Body Image

Courtney Martin is the author of several articles and the book Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters. In honor of Diversity Week, Martin spoke at Ohio University to a group of feminist thinkers and extra credit seeking students alike.

Martin, who focuses her writings on female development, politics, and activism, spoke about why she wrote her best- selling book. It seemed that writing the book was something she found she had to do, as a service to young women and parents alike struggling with body image issues.

I enjoyed Martin's discussion and agreed with her perspective yet, thought a lot of the information presented in the lecture was common sense. I would like to say that I have NOT read the actual book, so I am ONLY speaking on the talk.

I thought she had a great point when she said that young women learn about body confidence from their mothers, and if their mothers say "Look at my hips...yuck," young women will probably grow up to share in this hatred for their features.

Yet, Martin also shared an example that depicted women on a daily basis having thoughts like "I can't eat this bagel," or "I should be at the gym, when I really want to nap," which I admit happens. Yet, I do not think it happens as often and as painstakingly as Martin depicted. She pointed out that in a woman's lifetime she will have spent six months of her life on these thoughts.

This might be true to some extent, yet I don't necessarily see a problem with going to the gym when you would rather be watching a television program or napping. I do not think that is unhealthy, and would say that life's full of choices, and you can't always do what you want.

Obviously if I had my way, instead of going and busting it at the gym, I'd rather sit and eat a mountain of donuts, yet common sense kicks in and I tell myself "no." This doesn't mean I have an image problem, it just means I want to be confident in my beach attire.


Now, this is not to say that I am going to hit the treadmill until my knees bleed and starve myself until I hit size zero, I am just saying that some of the examples presented seemed to be normal and moderate, as opposed to troubling. If kept in moderation, I think certain choices made even if not desired, are better long term.

Obviously I agree with Martin that young women are made to feel bad about their image, when magazines illustrate the Kate Moss sized models as ideal. Yet, the idea that women are conscious about their figures and will sometimes make healthier choices or choices they don't necessarily want to make to maintain that image, seems fine to me.


As long as women try to live a healthy lifestyle and keep a weight they are comfortable with, I do not see a problem.




Check out part of Martin's speech via podcast!



Until Next Post,
G.