general question

[emchy]

do you react differently when reading posts about people's weight loss depending on their gender?

recently noticed by me - when men talk about working out and weight loss its read as dealing with a health issue and self care, when women talk about it its seen as pandering to the body police and being self hating.  just an observation that seems to hold interesting water in terms of a continued policing of female behavior.

thoughts? 

Comments

[demolitionwoman.livejournal.com]

I'd agree with you that diets don't work, with an addendum:

for the past few years, when i think of the word "diet", i tend think of ways to change my eating habits long-term in ways that are healthier for my body and my palate. i.e. how can i take better care of myself, bodily and spiritually (cuz food is also about the soul, not just the body!) i don't think of any of the "programs" that are out there because they are not comprehensive, long-term, healthy, etc.

i think of changing my diet vs going on a diet.

[elusis.livejournal.com]

We really lack a way of talking about eating in different ways (more thoughtfully, more intuitively, more organically, more locally, whatever) that isn't implicitly or explicitly connected with the expectation that it will lead to weight loss. The same is true for adopting exercise or a physical hobby. The connection to weight loss always creeps in, even if it's through the code "getting healthier."