DISCLAIMER!
It is late and I am tired and rambling. I am going to assume that you are intelligent enough to know what I am NOT saying. Don't say stupid shit like "oh noes the fat bitches want us to all find therm sexxxy!!!!!!1!!111one!". This ain't about dictating what is and isn't sexy; we all like what we like, and that is fine. This is about examining the wider social implications of a large shift in overall preference and perception of beauty. The rest I am quite sure you can figure out for yourself.
So!
Today, the fine and talented ladies over at Shapely Prose had a post up about feminist writing regarding dieting and diet culture, and as usual they got me thinking. The ideas I'm about to ramble incoherently about are nothing new, certainly not original, having been covered far more eloquently and in far greater detail, I have noe doubt, by many others. But today was the first time these ideas really clicked together in my head.
Examine most popular media at the moment, whether it be a children's cartoon, a show, a movie or advert (in fact, especially adverts). Examine the ways in which men eat, and how it is portrayed, and how women eat, and the portrayal of their habits.
Men, when shown as the sympathetic main character (the one with whom we are supposed to identify, or see in a positive light), will have a big appetite, or at least will be seen to be openly hungry. They will eat whilst talking, eat fair-sized or large portions, show a preference for high-carb, high-protein or high-fat foods, and will appear enthusiastic, or at least positive, towards the food.
Women, when shown as the sympathetic main character, will eat very little. Watch the movement of their hands, the fork, their mouths. There will be plenty of shifting food on a plate, pushing it onto a fork, perhaps taking a small-moderate amount more from a serving bowl, but you will rarely actually see the women put anything in their mouths, unless they are sipping their drink. The women will show a preference for mostly green, leafy foods and fruits, although you may occassionally see a woman with a small, untouched dessert. In most cases, the only really active role a woman will show around the food is when she is serving it up, or feeding a child.
Where women are shown eating at the same rate, or greater, then men, notice how it is played up as humour, and how the scene will emphasise the woman's high appetite as a negative thing, or as causing weight gain and social unnacceptability. Similarly, notice how often the only time men are shown with appetites similar to that of the more positive female roles is either when openly gay or is at least used as an excuse to question their "manliness".
Examine adverts aimed towards women for food. Note that, where the food sells itself on being "healthy" or a diet option, the women will eat in groups, happily, (see every yoghurt advert ever) but when the advert is for chocolate or some other indulgent or "sinful" snack, the woman will eat alone and, as stated over at shapely prose, the food will be shown as a substitute for human affection or sex.
Overall then, we see that popular culture tells men to bulk up, eat well and have a hearty appetite, and tells women to restrict eating, and to eat very little. Deviations from the "normal" will come at the consequence of being a figure of fun or losing other characteristics in line with the heterosexual "norm".
Next, note diet culture in general, and the current beauty ideal. Every women's magazine will have page after page dedicated to the latest diets and weight-loss fads, and "cheats" for curbing hunger cravings, with hunger treated as an abberation. Celebrities that have previously been seen at BMI-normal sizes will be praised for shrinking down to tiny sizes, and readers will be tempted with the chance to learn the "secrets" to celebrity-level weight loss. Increasingly, pop culture celebrity females are shrinking, to the point where the women considered to be the sex icons look like this, this, this, and this.
We know that good nutrition, a well-fed and healthy body, will have a higher sex drive. And dramatic weight loss not only impairs sexual function in terms of stopped periods, but also reduces sex drive. (Well duh, when you're starving, your body has priorities other than breeding). When this is considered in line with the fact that the fashion for thin women, and increasingly thin women, started as women begun gaining independence, and we can see where this is leading.
The male ideal is of a sexual conqueror, going forth and spreading his seed, having a high sex drive and desire to be with women. The female ideal is of a passive creature, a vessel for the seed and receptacle for the male gaze. In the past, when women were treated as inferior and passive creatures, and where female virginity and "virtuous" behaviour was assured due to the ownership of men, from the father figure to the future husband, over women, our bodies were expected to be larger. As women gained more control over their bodies and sexual urges, we were expected to portay a more frail external appearance, to become smaller and less physically threatening.
And with photoshop being so widely used, we have become so accustomed to seeing images, presented as photographs of real people, that have been edited to remove all and any trace of a real body, that we no longer even know what a real size 10, size 8, size 14, woman "should" look like.
In a world where women can, theoretically, do everything that men can, and are in theory treated as equals, the idealised sexual image of a woman has become a half-starved, weight-obsessed dieter, a user of plastic surgery, beauty treatments and a wearer of high fashion, continuously concentrating her energy on matching an ever-changing image in order to be an ideal receptacle for what is presumed to be mens' preference. What energy does she have left to be a sexual conqueror, or strong woman, herself? None.
Of course, the previous ideal was no better for women, or for men, either. There are plenty of naturally thin women, just as there are natually fat women and women of all shapes and sizes, and none should feel obligated to change their appearance. Healthsome living used to be about good nutrition, a balanced diet, and plenty of physical activity. Now, it is all about the number on the scale. Men are ill-treated out of this as well. Skinny guys, guys that prefer veganism, guys that don't act as sexual conquerors are seen as less of a man, and there is great pressure to adhere to the status quo on both sides of the fence.
Of course, all of this is before I even think about daring to pick apart the classist and racist implications of the beauty ideal and "health" (ie, calorie restriction and weight loss) trends.
FA and HAES aren't just for us fat chicks. FA is a feminist issue, and affects us all, male and female.
