men and women

[Leslilake1 at aol.com]

Whoops, meant to send this under the heading "men & women".  Also should have 
noted that (depending on the study you read), 50-60% of American adults are 
classified as "overweight", and about 14-1/3 as "obese".  And rather than 
"the richer, the thinner" it's probably more correct to say that it's 
statistically more likely that someone lower on the wealth scale will be 
overweight, and someone higher on the scale thin.  Exceptions abound, however.

 

 <<Sure, fat's a class issue.  I did some research on this in school, and 
while I don't remember where I got the info, my general recollection is that 
it was especially true for women:  the richer, the thinner and the poorer, 
the fatter.  For men, it was a little more ambiguous, i.e. the statistical 
pattern wasn't as clear-cut.  But I'd guess it is becoming more clear-cut for 
men over time.  One of the reasons I think so is the way men's magazines have 
increasingly come to mirror women's magazines over time - increasingly 
focused on image management, household and personal goods that can be bought 
to create a desired image, and the improvement of the body through diet, 
exercise, toiletries, etc.  

 

 I also remember that it was not ever thus; it used to be (seems like the 
transition was somewhere between 1940's - 1970's) that the poor tended to be 
thinner and the rich fatter - again, with women being more the exemplary 
case.  

 

 Les>>

 

 

 In a message dated 01-09-07 14:35:50 EDT, you write:

 

 << ate: Fri, 7 Sep 2001 14:03:48 -0400

  From: Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com>

  Subject: Re: men and women

  

  Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:

  

  >What's interesting (if not surprising) is that while Americans, male 

  >or female, are on the average among the fattest of the world, 

  >American actors in Hollywood movies now display the best toned 

  >bodies of all movies of the world.

  

  Fat is a class issue. I've heard it said - and though I haven't 

  factchecked this, it sounds entirely right from what I've seen - that 

  there isn't a single fat CEO of a Fortune 500 company. And contrast 

  slender marathon runner Robert Rubin with the 300-lb steak and wine 

  for breakfast J.P. Morgan. Urban yuppies of both sexes are generally 

  fit; plumpies are rare.

  

  Doug >>

  >>