Posted by Racer on November 14, 2006, at 16:06:42
In reply to Re: Tanzanian's and body image... » Meri-Tuuli, posted by NikkiT2 on November 14, 2006, at 15:20:17
There's a book out there, called "Fat: The Anthropology of an Obsession," that includes an essay about living in a culture that considers fat to be beautiful. The woman who wrote it, wrote about her own reactions to living in a culture that thought she was rather weird for being so thin -- despite her being a fairly average size by our standards.
It was interesting to read, especially as she described the way young women went out of their way to get stretch marks, or how mothers would keep their daughters home to eat more and more to grow more and more "beautiful." Part of the interest, of course, was that in this culture, fat had the same tyranny over women as being thin does here. And part of what made it so powerful was that it was so very, very alien to anything I've ever experienced in my own life. (And not only because I have an eating disorder...)
Actually, if you're interested in the subject at all, I strongly recommend the book. There are some essays that didn't do anything for me -- "Fat Porn," for instance, just seems gross to me -- but many are very powerful. There's an essay about teenage girls discussing their bodies, and how that interplays with social status, that really struck me powerfully. There are also essays about things like the meaning of fat in people with AIDS, or in rap culture, the high regard for lard in Italy, etc. Quite a powerful little book, and generally the essays are well written.
poster:Racer
thread:703411
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/eating/20060628/msgs/703450.html