In my experience, most people’s goal (my goal) for weight loss is based on an increased desirability. They want to look a bit better, to be more attractive. Some may suggest that they are considering their health, but when reviewing themselves in the bedroom mirror, or smoothing their physique in a newly purchased outfit, their thoughts are not on longevity or blood pressure but on how they look. Although this is a reasonable motivation if it suits the individual, one must be careful. Physical attractiveness rarely comes from within, but rather follows some socially determined ideal.
I am not usually one to speak of the utility of pornography, but the ‘adult entertainment’ market does prove useful in helping me make my point. The browsing history of any teenage boy’s computer, or smart phone, highlights an interesting development in our perception of desirable. Often a result of digital or surgical enhancement, the ‘attractive’ body types so often captured in these improbably passionate scenes, stand in stark contrasts to those that went before.
Compare the physiques that populate the triple X websites of today, to the equivalent Rubenesque nudes once created by brush stroke and you may spot a change in taste. Gone are the child-bearing hips and natural buxomness of the healthy mother and in their place a slenderness around the thighs belied by an incongruous bustiness higher up. Similarly, save for a precious few with a very particular persuasion, the portly waist of the prosperous male is rarely celebrated, a slim waist and broad back now chosen in preference.
To some extent some change makes sense. “Scientists” (I use the word loosely/jealously) have done much work in aligning almost every chronic condition with carrying a little too much weight. Although a few physical supplies were a sign of strength in the nutrient challenged environment of our past, were we to choose a healthy mate in today’s energy rich surrounds, excesses that were once favoured would be rejected.
This argument would make sense if our preferences only changed for the benefit of our health, but it seems that extraneous factors are at play. We must question whether the teenager’s pornographic choice is one that is suited to an environment or to an industry. I would wager that the casting of an ‘adult’ movie, does not always have the long-term interests of the actors and actresses at heart. And whilst some would argue that the slim or muscular physiques that we now so revere are also the ones that are considered the healthiest for the times in which we live, others would question whether supplement use or calorie restriction is the formula for a long and happy life.
We do not always lust over the physiques that are best for us. I am sure I could get a six pack if I so chose, but the extreme lengths I would have to go to would leave me in a dark and potentially debilitating place. It would be far better, therefore, if we came to view our figure as a mechanism for our own pleasure, not an object for somebody else’s. Our bodies are a resource for living, they should enable us to do the things that we want to do. We should choose function over form. Although this may start with physical health, it does not end there. In this series of blogs I will go on to discuss some of the reasons that there is so much focus on what we eat.
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