In conclusion, the idea of obesity, in contrast of what most Americans think, is not the same in all cultures. These studies have probed that being "obese" is not seen as being ugly in countries like Puerto Rico or India. This concept is socially constructed in each culture and as a result each culture has its own perception of what's obesity and what's healthy with respect to body image.
3 comments:
From Stu B.
To Nathalie
I did not previously know how other cultures view obesity so this part of the project was very fascinating. Obesity is really a "Americanized" term because we deal with the problem much more than other countries. A lot of countries perceive obesity as being attractive and sometimes healthy. I also found it interesting with the anglos how as their class went up their weight shifted downward and I wonder why that is. But how we perceive obesity I think is based on our social construction of beauty and health because perceptions of health are different from other's perceptions of attractiveness. I think we place such a demand on society to fit the mold that we lose our individuality.
Amanda Ring-
Great job presenting your information. There were some very interesting things that I had no prior knowledge of until I read through your information. I find it fascinating that in different countries and cultures, they prefer larger sizes in comparison to smaller ones. That is so opposite of our own culture. I also think that it was a good point to mention that samoan women get married because of the family values and possibilities rather than by the attractive body image. One of your articles was also dealing with the study of body shapes and what is viewed as healthy and attractive. You said there were images that range from anorexic to obese. That in itself shows the diversity among different societies. Your article dealing with "thin is in" is so true. Today, most women think that they have to be super small or thin to be considered attractive. Perhaps we all need to take a cultural class and learn that sometimes bigger is better? You had a chart at the end of your posting that diagrammed the sizes growing from very thin and small to larger, and then explained how Japan views obesity and very ugly. I think you did a great job on tying together all of your articles and staying focused. It was really good how you compared more than just two different cultures. The more comparing and contrasting presented makes your summaries and overall topic more effective. Great Job!
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