why is being thin so important in our culture?

Question

Is it because it is hard to obtain or it makes people look better?

I have many other accomplishments that are much more impressive than being thin/losing weight, like having degrees, being a good mom, having a good marriage. why is my weight praised more by my family than the other things?

Answer 1

Making women to feel uncomfortable about how they look has been a major campaign of the advertising business for decades, as it is a huge source of income for the consumerism fostered by international corporations. All advertising is based on creating a hunger in the recipient for something that they don't have, feel, or need. Making women feel inadequate succeeds in making them purchase everything from new fashions, cosmetics, hair styles and products, and weight loss scams, all combining to make women spend trillions of dollars. It is a brutal, sinister, cynical, and heartless campaign to always make women, and people in general, feel always uneasy if they don't have the latest, best tasting, best looking, or whatever product on the market. Know you are deliberately being messed with all the time to think and feel something unnatural and uncomfortable so that you will buy more. None of it is for your welfare.

Answer 2

You are totally right! Kudos to you for knowing being a good mom, having a good marriage, etc is way more important than being a size 0...Being thin just fits into people's stereotyped perception of a successful person. Being thin now is also glorified indirectly by the media and the fashion industry.Don't fall for it. Tell them that you do not stress over your weight and THAT's why you look good :D People are often insecure about their own weight so when they see someone with the weight they'd like to have, they can't help but praise...

Answer 3

I wonder why being thin is so important. My goal was to get down to 130lbs. I am 5"4, though. My other goals was to acquire a career in computers, acquire my autonomy and improve my psychological and emotional health. Among them, the independence and career are the ones that I haven't conquered.
So many of the ones with a 36-24-36 have no substance, nor knowledge. They may the # of calories in Special K, but have no idea who invented electriciy.

Answer 4

I don't think its praised to be thin in our culture. Its praised to be healthy in our culture (as it should be in any culture) Healthy can mean different things for different people - people of the same height and gender, both at their ideal weight will not be the same weight, will no carry that weight in the same 'ideal' places on their bodies.

For instance, women in our culture are supposed to carry any extra weight they have in their chest. Men are supposed to have the 'v' shape. Go to Japan and take a look - men in Japan are seen as being fit when they have an 'A' shape - big belly by comparison to shoulders. Is health defined by culture or by genetics? Perhaps for a Japanese man, the 'A' shape IS the healthiest and for a German (example) man the 'v' shape IS the healthiest.

Same ideas go for women.

The problem is on average, people in this culture over eat and under exercise. This means the average person should be praised for loosing weight and being thinner. The side effect of this is that healthy, if not average people are sometimes driven to anorexia and bulimia rather than only the overweight people being driven to loose some through exercise and eating good foods.

I think super models are too thin. I think I am too thin as well - to be healthy, I'm one of the rarities that needs to GAIN weight, but despite how much I eat, I don't gain weight - its just my metabolism I guess.

Believe me though. Being a thin guy is the same as being a fat girl. Women don't go for thin guys statistically just like men don't go for fat girls statistically. Whatever - I just want to be healthy for myself - not for society.

Answer 5

that's so true, I guess because famous people end up setting the bar for America. Models were already thin because they had to fit designer clothes, but then I guess they wanted to be the "best" and be better than the next girl, so they just keep working to be thinner, prettier, etc. In movies, being on tv makes you look bigger and I guess its the same thing as models, competition. Just as Americans look toward famous people for clothing, accessory, and whatever they do, if all of them end up being skinny it sets an example that if they are, and they are famous, maybe we should try to.

Answer 6

We've allowed the media to create the hallucination that we all need to be physically perfect. Next time you're in line at the grocery store, realize ALL the womens photos on the magazine covers have been "perfected" digitally..no one is truly perfect...and 60 year old actresses have wrinkles.
Being healthy and happy is much more important than being thin...so enjoy your life your way and let the compliments fall where they may...........

Answer 7

Women are judged by how they look. In our society being thin, [more difficult to obtain] is more desired.

Thus the fixation on your slender body as being the HEIGHT of what you can achieve as a woman.

Not fair, not real, but the way things are...unfortunately.

Answer 8

That's a really good question. I think it's so interesting that tabloids will show pictures of and condemn some celebrities with cellulite who have "let themselves go," but seem so upset over the fact that Nicole Richie looks like a starving eleven-year-old.

Answer 9

well, unfortuantely, entertainment runs our nation. while U.S. soldiers are risking their lives for pay that ain't worth it, actors are being given millions of dollars to ENTERTAIN. it started with models because in fashion, clothes look better on the hanger than the body, but that'd no way to advertise in fashion so the skinnier a model appeared, the better the clothes would look. and models are suppose to be the most beautiful women because they are trying to sell something very high-dollar (fashion). so you put beauty and being thin together, people think they need to be thin to be beautiful.

Answer 10

Being thin in America usually means just being in good physical condition. Girls that are physically fit, will have healthier children, therefore are more attractive to males. It is how nature works.