Body shape and body image

[LowCarbLara]

Re: Body shape and body image

Everyone should be happy with the way they will look at their healthiest. And if that means I will be a size 12 like Marilyn - so be it!!!

Actually, if Marilyn Monroe was alive today she would probably wear a US size 2 (maybe even a 0).
ETA: Some already beat me to it!

A serious fashion show using the world's best athletes would be an eye opener for some, and a challenge for the designers to show off extremely good body shapes.

Well, here they are (some of them), in action:

[julirama723]

Re: Body shape and body image

Looking at pics and comparing figures from "then" and "now," I don't think the concept of what a small waist is has changed. I think women today are aiming for less body fat (which goes back to Labarum's question--what were the body fat percentages of the 40s and 50s?) which means less fat in the breasts and hips. A 23-inch waist is a 23-inch waist, but who looks thinner? A woman with measurements of 36-23-38 or 28-23-28? It seems women want to lose the "womanliness" of their breasts and hips...or at least hips.

[Alexa]

Re: Body shape and body image

Yeah, I think Julie is right - it's like Marilyn Monroe may have been tiny but she didn't look light she had starved herself to get there - whereas lots of the really skinny actress and models are really meant to be bigger framed and they look kind of emaciated.

I have no trouble with people wanting to be skinny but there can be health risks at the lower end as much as for overweight people. But then hey they get fake boobs, lots of media coverage and we all feel bad we don't look like that! Well, some of us do - I'm getting over it

[Lulubell]

Re: Body shape and body image

The pharmaceutical companies push to sell drugs to lose weight, to lower blood pressure, to lower cholesterol, etc. etc. There is nothing wrong with trying to do these things. But did anyone notice that about a year ago or so all of a sudden the acceptable levels of cholesterol lowered and then we had a new rash of cholesterol-lowering prescription commercials on television? One even said "Just when you thought you had lowered your cholesterol enough, new recommendations have been released?"

I hardly think this is the result of pharma companies pushing new drugs. It's most likely that the latest reserach shows that keeping cholsterol as low as possible is best for warding off cardio-vascualr disease.

Here we are, living a WOL that naturally lowers blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar, and helps us lose weight, and the many in the medical community and the pharmaceutical companies are trying to push drugs down out throats.

*yawn* i get tired of this kind of rant ^^^. you might say that i have a jaded point of view because i am employed by big pharma, but i honestly don't see it that way. heaven forbid that you actually need life-saving medicines someday, i hope that you will speak kinder of the companies that developed them and brought them to market.

i'm not trying to flame you, i just get irked when an entire industry that has done so much gets thoroughly panned for every personal crusade issue. in fact, i agree with your POV on how some of us will never fit into a size 0. i actually think that would be unhealthy for anyone with a tall or normal sized frame. yes, i understand that there are really petite women out there who need a size 0. i personally don't give a **** what others think. i know that i look great in a size 12. i'm 5'10" and i have large bones, so as long as i am in good health and my blood work is ok and my doctor approves, so be it.

[obkbbby]

Re: Body shape and body image

There is a difference between life-saving medicines and using a drug for everything as a first option. There are plenty of medicines out there that do awesome things. No one is taking away any of that. But there are doctors and pharaceuticals that push drugs as the only to solve certain problems. My mil had a doctor that, everytime she went to her, wanted to put her on new or different prescriptions for every day problems. At one point she was taking literally handfuls of pills a day, several times a day. Her new doctor has taken her off most of them just by having her change her lifestyle. There's a huge difference.

It's not a rant - it's what I see personally with many of my friends and family. If your experience is different, then I'm sorry I offended you. I'm not leading a personal crusade - I don't go to Congress or to the newspapers about any of this - I was just voicing my opinion, which is what I thought everyone was doing.

[not2late]

Re: Body shape and body image

Yeah, I think Julie is right - it's like Marilyn Monroe may have been tiny but she didn't look light she had starved herself to get there - whereas lots of the really skinny actress and models are really meant to be bigger framed and they look kind of emaciated.

I have no trouble with people wanting to be skinny but there can be health risks at the lower end as much as for overweight people. But then hey they get fake boobs, lots of media coverage and we all feel bad we don't look like that! Well, some of us do - I'm getting over it

Very true. Maureen O'Sullivan (Jane in the Tarzan movies) was slender, but her bones weren't sticking out like she was just liberated from a concentration camp.

[Labarum]

Re: Body shape and body image

And "Tarzan" shows the male attributes we have been talking of.

[not2late]

Re: Body shape and body image

Johnny Weismueller was in the "pre-steroids" era. He looks fit and muscular, but he's in no way "pumped" like the performance-enhanced steroid users are.

Bruno Sammartino, who's one of the greatest pro wrestlers, was steroid-free, too. By today's standards he looks "fat", not "fit and muscular", and definitely not "cut".

[julirama723]

Re: Body shape and body image

The thing that scares me is, if this trend continues, what is the "ideal" going to look like in the future? YIKES!

[ttdriver]

Re: Body shape and body image

I agree, that its all about being healthy. If that's a size 0 to me, that's good. If that's a size 12 for you, that's good!

As for the pharmaceutical industry, there is NO QUESTION we owe them alot. But I for one get VERY TIRED of the non-stop television commercial encouraging people to "ask your doctor about........." you KNOW there's money in the advertising or they wouldn't do it! That really gets my goat.

How many of us walk into our doctors and say "hey doc, I saw such-and-such advertised on TV last night and just had the urge to ask you about it...."

Rant over. My suggestion: eat well, exercise daily, be well.

Betty

[Lulubell]

Re: Body shape and body image

of course there's $$ in the advertising - how do you think R&D is funded? i'm really not trying to be adversarial, so this will be my last post on the topic. i think everyone has an opinion and opinions are generally not changed by message board posts. i think healthy debate and expression is what makes a society and even internet community like ours so great.

but if we are to start banning or restricting certain industries and commodities from advertising on TV or in print, which of course, goes against the principles of a free market economy - like the one we live in - perhaps we should consider some of the other industries that do some serious harm to health, although not necessarily in the same vilified categories as let's say alcohol and tobacco companies, which were banned a long time ago. as in:

-sodas and sugared beverages
-kids' breafast cereals (the choco-sugar-blast-o-rama types)
-cookies, chips, or other sugary, fatty snacks
-fast food restaurant commercials
-tanning salons
-fashion magazines which promote an unhealthy ideal for women

when we look around at the messages that we are constantly bombarded with, it is not difficult to be conflicted. we live in a society that idealizes rail-thin supermodels - watch the fashion channel - but yet we see commercials on TV of otherwise healthy people chomping down on big macs. that's a duplicitous message. children's networks are loaded up with heavy advertising for lucky charms, chip-ahoy, and "fruit" roll-ups. tanning salons are still open and there are people still using them - fake orange color and all, when we all know that it is best to avoid certain types of UV rays, whether from the sun or a salon.

i think that the pharma industry is not generally proactive. it doesn't seek to cure things that aren't a problem for people. it seeks to cure things that are a problem. and we have a lot of problems now, like highest rates of obesity and type II diabetes in children. sure, it's hawking metformin and alli to combat a problem that exists now, not because it (the pharma industry) made it up, but because obesity and diabetes are real illnesses now. it's like peeling back an onion to find the root cause, which i am confident is not the pharmaceutical industry.

i agree with all the above posts to be healthy. and also, teach your kids how to be healthy, too!

[sallyseachange]

Re: Body shape and body image

The thing that scares me is, if this trend continues, what is the "ideal" going to look like in the future? YIKES!

The way we're going, in the distant future (if we ever have one) man will probably be just a big brain and a finger to press the buttons! How alluring!!

[Labarum]

Re: Body shape and body image

The way we're going, in the distant future (if we ever have one) man will probably be just a big brain and a finger to press the buttons! How alluring!!

I hesitate to speak for women, but a man needs to have more parts than a brain and a finger.

[Alexa]

Re: Body shape and body image

I was interested to see people from the US say that different prescription drugs are advertised on TV - that seems really odd from a UK perspective because we have a national health service and they use whatever drugs are approved by the central body - I think, though obviously cost comes into the decision making process.

Does that mean if you go to your Dr you can have a drug you saw advertised on TV? Would you pay more for different brands? I'm just interested, not being arsey...

Also - is alcohol advertising banned in the US? I got that impression from Lulubell's post.

[Lulubell]

Re: Body shape and body image

baarb-

alcohol and tobacco ads are banned form TV advertising - that law went into effect some time ago, i would say early 1990's. they are still in print and on billboards, however.

as for the prescription drugs, congress here decided that drug companies may advertise their products on TV, but they are not allowed, by law, to state what the indication is for. which is why they encourage the viewer to "ask your doctor about...". sure, you can go into the office and ask for something, but if it's not something you need, a doc will not prescribe it.

generic drugs, whihc cost substantially less than brands, are available for many name brands that are off patent. people ask for it up front, generally, and docs are happy to oblige by writing a scrip for it. only the newest drugs that are not off patent do not have generic counterparts.

-renee