I have been wondering what your thoughts are on the book rec!! So glad you are enjoying it. The quote that resonated struck me too. It was also lovely to run into you last week:)
It's really interesting that our culture (at least in America) believes bigger is better ... except when it comes to women's bodies 🤔 I really appreciate how you're digging below the surface here and asking us to question where the belief that we need to be smaller and lose weight came from. I read a book in college that gets to the root of why so many women end up subconsciously believing that we need to be smaller. (I actually ended up writing my thesis on the topic), it's called Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think And Feel.
I've been curious to see how this all plays out, now that weight loss drugs are mainstream and more affordable. It's never crossed my mind that I should take them, even though I'm not thin. So I guess by not taking them, I'm making a choice I didn't even realize I was making. Great read.
This is a lifetime struggle, isn't it? And it seems that no matter how we become more sensitive about the damage all this fat-shaming does to girls and women (and increasingly, to men), we can't seem to let go of our need to attain a certain imagined ideal (which, as you say, is a cultural construct). I've been working on making my body stronger, not thinner, but it is a slippery slope.
I hear you about the slippery slope. I think we're seeing a true divergence in midlife, women who are deliberately prioritizing stronger and understanding that it might come with some tradeoffs as it relates to weight. Stella Fosse has a most excellent piece this week examining the evidence that our extra weight in midlife might just be extending our lives. https://stellafosse.substack.com/p/what-if-its-a-bank-account
I've read that 20% of Americans are now on weight loss drugs. That's a tremendous transfer of wealth to Norway, where Novo Nordisk manufactures Ozempic for $5 an ounce. We're not just taking the drugs, we're drinking the Kool Aid.
You also made the very good point that America is one of the few countries in the world where pharmaceutical companies can directly market to consumers. That's certainly a big factor at play here in that number.
Whoops - Unless we choose to step away from the relentless tide of information of wellness culture, GLP-1 drugs and body optimization it becomes more and more difficult to know what we actually think and feel for ourselves.
I am 56 and have spent the past 20 years unraveling diet culture and learning how to inhabit my curvy body. And even after all
This work I have still been tempted to take these drugs. I have worked through all this with my psychologist( a privilege I am lucky to have) and what it comes back to me for me is my own free choice based on my own health, not responding to a culture that tells women what kind of body is acceptable. Choosing to stay in my body ,whatever its size , is actually an act of rebellion and has become a part of standing for who I am ! Thank you for your work in the world 🙏
It makes me so happy when I read comments like this from other people who are taking a stand. I 100% agree that choosing to stay in your body is an act of rebellion. We're in a period now when it's very hard not to give in. I hope it gets better. Kudos to you!
Yes - Thankyou ! So much of this messaging around weight, aging and health is simply the soup we are swimming in! When we are privileged enough to be swimming in this foul we tend not to question anythingis
It's got to be so much harder for them. My kids and I are constantly having these conversations about diet culture, and it makes me so happy when they bring up the examples that happen to them in real life or they see on their feeds. They can recognize it, which I think is a big help, they're so much more aware than most of their peers about how damaging it is.
Thank you so much for reading and sharing about my book. I'm so honored it resonated with you, and I really enjoyed your piece, as well. Thank you again.
I have been wondering what your thoughts are on the book rec!! So glad you are enjoying it. The quote that resonated struck me too. It was also lovely to run into you last week:)
Great seeing you as well! Looking forward to reading your book!
It's really interesting that our culture (at least in America) believes bigger is better ... except when it comes to women's bodies 🤔 I really appreciate how you're digging below the surface here and asking us to question where the belief that we need to be smaller and lose weight came from. I read a book in college that gets to the root of why so many women end up subconsciously believing that we need to be smaller. (I actually ended up writing my thesis on the topic), it's called Can't Buy My Love: How Advertising Changes the Way We Think And Feel.
Wow! Thank you so much for sharing this book recommendation. I hadn't heard of it, and how cool that you wrote your thesis on it.
I've been curious to see how this all plays out, now that weight loss drugs are mainstream and more affordable. It's never crossed my mind that I should take them, even though I'm not thin. So I guess by not taking them, I'm making a choice I didn't even realize I was making. Great read.
Thank you. And, yes, I think where we are as a society, you are making a choice.
But more importantly ... OMG the name of your Substack ... I'm sure it speaks to a lot of us midlife ladies.
Yes to everything you say here, Kristi! Any fixation on thinness is a LEARNED bias, not a natural inclination, much less a "need"!
This is a lifetime struggle, isn't it? And it seems that no matter how we become more sensitive about the damage all this fat-shaming does to girls and women (and increasingly, to men), we can't seem to let go of our need to attain a certain imagined ideal (which, as you say, is a cultural construct). I've been working on making my body stronger, not thinner, but it is a slippery slope.
I hear you about the slippery slope. I think we're seeing a true divergence in midlife, women who are deliberately prioritizing stronger and understanding that it might come with some tradeoffs as it relates to weight. Stella Fosse has a most excellent piece this week examining the evidence that our extra weight in midlife might just be extending our lives. https://stellafosse.substack.com/p/what-if-its-a-bank-account
I've read that 20% of Americans are now on weight loss drugs. That's a tremendous transfer of wealth to Norway, where Novo Nordisk manufactures Ozempic for $5 an ounce. We're not just taking the drugs, we're drinking the Kool Aid.
You also made the very good point that America is one of the few countries in the world where pharmaceutical companies can directly market to consumers. That's certainly a big factor at play here in that number.
Whoops - Unless we choose to step away from the relentless tide of information of wellness culture, GLP-1 drugs and body optimization it becomes more and more difficult to know what we actually think and feel for ourselves.
I am 56 and have spent the past 20 years unraveling diet culture and learning how to inhabit my curvy body. And even after all
This work I have still been tempted to take these drugs. I have worked through all this with my psychologist( a privilege I am lucky to have) and what it comes back to me for me is my own free choice based on my own health, not responding to a culture that tells women what kind of body is acceptable. Choosing to stay in my body ,whatever its size , is actually an act of rebellion and has become a part of standing for who I am ! Thank you for your work in the world 🙏
It makes me so happy when I read comments like this from other people who are taking a stand. I 100% agree that choosing to stay in your body is an act of rebellion. We're in a period now when it's very hard not to give in. I hope it gets better. Kudos to you!
Yes - Thankyou ! So much of this messaging around weight, aging and health is simply the soup we are swimming in! When we are privileged enough to be swimming in this foul we tend not to question anythingis
Yep. And if it's this hard to consider as fully realized adults, how are we expecting our young people to do?
It's got to be so much harder for them. My kids and I are constantly having these conversations about diet culture, and it makes me so happy when they bring up the examples that happen to them in real life or they see on their feeds. They can recognize it, which I think is a big help, they're so much more aware than most of their peers about how damaging it is.
Thank you so much for reading and sharing about my book. I'm so honored it resonated with you, and I really enjoyed your piece, as well. Thank you again.