Let Me Hear Your Body Talk: Aerobics for Fat Women Only, 1981-1985
“’Each one of us is a valuable person who deserves the freedom to express and be herself.’” (210)
The most interesting part of this article for me was the introduction of the ParticipAction (208), which I then talked to my mom about her experience with it this weekend and she told me she vividly remembers doing the tested exercises once a year only on these test dates, and when the students would then receive: Award of excellence, Gold, Silver, or Bronze. What I found intersecting about this conversation with her about her experience was that the school would never recreate or practice any of these skills (besides running) year-round, the testing process was a way to separate the “us” from “them”, and the students that didn’t do well in the tests one year, usually didn’t do well in following years.
I was unaware that “By 1984 aerobics, dancercise, and jazzercise were among ‘the most popular physical activities of North American women.’” (193) as it was a fitness regime that would allow for a “…focus on femininity and feminine display…” (193) while also giving women the “freedom” that they desired. While these classes were displayed by “…lean white women [who] represented the self-monitoring, self-disciplining consumers of beauty culture…”, these women were only a piece of the picture. Overweight women were the ones who could be the ones that could benefit the most out of this new age up rise of health and fitness, and it wasn’t until “…fat women themselves began to teach the classes, enrolment [of women] multiplied.” (194), and exclusive pool times for larger women were set in the belief that “…individual growth was an essential part of collective action and that aerobics would contribute to their greater equality and self-esteem for fat women.” (194). Something I believe to be very important is everyone maintaining a healthy and sustainable lifestyle; however, while understanding that this was a different time and many people did not know or have as much access to what was and was not healthy (as we’ve discussed at length the last few weeks), I truly think one of the most important things people need when it comes to health and fitness is an understanding how not to be discouraged and work though any food and weight issues they have, as Partridge explained to be a major issue for larger women (198). With this being said, I do believe that a person’s health is their responsibility, and if there is no disease or other impingements holding them back, it is each individuals’ responsibility to work though their issues and “’care for themselves as they [won’t] be their own enemy.’” (197) and the LaL’s non-competitive environments allowed for all women to work at their own pace (201). However, “’Fat to Fit’” (202) mottos are stilling picking up momentum, idealizing the “fit” women and not necessarily the “healthy women”, which I think is still very much an issue today, especially regarding “fitspo” and “fitstagram” models. The way the books, magazines, TV shows and social media do not encompass the “whole picture” of health, fitness, and wellness which seems to not have changed much historically as “…group members developed their own discourses around fat and health, and began to apply these messages to the way they thought about themselves” (205) instead of how society wants them to be seen.
Another theme that I saw related very much to today’s fitness society is the sale and consumption of “fitting the part” and buying the “…’very trendy in peach tights, black leotards, and colour-coordinated head-band.’” (207) which as soon as I read I immediately associated with the big brands of fitness apparel sold today including Lululemon, but even more particularly Gymshark stuck out to me. Gym shark is a fairly new brand which uses Instagram and YouTube fitness models as affiliates to promote and sell their brand. This trendy brand has blown up, and are now seen as a fashionable “must have” athletic women, and it seems that historically people aren’t that much less of consumerists, and we are still trying to fit the social ideal of what fitness “should look like”, instead of just trying our best to be healthy!!!
The Heterosexual Nature of Health and Hygiene Advertisements in the Cold War Era
The change of ideas in which the media portrays women changed dramatically since the mid 20th century as “… popular culture’s crusade for shrinking waistlines and dwindling dress sizes created an idealized body exploited by marketers to sell products promising thinner, more attractive and ultimately more sexually desirable bodies.” (245), which brings me back to my argument about consumerism playing such a large role in how men and women see their bodies. Returning to the argument about Gymshark’s clothing line, because it has created a brand based on an idealized body type to sell to worlds population, and the consumers hope that they will look like the models (large butts and teeny tiny waists) once they get their clothing order. And this isn’t the just case for women, if I stick with my Gymshark argument (but almost every brand does this), they show what guys who wear Gymshark look like on their website and Instagram, which has been shown increase body dysmorphia in men and “…health conditions such as muscle dysmorphia and the abuse of anabolic steroids as well as cultural signposts such as the proliferation of fitness facilities and the growth of the supplement market indicate that men suffer from an unhealthy obsession with the ideal body similar to that suffered by women.” (246) as “The male body of the Cold War era was predominantly on display and…often linked to images of idealized and healthy vitality.” (246) which I don’t think has changed since this cold war period and continued heavily today. While in this time Playboy and Esquire (247) were the advertisement mediums used heavily to convey what healthy body type looks like, whereas now there is also Instagram, YouTube, and Television shows directly associated with “what is healthy” while showing men and women “what they should look like” in this heterosexual ideal placed by society. The “Men’s leisure magazines celebrated hegemonic masculinity, a practice that ‘jeopardized’ the Americans man’s self-image by creating an unattainable ideal.” (251) and allowed for “The appearance of sporting masculinity within the magazines reinforced [a mans] need to dominate femininity in women and effeminacy in men themselves.” (251) which I believe could cause identity issues with anyone that doesn’t fit into these social ideals, like homosexuals and most of the population.
Hygiene was also very related to health in the past, and still is today in present Canada and “…advertisers also drew upon ideal commonly associated with good health to grant their products a sense of contextual authority.” (249) as a means to sell more product using masculine and feminine ideals to display their health and hygiene publically. While “The language used in health and hygiene advertisements reinforced a hyper-masculine identity that celebrated heterosexuality.” (261) causing masculinity to define what kind of man you were.
Here is the Gymshark link if you would like to check it out: https://www.gymshark.com