care what is beneath the facade. There are some pretty friggin neurotic skinny people in the world who need some serious therapy but as long as they are thin they have achieved their goal and feel no need to look deeper.
What's my point? Do I enjoy pointing out the obvious?
No.
I think this whole thing is just a symptom of culture that cares what things look like but not what is real. I think the pressure to succumb to caring about the facade is so strong it pulls people into it, before they even understand what is happening.
Even if a person were brilliant, wise, kind and had solutions that would save the planet....if they happened to be fat....who would listent to them.
So we are left with the social command to advertise. In order to be happy, and make friends, you must advertise yourself. Your tools are your body, your hair and your clothes.
If you achieve perfection there, then people might listen to what you have to say.
These make-over shows on t.v., teen movies abound where the ugly duckling becomes a princess...suddenly the girl has value because she looks nice now. WHAT????
So we all labour under the societal command to advertise this elusive perfection, which doesn't actually exist. Talk about being set up for failure!
At the cabin, I sit on the beach in my average size body, with no make-up and my hair pulled back. I have so much fun with the people there, and we chat about our kids personalities, the weather, politics, and what we're making for supper that night. And guess what? We are all perfectly happy. I think that is closer to real life than what I see in stores and magazines.
Is there some way to transport the freedom of the lake back into my city life?
As I was riding my bike the other day, I got to thinking about exercise and the idea of the perfect beach body. We hear a lot about "bathing suit" season and working out or dieting to look decent on the beach in the summer.
The point of this goal is the way things LOOK. The goal (for most people) isn't necessarily to be healthy but just to look good. Its about appearances.
That got me thinking about all the people pumping iron and using drugs, or starving themselves on unhealthy diets to get thin focussed on a facade.
It hit me, that the whole "fitness" or "fashion" industry does not actually care what is beneath the facade. There are some pretty friggin neurotic skinny people in the world who need some serious therapy but as long as they are thin they have achieved their goal and feel no need to look deeper.
What's my point? Do I enjoy pointing out the obvious?
No.
I think this whole thing is just a symptom of culture that cares what things look like but not what is real. I think the pressure to succumb to caring about the facade is so strong it pulls people into it, before they even understand what is happening.
Even if a person were brilliant, wise, kind and had solutions that would save the planet....if they happened to be fat....who would listent to them.
So we are left with the social command to advertise. In order to be happy, and make friends, you must advertise yourself. Your tools are your body, your hair and your clothes.
If you achieve perfection there, then people might listen to what you have to say.
These make-over shows on t.v., teen movies abound where the ugly duckling becomes a princess...suddenly the girl has value because she looks nice now. WHAT????
So we all labour under the societal command to advertise this elusive perfection, which doesn't actually exist. Talk about being set up for failure!
At the cabin, I sit on the beach in my average size body, with no make-up and my hair pulled back. I have so much fun with the people there, and we chat about our kids personalities, the weather, politics, and what we're making for supper that night. And guess what? We are all perfectly happy. I think that is closer to real life than what I see in stores and magazines.
Is there some way to transport the freedom of the lake back into my city life?
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