Comments on: Women’s Obsession with Body Image http://empoweringall.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/women%e2%80%99s-obsession-with-body-image/ By LATHA VIDYARANYA - YOU N ME, OUR HEADS N HEARTS POOLED IN TO EMPOWER ALL ! Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:40:54 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 By: latha vidyaranya http://empoweringall.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/women%e2%80%99s-obsession-with-body-image/#comment-521 latha vidyaranya Tue, 16 Sep 2008 07:49:31 +0000 http://empoweringall.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/women%e2%80%99s-obsession-with-body-image/#comment-521 dear cole, thanks for the visit and placing such an honest comment. certain degree of body image needs to be there for all of us so that we keep ourselves hale and healthy and presentable. but this image should not become an obsession. it tends to get obsessive during adolescence when all that an adolescent can think of is his/her body image. as you have rightly mentioned, each advertisement and celebrity endorsement influence the teenagers so much that there is a big industry thriving on this body image. cole, you have made a very poignant statement - "Somewhere along the way I feel that I’ve probably missed out on things more important, like caring for others less fortunate than I. Spending extra money to make myself look good could have been used to help some person who has nothing to get what they need just to survive." if only this thought gets translated into some meaningful action, we can wipe some tears and see some smiles on the faces of less fortunate ones! thank you, cole. dear cole, thanks for the visit and placing such an honest comment. certain degree of body image needs to be there for all of us so that we keep ourselves hale and healthy and presentable. but this image should not become an obsession. it tends to get obsessive during adolescence when all that an adolescent can think of is his/her body image. as you have rightly mentioned, each advertisement and celebrity endorsement influence the teenagers so much that there is a big industry thriving on this body image.

cole, you have made a very poignant statement – “Somewhere along the way I feel that I’ve probably missed out on things more important, like caring for others less fortunate than I. Spending extra money to make myself look good could have been used to help some person who has nothing to get what they need just to survive.” if only this thought gets translated into some meaningful action, we can wipe some tears and see some smiles on the faces of less fortunate ones!

thank you, cole.

]]> By: cole http://empoweringall.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/women%e2%80%99s-obsession-with-body-image/#comment-518 cole Fri, 12 Sep 2008 19:58:47 +0000 http://empoweringall.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/women%e2%80%99s-obsession-with-body-image/#comment-518 Thinking back to my high school years, I was constantly consumed with this image in my mind playing over and over dictating what I did and how I would act. I tried out for the basketball team as a freshman and made the team by the skin of my teeth. That entire season was hell for me. I was picked on so much for many different reasons but it all went back to the fact that I was this really tall, skinny kid and not as coordinated as the others. I tried to keep in mind that this was my first time ever playing the game and that I had been deprived of the fundamental years with sports that the rest had been active in. The entire negative feedback from players and coaches, whether jokingly or not, really took a toll on me during those awkward years of my life. Of course this was all just icing on the cake to the fact that I had just been taken away from my family and put in a foster home. I would often blow-off what people would say or what I could tell they were thinking, acting as though it didn't faze me. You learn to tell yourself that it happens to everyone some time or another and just pretend you're bulletproof. I guess I wasn't though. I found myself striving to change what those people were saying about me. I changed my physique, my attitude and even my friends for the sake of being accepted in the eyes of people who now don't matter a bit. Now days, I am very aware of my actions that show what kind of person I am. Not to say that I'm some kind of paranoid freak but it almost comes natural these days at the subconscious level to remind myself that I should act a certain way around a certain crowd. I believe in making "good first impressions", so I try to present myself as a friendly, likable guy to everyone I meet. When I was a kid I would play outside with friends still wearing bits of my lunch on my face. It didn't matter if I looked cool or attractive but now that has all changed. My body image is what I think about more than probably anything else. I have been heavily influenced as to how I should look by a number of things. I’ve been influenced by movies, commercials, magazines, friends, girlfriends and many other sources to make me believe that I have something to prove. Of course me being who I am, I take these ideas hook, line and sinker. I buy clothes that give me a certain look, choose habits that keep me in shape and purchase products that claim they'll “make you better." Like for instance, I could buy shampoo from dollar general for a buck or two but I opt to get the expensive stuff from a salon because I believe it does a better job. This isn't necessarily wrong but it just goes to show how consumed people like me let themselves get with their own body image. It's not completely our fault though we're human. When something like shampoo is being promoted by a guy with washboard abs it just lures us in because we all want to look good. American society pushes so hard at body image that it's becoming ridiculous. When we could be spending money on a life-saving cure, we find ourselves advertising underwear. Who doesn't know that they should buy underwear honestly? We're becoming too consumed with body image, wasting time caring so much about something that shouldn't be at the top of our priorities list. This all has impacted my life and shaped the person people see me as today. Somewhere along the way I feel that I've probably missed out on things more important, like caring for others less fortunate than I. Spending extra money to make myself look good could have been used to help some person who has nothing get what they need just to survive. Things of this nature tend to make me question my actions but I try to not have any regrets. Thinking back to my high school years, I was constantly consumed with this image in my mind playing over and over dictating what I did and how I would act. I tried out for the basketball team as a freshman and made the team by the skin of my teeth. That entire season was hell for me. I was picked on so much for many different reasons but it all went back to the fact that I was this really tall, skinny kid and not as coordinated as the others. I tried to keep in mind that this was my first time ever playing the game and that I had been deprived of the fundamental years with sports that the rest had been active in. The entire negative feedback from players and coaches, whether jokingly or not, really took a toll on me during those awkward years of my life. Of course this was all just icing on the cake to the fact that I had just been taken away from my family and put in a foster home. I would often blow-off what people would say or what I could tell they were thinking, acting as though it didn’t faze me. You learn to tell yourself that it happens to everyone some time or another and just pretend you’re bulletproof. I guess I wasn’t though. I found myself striving to change what those people were saying about me. I changed my physique, my attitude and even my friends for the sake of being accepted in the eyes of people who now don’t matter a bit. Now days, I am very aware of my actions that show what kind of person I am. Not to say that I’m some kind of paranoid freak but it almost comes natural these days at the subconscious level to remind myself that I should act a certain way around a certain crowd. I believe in making “good first impressions”, so I try to present myself as a friendly, likable guy to everyone I meet. When I was a kid I would play outside with friends still wearing bits of my lunch on my face. It didn’t matter if I looked cool or attractive but now that has all changed. My body image is what I think about more than probably anything else. I have been heavily influenced as to how I should look by a number of things. I’ve been influenced by movies, commercials, magazines, friends, girlfriends and many other sources to make me believe that I have something to prove. Of course me being who I am, I take these ideas hook, line and sinker. I buy clothes that give me a certain look, choose habits that keep me in shape and purchase products that claim they’ll “make you better.” Like for instance, I could buy shampoo from dollar general for a buck or two but I opt to get the expensive stuff from a salon because I believe it does a better job. This isn’t necessarily wrong but it just goes to show how consumed people like me let themselves get with their own body image. It’s not completely our fault though we’re human. When something like shampoo is being promoted by a guy with washboard abs it just lures us in because we all want to look good. American society pushes so hard at body image that it’s becoming ridiculous. When we could be spending money on a life-saving cure, we find ourselves advertising underwear. Who doesn’t know that they should buy underwear honestly? We’re becoming too consumed with body image, wasting time caring so much about something that shouldn’t be at the top of our priorities list. This all has impacted my life and shaped the person people see me as today. Somewhere along the way I feel that I’ve probably missed out on things more important, like caring for others less fortunate than I. Spending extra money to make myself look good could have been used to help some person who has nothing get what they need just to survive. Things of this nature tend to make me question my actions but I try to not have any regrets.

]]> By: latha vidyaranya http://empoweringall.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/women%e2%80%99s-obsession-with-body-image/#comment-219 latha vidyaranya Wed, 02 Jan 2008 10:48:59 +0000 http://empoweringall.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/women%e2%80%99s-obsession-with-body-image/#comment-219 eat right. exercise right. and burn well. crash diets never burn well. you only reach 'burn out'. when our body is used to certain pattern of diet, crash dieting deprives the body of this pattern so suddenly that body can not cope up with this sudden deprivation and the organs get insulted. it can lead to many complications. later on even if you get back to the normal pattern, body will not be able to hold that well and may dehydrate through vomiting and loose motions. when the body is thus insulted at a young age, later on it leads to many health problems at a much earlier age. hence please beware of crash dieting! eat right. exercise right. and burn well. crash diets never burn well. you only reach ‘burn out’. when our body is used to certain pattern of diet, crash dieting deprives the body of this pattern so suddenly that body can not cope up with this sudden deprivation and the organs get insulted. it can lead to many complications. later on even if you get back to the normal pattern, body will not be able to hold that well and may dehydrate through vomiting and loose motions. when the body is thus insulted at a young age, later on it leads to many health problems at a much earlier age. hence please beware of crash dieting!

]]> By: Nova http://empoweringall.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/women%e2%80%99s-obsession-with-body-image/#comment-214 Nova Wed, 02 Jan 2008 01:29:56 +0000 http://empoweringall.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/women%e2%80%99s-obsession-with-body-image/#comment-214 Agree with you on the obsession bit... But it is equally true, that if you are happy, you are radiant and look beautiful and as far as a good body is concerned... I would attribute a not-so-good body to a bad lifestyle... A good body can be achieved by a good lifestyle... The basic funda is to burn out whatever u eat and if you can do that only by crash diet... so be it!! Agree with you on the obsession bit…

But it is equally true, that if you are happy, you are radiant and look beautiful and as far as a good body is concerned… I would attribute a not-so-good body to a bad lifestyle…

A good body can be achieved by a good lifestyle… The basic funda is to burn out whatever u eat and if you can do that only by crash diet… so be it!!

]]> By: ruhi http://empoweringall.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/women%e2%80%99s-obsession-with-body-image/#comment-72 ruhi Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:03:38 +0000 http://empoweringall.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/women%e2%80%99s-obsession-with-body-image/#comment-72 Totally agree with Latha. Accepting our differences and being happy is all that matters, yet it is difficult to achieve this. :) Latha, thanks for the trackback. The next time you need to add a link, just highlight the relevant words (using your mouse), and then click on the HTML icon (looks like a small chain) in your writing window --> copy the relevant URL in the window that pops up--> Click Insert--> Done :) Isn't that easy? Let me know if you have a prob Totally agree with Latha. Accepting our differences and being happy is all that matters, yet it is difficult to achieve this. :)

Latha, thanks for the trackback. The next time you need to add a link, just highlight the relevant words (using your mouse), and then click on the HTML icon (looks like a small chain) in your writing window –> copy the relevant URL in the window that pops up–> Click Insert–> Done :) Isn’t that easy? Let me know if you have a prob

]]> By: arvind http://empoweringall.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/women%e2%80%99s-obsession-with-body-image/#comment-65 arvind Mon, 10 Dec 2007 08:10:39 +0000 http://empoweringall.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/women%e2%80%99s-obsession-with-body-image/#comment-65 yeah ... good things are always difficult to imply :P but they sure are fruitful.. :) yeah … good things are always difficult to imply :P
but they sure are fruitful..
:)

]]> By: latha vidyaranya http://empoweringall.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/women%e2%80%99s-obsession-with-body-image/#comment-64 latha vidyaranya Mon, 10 Dec 2007 08:04:39 +0000 http://empoweringall.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/women%e2%80%99s-obsession-with-body-image/#comment-64 aamod, that article on wiki was interesting. i did not know that the hip to waist ratio influences the cognitive ability of the developing foetus! smaller the ration, better the cognitive ability! all the more important that pregnant women do not hog and increase the HWR thus decreasing the intelligence of their about to be born kid! arvind, accepting the differences and celebrating them peps up our life! but it is SOOOOOOOO hard to ACCEPT! aamod, that article on wiki was interesting. i did not know that the hip to waist ratio influences the cognitive ability of the developing foetus! smaller the ration, better the cognitive ability! all the more important that pregnant women do not hog and increase the HWR thus decreasing the intelligence of their about to be born kid!

arvind, accepting the differences and celebrating them peps up our life! but it is SOOOOOOOO hard to ACCEPT!

]]> By: arvind http://empoweringall.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/women%e2%80%99s-obsession-with-body-image/#comment-62 arvind Mon, 10 Dec 2007 07:55:43 +0000 http://empoweringall.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/women%e2%80%99s-obsession-with-body-image/#comment-62 Finally.. a honest post from a girl..cheers for that.. :) there are no specification of beauty everything is man made.. its just how people perceive things. yes beauty from outside attracts others at the first meet .. but quite frankly once u start moving with some body its the inner beauty that builds up a good rapport... ,girls are needlessly starving for maintaining so called "the perfect figure" ..yes its good to be slim and tight... but we should also accept how we are..rather than others accept how we are..thats how life could be beautiful and peaceful.. once again nice post ... kudos to you and ruhi.. Finally.. a honest post from a girl..cheers for that.. :)
there are no specification of beauty everything is man made.. its just how people perceive things.
yes beauty from outside attracts others at the first meet .. but quite frankly once u start moving with some body its the inner beauty that builds up a good rapport…
,girls are needlessly starving for maintaining so called “the perfect figure” ..yes its good to be slim and tight… but we should also accept how we are..rather than others accept how we are..thats how life could be beautiful and peaceful..
once again nice post …
kudos to you and ruhi..

]]> By: latha vidyaranya http://empoweringall.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/women%e2%80%99s-obsession-with-body-image/#comment-57 latha vidyaranya Mon, 10 Dec 2007 04:30:00 +0000 http://empoweringall.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/women%e2%80%99s-obsession-with-body-image/#comment-57 ruhi, i was able to add ur link in my post with the help of RK of "Rambling with Bellur".<br/>thanks, RK ruhi, i was able to add ur link in my post with the help of RK of “Rambling with Bellur”.
thanks, RK

]]> By: latha vidyaranya http://empoweringall.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/women%e2%80%99s-obsession-with-body-image/#comment-56 latha vidyaranya Mon, 10 Dec 2007 04:09:00 +0000 http://empoweringall.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/women%e2%80%99s-obsession-with-body-image/#comment-56 lakshmi, as a young PU student u display such high levels of maturity in ur thinking! congrats!<br/><br/>yes, it requires maturity to admit our weaknesses or shortcomings. more so when we are constantly worried about how others may evaluate us. all the more bothersome to a teenager as this is the age they become obsessed with their appearance, go all out to look their best and dip into a depression if they fail to look good. it can reach even extreme levels of developing "body dysmorphic disorder" - a psychological disorder that requires counselling.<br/><br/>more abou this disorder in another post. thanks. lakshmi, as a young PU student u display such high levels of maturity in ur thinking! congrats!

yes, it requires maturity to admit our weaknesses or shortcomings. more so when we are constantly worried about how others may evaluate us. all the more bothersome to a teenager as this is the age they become obsessed with their appearance, go all out to look their best and dip into a depression if they fail to look good. it can reach even extreme levels of developing “body dysmorphic disorder” – a psychological disorder that requires counselling.

more abou this disorder in another post. thanks.

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