How much have our perceptions changed over the last generation?
70s Female Superhero
Check out that waist!
We live in an age of relativism – and the same can be said for our perception of size. The Wonder Woman series was shown almost 30 years ago (1976-1979). Wonder Woman was the “greatest of the female superheroes” and was played by Lynda Carter.In the 70s there was little (if any) talk of obesity or eating disorders. However looking at the photo of Wonder Woman in her fabulous getup – I can’t help but be amazed at the size of her (costume-induced?) waist.
Another famous woman of the previous generation – Twiggy – has these comments to say about today’s generation:
The 56-year-old said there was no excuse for being obese and accused people of ‘horrendous’ over-eating.
Yet she also admitted there was too much pressure on young girls to be as skinny as she was when she found fame as a 16-year-old in the 1960s.
Twiggy is the new model for Marks and Spencers and is replacing the previous size 16 model Amy Davis.
“You can be voluptuous but you must not be obese and I do think Western society’s eating habits are horrendous.
‘I was blamed for causing bad eating habits and I always came out and said, “Look, I eat like a horse”. I was naturally skinny. I looked like an alien compared to other women.”
This generation is bigger in size – there is no doubt about it, and research undertaken by Marks and Spencer has caused them to enlarge the measurements of their size 14 clothes.
We seem to have lost all perception of normal size. Women slim down but often take it too far – buckling under the pressure to be skinny – too skinny. On the other end of the scale (or scales) – another section of the population has become super-sized.
What is the truth? If we went back in time – would most of us be considered fat? How do you strike a delicate balance between encouraging people to lose fat, but not pressuring people to be too thin?
Who, where, and what is the Wonder Woman of today?
Re: Lana and thinner New zealanders;;;; I moved to NZ 9 years ago and have gained over 50 pounds. Kiwis eat lots and lots and lots of red meat, mostly that is the vast majority part of the meal and drink to such excess it is a national problem, even among children. there are a lot of myths about NZ….that they are thin and healthy are 2 of them!
really?
I’m a poor starving college student. On those rare occasions when I go out for fast food, I want to really get some food for my dollars. All of you whiners who would rather laze about in front of the tv or computer instead of exercising should grow up and develop back bones. Just because someone puts something on a plate in front of you doesn’t mean that you have to eat it all! Develop the internal fortitude necessary to say, “You know, I’m full now. Just because it’s on my plate doesn’t mean that I have to finish it.”
It’s really annoying to hear bellyachers like you all complaining about how it’s the restaurants fault for giving exactly what was asked for — larger portions.
when I was in high school in the 60′s, there was one “fat” kid per every 300 or so kids–and that “fat” kid was not obese by today’s standards at all– we are talking a few maybe 3 clothing sizes too big. Everyone else was on the lean side. Restaurants didn’t serve crazy portions yet, and snacking was not an hourly thing! we walked a great deal even though we had the subways, as we’d rather spend the dime on a candy bar. we played more sports, jumped rope, skateboards and stickball games were everywhere, you just joined in! and DANCING. we danced a LOT.
If god wanted us to sit and do nothing he would have made us into rocks or dirt, or the proverbial log (sounds like something a kid would say, doesn’t it?). We have been given life to ‘live’, to move, to participate in physical activity. Just look at the human body from a functional perspective. This thing is meant to be used, to ‘live’!
I think Spectra has it… People eat more, do less, and eat more processed food. As a child I simply do not remember obesity as being an issue. Strangely enough there were no low-fat foods. We ate butter, we ate eggs, and (shock) even candies and ice cream – but it was all in such moderation (compared with today).
i’m American, but i moved to New Zealand 4 years ago. Most people are far thinner here then they are in America. i can definately tell you why:
A NZ “large” movie theatre popcorn is literally a 6th of the size of an American “large” movie theatre popcorn….i used to work in a movie theatre in America. They ask you if you want “butter” on your giant popcorn. If you say “yes” then you get about 1/8 cup of this myserious orange goo they claim is “butter” squirted out of this big machine all over your mammoth bucket of popcorn….Some people even ask for “extra butter” and so they get maybe 1/4 cup….i used to refill the machine that held the mysterious orange goo…guess what the bottles said? “Imitation canola oil”
You dont even HAVE the option of smothering your NZ large popcorn with oil. When i go to Wendy’s or Mcdonald’s, as an American, i am aware that the NZ “large” fries are an American “small” (!!!)Same with the drinks. Its like that with everything here. ALL the portions are smaller. People eat differently. They dont drive their cars down to the end of their driveways to get their mail out of the mailbox. The American food culture is insane.
If you look back in time to say, 100 years ago, women weren’t encouraged to exercise and were encouraged to eat like birds. So it’s likely they were thin and frail, but not exactly healthy. Women exercising to the extent that some of us do now was relatively rare even up to the 70′s and 80′s. I think we are bigger in general than the women of previous generations due to a few key factors:
1) We eat out a whole lot more and restaurants serve humongous portions that would make most people gain weight. Back in the day, people had home cooked, generally balanced meals.
2) We are lazy and getting lazier. Who wants to walk to the post office when you can send an email? Or play with the kids when they can veg in front of an Xbox? Who wants to vacuum the rug when you can buy a Roomba that does it for you? Incidental activity can really help you pare off the pounds.
3) Real food, period. No “diet”, “Low Carb”, “Low Fat”, “Low Calorie” versions of anything. That forced you to just watch your portions if you were losing weight. Too many cookies, low fat or not, are going to make you gain weight.
4) Working out. It’s all the rage to work out, but a lot of people take it as a free pass to eat more. Back in the day, your workout was walking around, cleaning, cooking, etc. all day and you didn’t count it as “working out” so most women probably didn’t feel it entitled them to a pint of Ben and Jerry’s