"Although the American distaste for obesity applies to both sexes, it is felt particularly strong by women, who are more likely than men to evaluate their self-worth in terms of their physical appearance" (pg. 201).
In chapter six it discusses the intersections of Race, Class, Gender, and Weight, I found the results rather surprising when I read them. My first instinct would have been that there was more obese white women then African American women in the United States. I thought this because of the population difference between African American women and white women in the United States. But in actuality 78 percent of African American women are overweight (a vast majority of them at 120 percent over the recommended weight), and 57 percent of white women are overweight.
One of my thoughts about why the difference between obese women in different races is the pressure differences put onto the different races. When you watch tv, or look in a magazine all the white models are extremely skinny (almost too skinny), so this is what the women strive to look like. All of the women fitness magazines talk about losing weight to where you used to look like in high school. In reality this probably isn't possible for most people. I compare the difference to African American women where they are told to accept themselves as they are. When watching different television shows you always see them saying its okay to be a plus size model, or being a size 6, 7, etc. it isn't a bad thing. One of the leading black models is Tyra Banks, she now has a show on tv that is based mainly for African American women. I was happening to flip through the channels the other day and I came across it, being a guy I stopped to watch because shes rather attractive. In the time span that I was watching she never once told them to lose weight, "just flaunt what your momma gave ya". I think this is probably the main difference between the two different races and the percentage of overweight women.
Newman also goes into talking about dieting in elementary schools. I have an eight year old sister who is in the third grade. I couldn't imagine her being on a diet, or saying she wants to lose weight, unlike 42 percent of 1-3 graders that say they want to lose weight. I feel that most kids are going to be a little pudgy, its part of growing up. They don't need to be on diets to lose weight, maybe a little playing in the back yard instead of watching tv would take care of that problem. Dieting is fine for people that understand what they are doing, and the proper way of going about losing weight. I dont think there are many kids that are in the 1-3 grade that understand of how to properly diet, they will only end up hurting their bodies by doing the wrong thing.
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I totally agree with Ryan when he talks about dieting. I do not think it is acceptable for children to be dieting. I do think however it should be a parents responsibility to provide children with healthy meals and snacks whenever possible. Most children don't go to the supermarket and shop for themselves, I think the onus is on the parents to make sure that their children don't become obese. I also agree with Ryan in the fact that far to many children sit in front of the TV, computer, and video game consoles. It would be beneficial to perhaps all children to go play outside a little more and vacate the couch.
It is no wonder that there are so many clinically obese individuals in the United States, many children are acculturated to the lifestyle of overeating and a dearth of physical activity, which makes it possible for so many children to become fat. When those children become parents, they will most likely bring their children up in the same way they were raised, which creates a cycle of poor eating and exercising habits.
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