Now, I know we have bikini season to talk about. But, during our antebellum spring, let's reflect on the past couple of months. . . .
Right before the holidays, I saw a commercial (can't remember the product--not such great advertising!) that proclaimed: "Now's the time to find out who wins--you or your jeans?"
So, I pose the question to you: Who won? Personally, I'm taking the win because:
a) I have friends who are smaller than I, to whom I often gift clothing I've outgrown (in more ways than one).
b) I have a growing Goodwill stash.
c) My jeans, after all, are inanimate and I have a sharp pair of scissors and a compliant garbage can.
***
I'll add here, for lack of another venue in which to discuss this sentiment, that I'm deeply saddened by the passing of Natasha Richardson. What a wonderful actress, mother, and woman. . . News like this, for me, puts concerns like above in such startling perspective. I hope it does for you as well.
7 comments:
Her death was caused by an accident here in Quebec and it has rekindled the debate on whether helmets should be mandatory or not on ski/snowboarding slopes. Chances are that it will be next winter, so her death wouldn't be in vain (a high percentage of head injuries on the slopes could have been avoided had a helmet been worn).
I've started reading this blog as a feminist with ED; thusly someone who is able to fairly well deconstruct and unpack societally cultivated attitudes to my body, yet buy into them at the same time.
It's interesting because though I can smile and enjoy this post, think "you go, girl!" I'm thinking glumly of my jeans at home which are just that little bit too tight, and aching to be the tiny little thing I was who could slip into them easy. And that's a battle I'm not giving up on.
It's a very difficult thing because I abhor the way women are socialised to hate their bodies, and I think the promotion and implementation of self-love and self-acceptance is critical - and yet I'm not prepared to even begin doing the same. Not until I've shed 12kgs.
So: my jeans have won.
I'm also heartbroken about Ms. Richardson. Especially for her kids.
And I must agree with garbo: I've put on about 25 pounds in the past 3 years, and I'm NOT happy. Even though I absolutely believe in fat acceptance, and I loathe the way women are oppressed by our slavish devotion to our appearance, I'm still trying to lose weight.
The jeans (sigh) are winning.
I just (as in yesterday) figured out that I fit into the skirt I bought a while ago that I thought I would be "thin enough" (and therefore insertadjectivehere - enough) if I could fit into. I was wrong, and it amazes me that I do this over and over and over and it never works - there is no "thin enough" and there is no magical piece of clothing (be it jeans or whatever else) that will fix everything if I lose enough weight to fit into.
As I'm also trying not to have to leave school before the end of the semester due to medical stability issues, my "jeans" are also winning.
Like Garbo in Paint, I too consider myself a feminist who nevertheless succumbs to the pressure to be thin and like Grace notes, for many people like me there is no such thing as thin enough. I will *always* feel defeated by my jeans: if I lose weight and buy a smaller size, inevitably, they will feel tight and I will want to lose more weight and buy smaller jeans and on and on. The solution: sweatpants! LOL - no, no, I'm joking.
Look, it's all advertising, all marketing, all designed to make us women feel bad about ourselves so we will buy products: more jeans, more diet shakes, more items to cover up our bodies that we feel ashamed of. You don't see them advertise to men that way, do you?
I have to agree with Garbo too.. I'm all for acceptance of all shapes and sizes. I'm just not willing to accept This shape as My size. So the jeans, aka my white linen trousers from last summer, are most definitely winning... :(
This has nothing to do with your entry, but I thought you would be really amused/perplexed by this story (copied over from my blog):
Title: Fat Stripper
I'm sure I'm not the only person who did a double take upon seeing the aforementioned advertised at the juice bar at my local grocery store. Apparently it is a smoothie that involves banaba (not banana) leaf, inulin, creatine, and something else. Its ostensible purpose, I trust, is to strip the fat away from the juice consumer. However, the title is somewhat easy to misconstrue, and while I'm not sure on what grounds, I feel that I should be offended by it.
Post a Comment