Sheep Shape: Why Women Will Follow a Crowd Even Off a Low-Carb Cliff
If you are one of those insomniacs that subject themselves to late night viewing of things like the home shopping network and their long-ass brainwashing sessions you may have caught me in what I considered a lucky break. I was fortunate enough to be selected for an exercise infomercial, for which before and after photos would be taken to show off the virtues of a new abdominal fitness machine. As a guinea pig, I became intimately familiar, and thus disenchanted, with the tricks that can be used to convince you of a product’s effectiveness. In the first picture they had me relax my stomachs in a way that no woman would every do in a public place. Then, they put us on a diet and intense exercise routine, of which less than 15 minutes was spent on the actual machine. In fact, sometimes we didn’t use it at all! When it came time for those final shots, we were told to stand straight and suck it in.
My picture ran amid the shouts of praise for the product without so much as a whisper about the intense physical training all of the subjects had been through. That wasn’t the point. What mattered was that we all lost weight, gained muscle tone and looked great.
Whatever the reason women are driven to get in shape – be it to get a man, follow fashion or improve their health – the entire process of marketing diets and exercise aids is an exercise in creative exaggeration. The old standby of “eat less and exercise more” is a thing of the past, and has been replaced by the whim diet of the month, week, or year. People easily get sucked into the occasionally disgusting craze of the moment for little more reason than a celebrity endorsement. The fact is that the individual appearing in the ads for the diet and exercise regiment we adopt like a new religion – however gorgeous, slender and toned she is – also has a personal trainer and nutritionist completely focused on making certain she stays that way.
If you don’t like being accused of being a sheep and following whatever the latest trend in fitness happens to be – like the rest of us – as yourself: have you ever tried the grapefruit diet? How about Billy Blanks’ Tae Bo? Perhaps you are one of those who can silently admit to having experienced the famed – albeit dreaded – high colonic. While there’s no arguing that Yoga is one of the best things you can do for your body, people were not running out and buying their bricks and mats until they caught a glimpse of Madonna’s arms. As much as we would like to think that the common foundation among all of these fitness trends is a desire to be healthy, the commonality is that they are each no more than an outfit of Ugg boots and miniskirt – hip, obsession driven and soon-to-be-laughable.
Gone are the days when being of ample weight was a sign of wealth and stature. Ironically, it is the poor who are more likely to be overweight. Cheap calories are fattening calories, and combining the omnipresent fast food chains with the lack of fresh produce in many poorer, inner city areas affects those who can’t afford to deal with the relentless health consequences. Now, looking lean and hungry is what says big money, and our desire to such prominence, like the celebrities we envy, is in the driver’s seat. You may make sarcastic remarks about Anna Nicole Smith, but staring at her bod on the TrimSpa ads may be all it takes for you to stop at the drugstore on the way home. Atkins fanatics and Weight Watchers may very well be shedding the pounds, but the ability to talk the low-carb talk and walk the food points walk at parties and restaurants adds an entire social dimension to dieting that has nothing to do with your heart, cholesterol or your size 12 jeans. The fact is, in the real world, to quote the title of Meg Cabot’s recent book, Size 12 Is Not Fat!
It’s definitely tiring to be bombarded with skinny images all the time — mostly actresses who are not even considered average-sized. Size is the one area where it’s still perfectly acceptable to discriminate against people. If someone is overweight, people feel justified in calling them lazy or accusing them of a lack of self-control. Attractive sells, stunning gets ahead, and far too many people think that beauty is synonymous with thin. But few celebrities have any qualification to make recommendations to improve your body or health. If you really want to improve your look and your wellbeing, a discussion with your very unfashionable doctor would be the way to go. If you want to look like a celebrity your best bet is to ignore them.
