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| I blew this up so you could see how this cover hit me like a ton of bricks shortly after buying FOOD. |
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know that you're thinking that this post is going to be another generic rant about how society instills in us as people in Western cultures (especially young women such as myself) to be stick thin. Well, if that is your assumption of what the post may be about, let me inform you that you are right, but also wrong. The topic of this post has rarely been discussed in relation to eating disorders at least to the limits of my current knowledge, much less so that it is written by someone who is 18 years old. And that topic is sex. Yes, sex. I know it may seem odd or futile or even salacious to write something such as this, but I truly do believe that this is a legitimate issue that needs to be carefully and tastefully addressed.
You've all heard the endless and timeless harping on about how the media and pop culture seem to play a distinctive "pattern" of roles in the breeding of eating disorders I'm sure. But have you ever stopped and thought about how maybe, just maybe eating disorders could be caused by sexualized society as well? I didn't think it either until I was about 16.
Let's break it down. When women feel sexy, they show off their breasts, their asses, their legs, their backs, their shoulders, and their tummies. This is because visibility of those body parts show things. Now let's look at a girl with an eating disorder: she doesn't like any of those things because her view of her body is distorted and she constantly feels like her body is hideous. Now let's look back at the women without eating disorders: they want to show off body parts because they feel that their bodies are sexually attractive and therefore, suitable. Notice how on the magazine cover, it is essentially talking about these main topics:
a) ways to be "more beautiful" via the aides of products such as cosmetics and perfumes: BEST BEAUTY UNDER $10 and HOT LOOKS FROM BEACH TO BAR+
b) ways to get a "better" body: STEAL KATY'S FLAT ABS TRICK ASAP.
c) stuff about sex: EPIC HOT SUMMER SEX and TURN UP THE HEATAT WORK * IN LIFE * IN BED, and MAKE HIM ROAR!
Size of the Text:
The words that have been enlarged are as follows:
FLAT ABS
EPIC SEX
HEAT
ROAR!
Placement of the Text:
Notice how "FLAT ABS" is directly under "TURN UP THE HEAT"...
Am I the only one who thinks that the fact that these things occurring in this way is on purpose? In other words, this whole magazine layout may as well say this:
"If you want to have a good sex life, it is essential for you to attain a completely flat stomach like none other than Katy Perry; this will ensure that you will get laid and be good in bed."
Society often seems to overlook the fact that casual sex is about a good body. Having a good body is beautiful, to a certain extent. But if you ask many people how they feel after losing weight they'll say words such as "hot" and "sexy" or even "Things with my husband have never been better!"
Sex is ultimately about a BODY; a person's physique and in all honesty, eating disorders are used to perfect that body much of the time. They're a way to feel secure in whatever sense used. Sex has an element of security as well, and in Western culture,a skinny body not only means a beautiful one, but a one that will get someone to take you home and fuck you. Being thin is often considered genetically alluring to our homosapian selves and translated in our modern selves, a factor in their sexual capabilities. I encourage you to ponder this the next time you see another edition of Cosmo in the grocery store or another playing of Jason Derulo's "Wiggle" on the radio. Thank you.
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