2006.06.21: June 21, 2006: Headlines: COS - Dominica: Women's Issues: Body Image: South Bend Tribune: Dominica RPCV Amanda Petrucelli writes: When I was in the Peace Corps, for two years there were almost no mirrors, no reflective surfaces, no billboards or magazines and very little TV. I have never felt better about my body than I did then.
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2006.06.21: June 21, 2006: Headlines: COS - Dominica: Women's Issues: Body Image: South Bend Tribune: Dominica RPCV Amanda Petrucelli writes: When I was in the Peace Corps, for two years there were almost no mirrors, no reflective surfaces, no billboards or magazines and very little TV. I have never felt better about my body than I did then.
Dominica RPCV Amanda Petrucelli writes: When I was in the Peace Corps, for two years there were almost no mirrors, no reflective surfaces, no billboards or magazines and very little TV. I have never felt better about my body than I did then.
"I once took a cross-island trek with a group of other Peace Corps volunteers up rugged rainforest hills and down rocky gullies. For six hours the guide walked right behind me. Just as we were coming back to the hotel, as part of the slow, casual conversation that had lasted through the rainfalls and heat and steam and chills of the day, he asked me what kinds of foods I liked to eat. My response was that I like breads and crackers and best of all, cheese. "Oh," said the dark-skinned islander staring at my hips, "that's why you're so fat." More than 10 years later, I remember everything about that moment: My exact weight, the shorts and boots I was wearing, the length of my hair. Everything. This man was telling me he had enjoyed watching me from behind for six hours and this was his way of saying so. Still, it was quite hard to take for a white girl from Indiana."
Dominica RPCV Amanda Petrucelli writes: When I was in the Peace Corps, for two years there were almost no mirrors, no reflective surfaces, no billboards or magazines and very little TV. I have never felt better about my body than I did then.
Mirror, mirror on the wall
Jun 21, 2006
South Bend Tribune
Caption: Amanda Petrucelli has noticed a big change in her muscle tone, even if she hasn't lost a lot of weight in the Plymouth's Biggest Loser contest.
The Plymouth's Biggest Loser contest promises $1,000 prizes to the man and woman who lose the largest percentage of their body weight in the 12-week period ending June 30. It is sponsored by Faded Orange, the efforts of a local couple, Ryan and Kristen Ripley. Kristen Ripley is a personal trainer and fitness authority working with the Plymouth High School Athletic Department. There are more than 140 people participating. This is the sixth column about one woman's efforts in the contest. -- Editor
When I was in the Peace Corps, for two years there were almost no mirrors, no reflective surfaces, no billboards or magazines and very little TV.
The men there -- as I suspect is true in most of the rest of the world -- just want women to be shaped like women.
I have never felt better about my body than I did then.
I'm about the same size as I was in 1994 and married to a man who swears that there is only one thing guys want a woman to be: naked.
But I still check myself out in a full-length mirror several times a day, criticizing various parts, sucking in others, turning and stretching in different directions in the eternal -- yet impossible -- quest to look like the lady in the fashion magazine.
Gaining a pound or two can put me in a foul mood for days.
An informal survey of several girlfriends tells me the rest of you do the same thing ... every day. Even those of us who are thin enough to wear thong bikinis spend time in mirrors critiquing unseen- by-all-but-us imperfections.
There has to be a better balance between self-loathing and knowing when it's time to cut back on the doughnuts.
Though this nation is a melting pot with women of all different shapes, sizes and colors, it's strange that -- as the most obese nation in the world -- our ideal woman is among the thinnest and most athletic. And those women all look the same.
I once took a cross-island trek with a group of other Peace Corps volunteers up rugged rainforest hills and down rocky gullies. For six hours the guide walked right behind me. Just as we were coming back to the hotel, as part of the slow, casual conversation that had lasted through the rainfalls and heat and steam and chills of the day, he asked me what kinds of foods I liked to eat.
My response was that I like breads and crackers and best of all, cheese.
"Oh," said the dark-skinned islander staring at my hips, "that's why you're so fat."
More than 10 years later, I remember everything about that moment: My exact weight, the shorts and boots I was wearing, the length of my hair. Everything.
I remember the way my face flushed and my shoulders stiffened. In America, calling a woman fat is tantamount to calling her ugly.
In fact, with stars like Cameron Diaz and Uma Thurman, it tells me that skinny, tall and blonde, but ugly, is better than pretty, short and plump, e.g. Janeane Garofalo.
Of course, there, I did realize at the time, this man was telling me he had enjoyed watching me from behind for six hours and this was his way of saying so. Still, it was quite hard to take for a white girl from Indiana.
But even a white girl from Indiana can easily get used to her body being appreciated the way it is when not faced with Victoria's Secret models in her mailbox and popping up on her Yahoo homepage.
Perhaps the global perspective on the female body is a better ideal. Women should have curves. In other words; you should look like a woman.
Otherwise, you will never be good enough. There will always be someone younger and prettier and thinner and more athletic than you. And with cosmetic surgery so available, there are always more of them.
Dove soaps has come up with an innovative ad campaign -- The Campaign for Real Beauty, they call it. In their magazine ads, for example, three or four women of different heights and colors stand confidently in their underwear. They are real women with not- perfect hair and no makeup and of all different shapes -- like Americans.
But even with this valiant effort on Dove's part, most of us, myself included, still don't look as good as these women.
For most of us, there are parts of our bodies that don't disgust us, and other parts that have been the source of insecurity for years.
Van Morrison sings in his iconic song "Wild Night," "The girls go by dressed up for each other."
Sometimes I do this, too -- more concerned about the other women thinking "who does she thinks she is wearing that" than about my own husband being delighted at seeing me in a short skirt.
We all need to get our bodies into shape. Humans need to maintain a healthy body mass index -- or at least get close -- to reduce the risks of chronic disease.
Beyond that, it probably should not just be about attracting men or about garnering approval from other women, but about feeling comfortable in our own skin, happy with the way our body feels.
And it should feel healthy and be healthy, which it would be if we maintained our bodies as we do our favorite outfits.
If we aren't in shape, there is always exercise. But if we are otherwise in shape, we need to accept the minor flaws that make each woman a bit different and celebrate the great parts of our body with the way we move and dress.
For more information about this contest, check out http://www.fadedorange.com.
When this story was posted in August 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:
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Story Source: South Bend Tribune
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Dominica; Women's Issues; Body Image
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