American society is full of contradictions, but one fitting for our overindulging during the upcoming holidays is that of our body weight.
The average American is overweight, but media images we see are of underweight women. On one hand we've got the food industry encouraging us to over-eat. On the other hand, the entertainment and fashion industries want us to under-eat.
Historically being overweight was a sign of wealth and well-being. The affluent could afford calorie-rich food and had diverse diets that included sweets.
Plus they did not engage in physical labor, so they didn't burn of those excess calories. Poor people had less to eat, worked hard, and thus were skin and bones.
However, modern, affluent women are skin and bones and seem to get skinnier as their fame increases.
Women like Whitney Houston, Celesta Flockhart, Jennifer Aniston and Courtney Cox seem to get thinner as time wears on. Magazines are filled with advertisements and articles promoting weight loss to increase attractiveness. The connection is that we can be happy and successful if we can be thin like Calista.
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Look at most "before and after" pictures on weight loss advertisements. Usually the "before" pictures depict an unsmiling person, slumped over with the burden of their unhappiness.
Often the pictures are dark and blurred with the person wearing frumpy clothes. Those people obviously don't shop at "Classy Lady" where they sell "distinctive designs for the plus size woman."
The "after" pictures show a smiling, straight-postured, confident person ready to take on the world. The pictures are in sharp focus and the clothing is trendy.
Yet, we have these food commercials where eating good food is a euphoric experience.
Think of all the Pizza Hut commercials where eaters happily eat their fat-filled pan pizzas; or of the family fighting for their nutrient-poor Eggo waffles.
There's a TV commercial of a thin, attractive woman catching attention by eating Doritos in a seductive manner.
In a cynical moment, I can easily picture this thin woman purging after the filming is complete to rid her of unwanted calories. I don't imagine that many models or actresses indulge themselves by eating junk food.
Then there's the grocery checkout area full of magazine covers filled with delicious looking food.
It's enough to make a person salivate and give up any low-calorie diet.
If we could just make the same Christmas dinner, then our family would be content. How can we pass up the promised happiness that eating will bring?
All these images and messages are so much a part of our lives that we barely take note of how they influence us. So we'll spend Thanksgiving through Christmas overeating then resolve to shed those extra pounds during the New Year.
We won't stop and think how we are playing out the contradictory messages of our society.
by Laura E. Valdez
Daily Lobo Columnist
