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Sunday 25 November 2012

Bodies and images

Due to an irritating glitch on the website, I am unable to reply to your comments the usual way so Marsha, my dear reader,in my defence I must state that I just moved back home after seven years and my mother makes the most amazing sweets :) But you are absolutely right and I agree. All we can do is enjoy life's little pleasures isn't it?

Except, Why did I feel guilty about eating sweets that have been a part of Indian cuisine for centuries and are also not that unhealthy. I have so many friends who count the calories in any food that they eat, some to an extant that they actually don't savour what they eat at all.We might do this without even realising and in some cases it is almost comical and a source of amusement to watch friends go to great lengths to avoid that one extra bite laden with calories.

However, there is a deeper issue that most of us overlook- low self esteem due to being unable to meet an image created and generated by media and current society norms about what our bodies should look like. 

It has been observed that most women, even those who meet the parameters of the "perfect" body type want to change themselves. This is in my opinion a disturbing trend. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20252921  - This is a link to a BBC article about the current debate on Body images.

In an era when the dress size zero has become an obsession amongst women, we can go on and on about the objectification of the female body by male dominated society. However, as a journalist, I am also aware of the pressure on men to look good through striving to achieve a body type that seems fantastic for eg: Gerard Butler's buffed up body and 'perfect abs'in 300- This apparently had men from all walks of life pushing themselves in the gym and according to some reports this led to a hike in back injuries, hamstring injuries etc. 

The question that I want to ask here is - Is there any relation between the shape of a person's body and their level of fitness? I will take my own example in this case and would like to point out my tale of woe about my figure in a previous post 'weighty issues'. At that time all I wanted as a writer was to write a witty post about issues like weight gain etc. I am also well aware that my previous post was also about the topic of eating fattening food.

All I want to say is that it is all about our own perception of things in general. The tilted view of my own posts suggest a writer and qualified journalist who also happens to be a woman in her 20's, slightly self obsessed and prone to moan about weight. 

I am not trying to defend myself in any way. I am all of the above plus a feminist, but above all I am human and am despite all my protests, not above being influenced by my surroundings. In the society that we live in, the positive effects of rapid globalisation also brought about negative ones like certain global fashion trends and media images from around the world that cannot possible fit into a lot of social set-ups.
eg: an Haute couture dress off the Paris ramps would be totally out of place in a classroom full of 14 year olds.

I end this post but not this discussion with a question for you dear reader  which of the photo's here do you find appealing..







         













to be continued...







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