Spender wrote:
I think the ideals about women's body shapes have been a socio-political construct since we evolved from hunting and gathering communities (where women did actually produce the greatest amount of food and were also responsible for inventions such as the simple, yet incredibly powerful idea of a bowl), in that the subjugation and disempowerment has required us to be constantly seeking to be different.
It's really hard to disentagle the nature and the nurture part in anything... but the malleability of the ideals and the increased pressure over the last decades suggests to me that a huge part of the problem is
out thereQuote:
The enslavement of women's bodies, whether the ideal was curves or rib bones, other than during WWII where women were needed in the workforce (think the happy and healthy body of Rosie the Riveter), has been a political act, a political statement, about our roles, status and worth in market economies.
I think it's even more far-reaching, but at the same time more subtle. Like society being soaked in all these tacit assumptions about women's roles, status and worth in general.
No conspiracy, no easily identifiable enemy sworn to destroy us (at least that type has grown rarer and is not widely held in high esteem).
Just our prejudice and untested assumptions. The norms to which we subject both ourselves and others. The gossip we fear, the gossip we may take part in so we aren't at the receiving end. Our wishes to be loved and accepted, to be valued and to fit in. And the ideas and pictures we're fed about what it means to be lovable or beautiful, about what is desirable.
That awkwar moment when it dawns on you that "they" might be "us".
And I'm part of this culture and it would be naive to think I can shed it totally. Which leads to uncomfortable questions, like: Are some of my wishes perverted? Am I longing for things I shouldn't be striving you because they contribute to something really fucked up?
Sure, it's me being here today who wants to look "sexy" and doll up and who chooses to put on a pair of uncomfy heels. I'm quite sure that just letting go of it would mean to let go of something I care about. It would mean denying something about me, even if it is "just" my style.
But under different circumstances, I might not have gotten caught up in this beauty clusterfuck in the first place.
Oops... this post kind of took up a pace on its own. Sorry if it went of topic, but these thoughts felt important to me....
Edited to add: I guess my solution is to be accepting and non-judgemental about other women, even if they work to conform to these beauty norms. Or their style conforms to them etc. etc..
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It is the development of a now growing and booming "anorexic porn" industry. Yes, pornography has often been built on beautiful bodies or fetishes, but this is new, an industry that seeks out women to sexualise and abuse their bony bodies, their skeletons, their "flirtation" with death.
Ugh... that's kind of morbid. Not to mention it's
using people. Because yes, getting someone elses suffering served on a silver platter (or flatscreen) is just so cool.
