Female Bodies and Gender Equality

Just read this article that a friend of mine posted on Facebook, and it made me jump to the keyboard. Yes, you don't need to be a Britney Spears fan to think it was sad to see her fall apart. And I'm not a fan of The Gossip or her message of "be fat, be happy", which is unhealthy and self-restricting, since having a healthy, reasonably slim body gives you the joys of physical freedom!

But nonetheless, I understand her message of women's need to disobey the cultural suppressions/expectations on women and their appearance. One way to disobey was burning our bras as the women of the late 1960's and 1970's did. Another is the punk movement, shaving your head or, I guess, refusing to be slim (healthy).

What I don't get is, why would you want to do harm to yourself as a protest to society's expectations? Not wearing a bra might be pleasant (or not, depending on your taste), and shaving your head or spending hours every day in front of the mirror striving to make that perfect mohawk might make you feel powerful (or whatever drives you to do it). But at least neither is putting your health at risk. The funny thing is, at as much as the whole punk style is a protest against the established fashion and society, getting the perfect punk look takes at LEAST as much time in front of the mirror (and the sowing machine) as any main stream look. Even though I do admire beauty and beautiful things, and that I do care whether I'm wearing matching stockings or not, I don't spend a lot of time in front of the mirror or the closet, even less sowing the perfect outfit. So in my opinion, the punkers are at least as enslaved by their quest for the perfect appearance as anyone else, as puzzling as it may seem.

That leads me to the the conclusion that the naturalists, the bra free, non shaved women are the ones that enjoy the most freedom from society's current beauty expectations on women.

But choosing to be overweight is just sad. It doesn't take any effort. Anyone can eat unhealthy "food" and drink sweetened drinks while doing other things, and choose to not exercise. Just as it takes no effort to not put on a bra, not shave your legs and not put on make-up. The non actions of the naturalists are not unhealthy - if anything they are actually healthier than us that wear make-up because most make-up, at least in the US, is still filled with led, hormones and other things that are really bad for us.

All is does to choosing to be overweight is making you unhealthy, with all the negative side-effects and increased risk of illness that comes along: higher cholesterol, higher blood pressure, joint pain, higher risk of heart attack and less mobility. And for especially this last reason I dare to claim that being overweight is giving you less happiness and less freedom of movement. How can anyone honestly claim that being so overweight that you can't dance all night or skip and jump and make summersaults or play catch or football with your kids is a positive choice?



Sadly, it actually takes quite an effort to starve yourself as some women strive to match the skinny idols from the fashion magazines: an unhealthy fear of food, of calories, and usually paired with excessive exercise. They might have their freedom of movement intact, but they still put their health at risk. According to Korea Times undernourished women have higher risk of osteoporosis and breast cancer.

Of all the protests against the beauty myth I think choosing to be overweight or unhealthily underweight are the saddest. Free yourselves, don't enslave yourselves to unhealthy living. It IS possible to both be a hedonist and healthy, beauty myth or not!