I recently read an article that discussed women's inbuilt fear of getting fat. It discusses how women, more than men, react negatively when they see other obese women. They do not react negatively against these other women, but instead react in a way that their brain focuses attention on their own self image. When they see other women who are over-weight they process their own identity and self reflection, therefore solidifying their need to remain thin. This can be the first stage of eating disorders, but this reaction is seen in many women, even those that externally would say that they were not worried about their image.
This made me think about the idea of how our brains are motivated. When seeing someone who is overweight it seems odd to me that the initial brain circuits would be to reflect on yourself. I guess for me, I don't cognitively think that I would see someone who is obese and think to myself that I didn't want to look like that. I guess I wouldn't think anything at all because I am not super thin so I would not be judging them. It also made me think about what motivates us to want to be thin? Is it the want to be healthy or look good in the eyes of others? Or is it more of an internal motivation to have a positive self-image? From this article, I would think that it is more an external motivation.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1266007/Woman-inbuilt-fear-getting-fat-does-exist-men.html
This area of research involving motivational problems people face in their lives appeals to me in that it’s in desperate need of our attention as a society. Diane Spangler, psychologist, mentions within this article something that registered completely with my thoughts upon reading it—“many women learn that bodily appearance and thinness constitute what is important about them, and their brain responding reflects that.” To answer the question posed in the post regarding what motivates us to be thin—it’s probably a combination of both the desire to look good to others (external) and the desire for a positive self-image (internal). Our society is involved in a perfection game in which everyone yearning for beauty must take extreme measures to obtain it. From the glamorization of eating disorders to the increasing popularity of body modification by way of plastic surgery, we thrive on constantly striving to reach perfection. An incentive feeding our obsession with thinness is our constant ear tuned into the celebrity culture of stars that are considerably thinner than in the past. One of the biggest issues with these cultural pressures is that we conform to them and receive positive reinforcement for doing so. Issues with identity formation during puberty cause girls to use their appetite as a voice to express various things in our culture. Biologically, those with eating disorders typically have elevated levels of serotonin activity which may be reduced by starvation. A fascinating program aired on PBS called Dying to be Thin and is currently available online. What do you believe to be motivating these women to become so dangerously thin?
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/thin/program.html
As sad at the article is, I see how it’s completely true. In America it’s such a desire and a social norm for women to be thin. It doesn’t help that all we see in magazines is articles about how to lose ten pounds or how to look thin. They always have a photo of some skinny Hollywood movie star too. I’m not super thin either, but I guess when I do see people who are obese I don’t want to look like that. It’s not just looking obese that gets me though, it’s the thought of how unhealthy they are, they may not exercise, they have an increased risk for certain diseases, this is more my concern. I once had a friend who I think was starting to become anorexic she showed numerous symptoms of the disease and she suffered from depression. I think to her she just never looked good, she was always saying how she was ugly or something, when in reality she was a pretty girl. I think it was purely external for her. This all started after her boyfriend broke up with her, so I think it was her way to “look good”. Beauty is so much more than appearance.
This article definitely is right on track. Women, young girls...whatever their age are constantly trying to fit this self image that they want others to see them as. I can see why this would cause eating disorders, because society portrays that women have to be thin and attractive especially cause that is what men want. This world revolves around the image men set for us (External). I also believe that it is not just the media that makes healthy and unhealthy women fear becoming fat, I think it has to do with the fact that obesity is over running our country and that so many families have obesity and they are scared to follow in the same tracks as their family members (Internal). Women want that positive self-image like it makes them more acceptable to others of the same and opposite sex. Let’s face it us women are crucial at criticizing others looks, we do it sometimes without even realizing it. I know I am guilty of it, because the group of friend I hung out in high school with always made remarks at other girls’ looks, clothes etc and my boyfriend will actually catch me doing it every now and then and let me know, which I really appreciate. To be honest I think some girls do it just so they can feel better about themselves, which is kind of a bitch mood. Basically we all want to feel good about ourselves, but in the back of our mind every day we catch ourselves starting at our image through a mirror.
This article is completely true with how us women look at ourselves and others. When looking at an obese person, or woman, as was discussed in this article, most woman notice that the other is obese and thinks in the back of their head they do not want to look like that. Whether we do it tentionally or intentionally and do not realize, we all make judgments about other people. I believe that it is mostly external factors that influence women to stay thin. Magazines, movies, and t.v. shows all have very pretty, thin females in them. Thin is all you see or hear about anymore within magazines. It is no wonder why women feel as though they need to be thin.
I do not recall where I heard this information, but it said that obese people make less money than thinner people. I decided to look it up online, and sure enough there was a study that talked about it. It said that women who are obese and caucasian, you can make up to 6.2% less than a thin woman. The reason why is because obese people are more at risk. So within a company that women work in or want to work in, being thin is constituted as more superior based on pay.
Women are faced with many disorders, because of the image of being thin, and it doesn't help when not only magazines, t.v. shows, and movies portray thin, but when a company will pay you less for being obese.
I wouldn't necessarily argee with this article that it is all women who have this built in fear of being fat. I think that it is more culturally created rather than biologically. In western societies, I would agree with this, but not so much in non-western societies. According to Reeves (pg. 432) neurotic perfectionism is associated with a wide range of psychopathology -- depression, suicide, and eating disorders. Having these uncontrollable standards ushers anxiety, helplessness, and suicidal thoughts (Reeves, 432). I feel that the idea of eating disorders and women feeling the need to be thin comes more from these ideas rather than having a fear of being fat, which i feel is more culturally related. I also think that the people around you may put these ideas in your head taht thin is beautiful, like parents (who are a big influence) and friends.
I think this article is very true. I personally have struggled with my weight, and I can relate to this line of thought. There's this gut reaction of "Am I that big? I can't let myself get like that." It's not a judgment of the other women, exactly. I am not looking down on them, I simply recognize that they are more overweight than I am and it sparks a fear that I may become more overweight if I'm not careful. I believe there is a definite extrinsic motivation in our culture that thin is beautiful and we all have to look like supermodels. The thinner girls seem to get the guys and the friends while the more overweight girls are stuck alone and ashamed, or so the media tells us. To reference a current example from TV, in the show Glee, the cheerleaders are the skinny attractive girls and it seems as though they rule the school, whereas the less attractive, average or overweight girls get slushies to the face. These are the messages our culture is sending us. This takes a real toll on our self-esteem, which we have learned can have immense, far reaching effects on our lives.
I can agree with this article because I, as a woman, do have a fear of gaining weight. I think deep down everyone probably does, even if they don't think about it often. I don't see how anyone could think to themselves, "I could be 500 pounds and I would be absolutely fine and content with that." Along with the fear of gaining weight as motivation, I think women have many intrinsic and extrinsic motivations as well. The media and our society today provide a lot of extrinsic motivation to lose weight. Seeing all the beautiful, usually thin women in the movies, on T.V., and in magazines makes us strive to look that way, even if it's not realistic. For me, I know I can never be as thin as Jennifer Aniston or Cameron Diaz, but I'm ok with that. As for intrinsic motivation, that is different for everyone. I am intrinsically motivated because I know how I want to look and that I want to be healthy, so knowing that motivates me to work out and eat healthy. So I think that women, and people in general are mostly extrinsically motivated to lose weight, thanks to the media and our society.
I think that every woman can easily relate to this article. The statistics of how much of our population is obese is insane and rather depressing. Though I haven't had any weight issues so far in my life, seeing overweight people does still motivate me to work out and moderately watch what I eat. Without proper exercise and nutrition, it becomes very easy to fall in to the overweight bracket. Being active is very important in maintaining a healthy weight.
Media has very big influence on young women these days. Seeing stick thin models makes us believe that achieving that weight is realistic. It's not. Many of those photos are photoshopped to make them look perfect when in reality, they don't look like that. For those models that are very, very stick thin, many of them are unhealthy and actually have eating disorders of their own I believe. Our society today puts a lot of pressure on women to be skinny. I don't think being skinny is the issue. As long as a person is HEALTHY and happy with themselves, than that should be good enough.
I found this article very interesting based on some of the things I have learned in this class. In the hunger part of our textbook in chapter 4 it says that people with friends who are obese are more likely to be overweight themselves. I wonder how that ties in with this article, because according to the article these people with obese friends would be even more motivated to not become overweight themselves. However, this does not seem to be the case according to our textbook.
I do think that there is a lot of pressure for women to be thin, especially in America. Just today in my workout class we were talking about how girls judge other girls at the WRC. It's sad but true. Some of the girls in my class said that they simply enjoy people watching, while others said that they judge the girls based on what they are wearing (tight, tiny outfits, etc.). This is interesting in the context of this article, because the girls I was talking to were saying that seeing super thin girls who are able to wear tight outfits makes them jealous. This is kind of the opposite of what this article is saying, but it still produces the same result of wanting to be thinner.