 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
« More thyroid stuff | Main | Thyroid, you little minx, you »Sunday, January 20, 2008
Food for thought
One of the things that happens when you write a weight-loss/health/fitness/body issue blog as long as I have is that you stumble upon Web sites that make you ... well, sad. Not where you feel pity for them, just sad. Sad that the state of the world is as such where women constantly feel so at odds with their bodies that they starve themselves down to a state where they think they're finally acceptable. They're not sleeping, they're hungry, they're emotional, their loved ones are worried ... I used to pity these sorts of women. Think they weren't enlightened. Think they were sheep. Stupid. Shallow. I don't think that anymore. If not for a few key, parental interventions here and there, we all could be the sort of woman torturing herself into a size zero. Eating only 300 calories a day, burning off 500 in the gym. Those who look down on these women? You are no better. You are no more intellectual. You are no more healthy. If you think you're above that sort of self-torture, you're deluded and no longer in touch with your humanity, and, let me just put this out there, so anti-woman you ought to turn in your club card to the feminist movement. The moment you turn your back on these women is the moment you decide that the very voices who influence these women to act in such a fashion have won out. You cannot be a member of the Westernized society and not, in some part, have been affected by the idea that your body is not good enough. Some people just get out a little less scathed than others. That said, I want to share something with all of you that my dear friend, Carissa, shared with me a couple of months ago. Take it to heart with you this week as you go about things. Really. "... [B]eing at home in our bodies means accepting our natural body shapes, colors, and textures, and rejecting pathetic attempts to alter them to fit an impossible ideal. Cosmetic breast, belly, and face lift surgery is sad, and futile rebellion against God's good design. I frequently see women self-subjected to illogical, uncomfortable standards of appearance. Is it my old feminist roots that makes me want to give them this advice? "Do not spend large amounts of money fighting wrinkles, or large amounts of time fighting your hair. Even if you just kept your hair clean and brushed and otherwise let it do what it wants, you will still be allowed to vote and own property. Wrinkles tell the story of your life. Don't try to falsify the story; instead, write the story you would want others to see. "If there is a big difference between how you look before and after you put on makeup, you're wearing too much makeup. Your goal is to like your face just as it is right out of the shower. A smile is your best ornament, with more impact than anything you could spend on jewelry, makeup, hairstyle, or clothing... "Go ahead and buy larger clothes. Imagine a composite of all the women all over the world who share your age and childbearing history. Apparently that's what God has in mind. It's okay to look like that. "Think about the distinction between 'beautiful' and 'attractive.' Attractive people are the ones you are drawn toward; they attract in the sense that magnets do. Many components go into attractiveness, but beauty is not necessarily one of them; some beautiful women are cold and bitter and actively repel. Beauty inevitably fades, but true attractiveness can be forever...." - Frederica Mathewes-Green Posted by Erin at 08:37 PM | filed under: Inspiration |
site navigation
tales from the scale
ejshea.com
photo gallery
the buddha's progress
health & fitness links
Oxygen Magazine
Oprah's Mind and Body page The Firm Hal Higdon Bikram Yoga Gmaps Pedometer Self Magazine Big Fat Deal Elastic Waist (and Body of Work) Body By Glamour Spark People Body For Life
site info
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||