Follow Up: Responding to Hilary

I thought that Brumberg’s Body Projects was extremely interesting, as there has been such a change in the way society views females over the past century. I think it is so interesting how women used to be looked at as beautiful if they were full-figured, and thin women were unattractive, whereas today that could not be more opposite. It is sad that society now puts such demands on women to fulfill the roles that they are “supposed” to fill, such as being thin with big boobs and a big butt. How many people are actually like that?

Brumberg’s chapter, “The Slimming of Yvonne Blue” really had the largest impact on me. As I read it, I really thought about when I was younger and how as a teenage girl I was overwhelmed by the fact that I was growing and gaining weight. Even though that is how the female body is supposed to respond to puberty, the process of filling out one’s body as a teen with the pressures of society always on one’s mind, it is a confusing and sometimes unhappy time. Yvonne represents this girl, but the one that legitimately goes to extremes to counteract the process. It is sad that “Yvonne eventually learned that a slender body was central to female success” (100). What does that say about our society that young women are growing up with such twisted thoughts in their minds? The fact that the body is a “project”, constantly worked on and never good enough is simply a response to this idea that thin is the only acceptable body type.

After reading the chapter about Yvonne Blue, I thought of the HBO documentary, Thin. I don’t know who has seen it but it is an extremely depressing documentary that focuses on a select group of anorexic/bulimic females in a rehab center. It tracks their progress from start to finish, and sadly, some of them immediately go back to their pre-rehab states when released. This only leaves viewers with a depressing outlook on how/if one can treat anorexia. The worst part of all is that the majority of anorexic patients’ situations are the result of our society’s unfair expectations placed on women, which are especially shown in the media, advertisements, etc.

According to Brumberg, we are departing the “century of svelte” and now we have a “national infatuation with ‘hard bodies” (123). Personally, I don’t think that we are necessarily moving away from the obsession with svelte. Yes, exercise has become emphasized more, as well as definition and toned muscles, but I still think that females are still under constant pressure to be slim, and muscles are thrown on the backburner. Somehow, we need to find a way to divert some of the emphasis placed on body image and physical appearance somewhere else. All I know is that the rate of anorexia and bulimia simply keeps going up with time, and something needs to be done about it.