Femininity and Health
Before joining sociology class to gain new knowledge based on femininity and healthy, I had different views on this topic. What I thought about the terms femininity and health is that women value their healthy in terms of trying to maintain their body size. On the same point, women suffer from anorexia as a result of low self-esteem, obesity and other factors (Riley, Rodhan, Gavin, 349). Eating disorder is a serious health issue which leads to mental, physical illness and death. To deal with this problem, women often find help from health professionals where they get inpatient and outpatient treatment. Other thing which used to cling in my mind is that women unlike men develop eating disorders. From personal experience and exploration from both internal and external environment, I had little knowledge on the topic since I understood that in society roles, health is an issue of concern and so women finds the best practices to keep their body fit and be inclusive in society roles. In essence, before understanding the topic in a sociological manner, I viewed the topic through a negative insight since media could represent their body image as physically unhealthy unlike masculinity. As I relate the topic with media and worldly view, women faces health challenges than men and they are highly vulnerable to health risks as a result of overweight and obesity (Riley, Rodhan, Gavin, 349). According to my own observation, I believe that for women to be regarded as beautiful, she must have a thin body size. I believed this because many women struggle to carry out physical exercise and others spend one or two days without food so that they can get slim.
After taking the sociology class, I have gained deeper knowledge and skills and now I understand the topic in another way. Though my ideas and sociological views define the topic as an issue of concern, there is a difference on how the health problems are dealt with. On my views, I believed that the problem is solved through physical activities, medical treatment and diet but in sociological view, the issue is not longer related with external environment but rather it is connected with internet. In other words, this is not a serious issue as people view it in that women are not using pills or physical activities to reduce weight (Riley, Rodhan, Gavin, 349). There is a new technology for therapy and consultations. These make the femininity and health an issue that is bringing less health risk on women’s life. In other words, technology has brought new digital diet and women are relying on tech support (Riley, Rodhan, Gavin, 351). The important point is that there is a big difference between past and present views on feminist and health. This is because, before learning sociology, I perceived the topic as a threat to women’s life. However, though women still face health challenges, they are on the safe side since technology has come to play an important responsibility in helping women reduce weight and keep fit.
In sociology, among various readings that discusses the topic, there is one particular reading which helps to understand the topic in a special way. “Doing Weight: Pro-Ana and Recovery Identities in Cyberspace by Riley, Rodham and Gavin” is an important article which provide sociological views about the topic (Riley, Rodhan, Gavin, 349). The article asserts that Pro-and and Recovery websites are helping women recover from anorexia. Both websites connects women with healthcare professionals where they get advice. Pro-anorexia provides homepage warning notices such as thinspiration. People suffering from ana (anorexia and mia (bulimia) get tips and tricks on how to reduce weight. They also hold an open discussion where they share information based on weight loss. The articled asserts that women create identities and self-confidence. The sites produce different types of body-talk and discover the body-talk; the authors conducted a research from pro-ana and recovery forum eating disorders (Riley, Rodhan, Gavin, 357). According to the research, the findings show that both websites developed thin ideal and identities in eating disorders. In addition, the websites introduced different types of body talk namely body description, body description with relation to practices and bodily experiences. This clearly shows that women are using the cyberspace to fight with anorexia. Cyberspace is acting as an alternative space where women are able to interact with others in the public sphere by having thin body hence eliminating isolation and disconnection (Riley, Rodhan, Gavin, 357). A woman health is portrayed negatively by the media and their unhealthy live is seen as abnormal in the society. However, the websites have removed the shame and stigma since the popular culture is showing concern on women’s health in terms of their bodies. The Pro-ana website acts as a support group where viewers gets some important features such as diaries, trigger pictures and more. The important thing with the websites is that they empowers the ‘person inside’ and ensures that women are mentally healthy. In addition, the websites are weight management sites where women not only gains weight loss but also identity (Riley, Rodhan, Gavin, 358).
Work cited
Riley S.,Rodhan K., Gavin J. Doing Weight: Pro-Ana and Recovery Identities in Cyberspace. Journal of
Community & Applied Social Psychology. 19: 348–359 (2009)
