Considering Weight

Though it may be difficult to believe, there was a period when additional body fat did not present a negative in the slightest; in fact, additional body padding was once accepted as an indication of prestige. The assessment went that an individual with body fat held the ability to eat amply and do so frequently. It should be documented that this particular perception was accepted during a period and in locations where food deficiencies and food absence could and did happen.

Times have certainly changed.

Excess body mass, especially in Western societies, is not viewed as favorable any longer; to the contrary, there's now a considerable negative perception attached to excess weight. This negative perception has been established, at least in part, by the reality of food ampleness in Western countries. When everyone can eat, eating plentifully doesn't carry much significance. But food ampleness isn't the only basis for new perceptions about over weight. Two other scenarios also provide insight: it's now widely understood that excess body mass is detrimental; and the media often shows imagery of slim people.

The media's show of thin is a powerful image-maker. The visual of slender bodies, often presented in highly desirable ways, leaves a strong impression. And the media shows these visuals over and over again, so the impression is maintained.

This isn't an effort to suggest the media is pushing visuals as a means of poisoning society's values. We must all accept that we are responsible for that which we believe, and how we respond to our values. Still, it's illusion to argue that the media's wide reach doesn't impact belief.

For all intents and purposes, the media's display of the thin, chiseled body type is meant for commercialism. The media hopes to present a desirious image and ascribe some product or other to it. Their basic motivation is to turn a sale, and they're presenting body imagery as a way see it happen.

But problems can occur when people attempt to emulate the "perfect" body type they see in the media. Eating disorders are a possible outcome. The widespread nature of eating disorders within Western culture is certainly related to extensive media imagery of thinness, and the inference that a thin body is particularly desirable.

There is also the emotional pain and suffering suffered by those whose body type is in contrast to slender. Overweight people can take a psychological pounding because of their appearance. They're at the opposite end of the ideal. They're inferior -- or so the thinking and the treatment sometimes goes.

A healthy body is a good thing. A fit body is a good thing. But, though it may be difficult to do in the face of so much feedback, each of us must develop our own value system as to what's a desirable body type, and what is not. If we let the media create this value system for us, we put ourselves in a vulnerable, and potentially damaging position.

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