Bodies have long been subject to a critical eye that seeks to make them cleaner and more perfect. It tries to erase their imperfections, smooth the cellulite, cleanup the breakouts. Consider how often we’re exposed to products designed to help the body conform to sterile ideals—we are sold acne medication, gym memberships, makeup and a myriad of other products designed to help erase the flaws that mark as us deviant from the ideal. Periods have long fallen under the “icky” category, and as we discussed on Tuesday, culturally we have done a lot to make such unpleasant problems disappear. However, while most of the grossness is pretty equal opportunity in regard to sex, menstruation is a burden specific to women.
You don’t have to look far to see the ways the menstrual cycle is painted as something that should be remedied or covered up. Tampons, pads, Midol, birth control pills that promise to alleviate severe PMS symptoms—it’s no wonder having a period is considered such a drag. (aside: It kind of is.) However, as Fausto-Sterling points out, because it is a female-specific problem it has long been used to denigrate women are mentally or physically weak or abnormal. The female body has been considered a burden because it operates differently than men’s bodies do, and those differences have been used to categorically exclude women from personal and professional privileges. Sure women have cramps, bet men certainly have their own physical shortcomings (We don't have to worry about getting kicked in the balls, now do we??), and men have mood swings that aren't conveniently synced to a monthly cycle like some have argued women's are.
I think part of the urgency in “erasing” the fact of menstruation is the need to break down these differences, which have been exploited as a means to expand the power differential between the sexes. When women are disagreeable or emotional, it is often blamed on rampaging hormones, whereas the same behavior from a man would be chalked up to simply having a bad day. The very fact of being female—a powerful, life-giving, human-race-perpetuating fact—is being used as grounds to dismiss half the population as emotionally or physically unfit. Thus far this semester, we have considered the ways in which the female body is a burden: it must be cleaned up, kept fit, toned, bronzed and makeup-ed.
As such, I don’t think women should ignore opportunities to experience their bodies in pleasurable ways. Although the most obvious example might be sexual pleasure, I think it might be a good idea to re-think our demonizing of the gym. Valdés’ article, I think, made some valid points about the pros of working out, despite the constant retrospective dismissal of those very virtues. She argues that a focus on physical aspects is “just another painful way we are distracted from the serious business of our lives,” but I think, given all the negative press our bodies get, learning to enjoy them is pretty important business in and of itself.
Earlier in the article Valdés concedes that the gym was a place she felt powerful, it was a place she was competent, good at what she did, and respected for her talents. I don’t think it’s a stretch to propose that some women work out not because they want a slimmer waste or for their thighs to jiggle less, but because it’s a way to enjoy their bodies, to push their physical limits, to see what they are physically capable of. Fitness does not have to revolve around pleasing a male eye and the gym isn’t necessarily full of women being eaten away by their self-consciousness. I think for some women, being fit is a retort to the idea that being a female and having a female body is a burden.
In fact, I think it is arguable that some of the joy of working out—especially with other women, or in a group setting—is that it is a place where it is acceptable to embrace aspects of our bodies that we normally have to hide. It is a place we were are free to sweat, to get red faces, to push, to perspire, to struggle, to smell (hey, it happens). I think, in a culture that is constantly trying to clean up and objectify our bodies, we should welcome the chance to unabashedly connect with them as agents of our autonomy.
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There are a lot of things we have talked about so far this semester that may not be bad or anti-feminist if it weren't for a select group of women who take it to far. Exploring our sexuality, for example, is important in so many ways...but the ways in which some women show off their bodies and their sexuality (raunch culture) gives us a bad reputation.
ReplyDeleteI think the same sort of thing applies to working out and to the menstrual cycle. Working out has so many positive benefits: it keeps women healthy and strong, it relieves stress, it allows us to bond, and to ultimately feel good about ourselves. It is because of the small group of women who overlook these positive aspects of the gym to work out solely to fit the mold of "beautiful," that the gym has become dangerous.
Women also often complain about their periods...which makes it difficult for me to feel as though men are the only culrpits. Women cannot think it's ok to be treated equally despite our different body cycles if they are simultanously using "period cramps" as a way to get out of commitments.
Ultimately, the ball is in our hands. As with most other things we have talked about, we have to learn how to embrace the differences we have as women and use our bodies to feel good about ourselves--not to appeal to the opposite sex. Valdes says how during her time as a fitness instructer she "had been duped into believing there was strength in, well, fat loss" (28). She later realizes how the gym can be used as a way for women to strengthen both their bodies and their goals. The real problem is not in what we do during the way, but how we think about what we do. What are our motives? What do we want the outcome to be? If the answers to those questions are to look good and meet a guy, then clearly the gym is a dangerous place. But for many women who can use the gym as a way to strengthen both their body and soul to become the people they want to be and live up to their potential...I see nothing wrong with putting in a few miles on a treadmill.
Fitness instructor Alisa Valdes is struggling with the same debate we are: is working out empowering or is does it represent our desire to shape the ideal body? She writes, “The process of strengthening the body could also strengthen women’s ability to achieve our goals. Never mind that often those goals—to achieve a flat tummy, to fit into that tiny wedding dress, to lose ten pounds before going to Club Med to find Mr. Right—do not exactly subvert patriarchy” (Findlen 30). Working out in itself is not a bad thing; in fact, it’s healthy, and not only in the physical sense. It allows us to push ourselves to limits we didn’t know we had, it forces us to work towards a goal, and it releases those endorphins we all love.
ReplyDeleteHowever, the motivation and pressure is what makes a positive activity not so positive. Who are we working out for? Are we working out for our own benefit and our own sense of self? Or is it because we want that perfect body we see on magazine covers, and the approving looks of men and jealous looks of women that will come along will it? Are we working out to stay fit and toned, or are we working out to lose weight that we really don’t need to lose? Do we go to the gym each afternoon because we love to run and sweat, or is it because we are looking at the calorimeter on the treadmill? If we love exercise so much, why not play a pickup game of basketball or soccer, as the guys seem to do so much more often?
Interestingly, though, the gym is one of the few places where women are willing to be seen with red sweaty faces and hairs out of place. Why can’t this level of self-acceptance translate into other settings? On a similar note, why can’t we accept something so biologically inherent as our periods, which the outside world can’t see anyways? Sure, studies claim that they can determine if a woman is menstruating based on their behaviors, but researchers have also shown enormous biases in these results. What I also find particularly interesting is that women may have been socialized to have these negative and shameful feelings about their bodies and periods. Perhaps a more positive education of womanhood is deserved. Defining men as normal and seeing woman as “diseased” due to their reproductive differences seems absurd… women should be applauded for their ability and willingness to ultimately bear children, rather than subjugated for it and made to feel both inferior and embarrassed. Maybe the gym can counteract some of this, who knows?
In the eyes of the media, an ideal body is tight, skinny, and well-defined. Add to that image a large bust, shiny hair, a small waist (and dress size; 6 or smaller, please), and a pretty face. Most women want to be a size 6 or smaller with a large bust, shiny hair, a small waist, and a pretty face. A lot of men want to be built, have washboard abs, big arms, a good head of hair and defined pecs. These are the definitions of the ideal body in the world we live in today. However, these are not the definitions of the common body. Most people strive to have the perfect body, do whatever it takes to look perfect. But what is now seen as perfect is not healthy.
ReplyDeleteAlisa L. Valdes writes in her “Ruminations of a Feminist Fitness Instructor,” “And this: Studies show that seventy-five percent of adult women in this country think we are too fat, though only twenty-five percent of us actually weigh more than the standards set forth by Metropolitan Life’s weight tables. And of course, there’s always America’s favorite doll, Barbie. If a woman of Barbie’s proportions existed, she wouldn’t be able to walk, breathe, or digest food (26).” Looking good has now become looking unhealthy. Even if we are healthy and at a healthy weight we’d still choose looking good over being healthy. The whole Barbie phenomenon has given young girls a skewed image of what a woman should look like. I used to play with Barbies all the time when I was young. I found them to be so pretty and loved the long blonde hair and also loved changing their outfits. Barbie has a long torso, long legs, big boobs, and a pretty face. She has the unattainable body that women strive for.
A girl is taught at a very young age how she should look, what type of body she should have, what clothes she should wear. Giving a young girl a Barbie is an indirect way of saying, here, this is what a girl should look like. A Barbie body is unrealistic for practically everyone, unhealthy, and not what the ideal body should be and definitely not the body that little girls should strive for.
Women, as well as men, should not try to achieve the perfect body but rather have a body that he or she is comfortable with. Most important, we should compliment each other’s bodies, not critique them. Valdes writes, “I knew better than to freak out at my own cellulite, staying late after to work to pump iron to make it go away. I knew better than to stand skinny in front of a room full of self-doubting women and actually say to them, ‘okay, let’s tone up.’ I had betrayed myself, betrayed my dreams; most of all I had betrayed my gender (28).” If we are going to redefine what the ideal body is, we have to do it together. We have to help each other, support each other, and praise each other. Only then, when people are comfortable with their own bodies, will we be able to redefine the perfect body. Caitlin sums it up perfectly in her blog post, “given all the negative press our bodies get, learning to enjoy them is pretty important business in and of itself.” I couldn’t agree more.