Embodiment and Experience Fatness

Question: Discuss about theEmbodiment and Experience forFatness. Answer: BodyImage Critical Bodies Fatness is an aspect that nobody desires. Apparently, fat people feel unhappy after noticing that he/she is too fat (Tischner, 2012). Sometimes, the term fat has a negative perception from people such as laziness, gluttonous and poor self-management person. According to Paus (2014), when the test for fat is done on people, it has the ability to accordingly identify fat people without the involvement of their personal experiences. The sign of fatness can be marked on people and can be used to point out some special symbolic power and force to an individual. For example, some individuals usually question if others comprehend how to properly manage the body. Nowadays, fat people feel guilty about their state. A good example is the Asian society where fatness is not an aspect to like. The perception regarding fat by employers is also dented. They perceive fat workers as too fat, unproductive, undetermined and unprofessional. I vividly remember the time I was in High School. I never realized that I was fat until the society changed my perception. Moreover, I discovered that there is a different treatment between standard and fat ladies by the society. I was thus left with many rhetoric questions. For example, I guessed whether the treatment was because of the media power hegemony, male gaze or society stereotype. However, I never got the appropriate answer. Undoubtedly, the above thought relates fatness to ugliness and sizeable equals to beauty. For example, the models from Victoria Secret are all perceived as sexy. Also, the social media keep making pretty comments non-fat people as beautiful Laura Mulvey (1975). A discussion escalated to whether women can ever hold the gaze. Notably, a female body is an amorous object for male to look at (Powrie, 2004: 187). Females performance and appearance are drawn up by mans perspective and male gaze. The Asian Society of stereotype expects girls to be tender, white skin and slender for them to qualify to be beautiful. Body Identity After noticing that I could not fit the societal expectations in my home country, I tried to figure out my problem. The society judged me as an overweight and this could result to some health issues. On receiving such comments, I tried to examine myself keenly in the mirror to verify their assertion. I realized that my figure was the embodiment of the image viewed in the mirror. I did not have a strong feeling before I took another look in the mirror. Rebecca Coleman, a lecturer in Media and Culture Studies and Sociology used empirical work and research to point out some views about how teenage girls need to develop a feminist outlook (Buchanan, 2011). Coleman (2008) points out that I consider the ways in which bodies are known, understood and experienced through images, that is, the ways in which bodies appear through their relations with images. Although, some people do not easily accept the truth but I used to keep the mirror in my room so that I could check my body shape every day. Body Shaping and Body in Pain When I joined the university, my parents advised me to practice yoga. In the beginning, I had no idea about yoga. The only thought I had about yoga was stretching the body all the time. So this meant I had to be very flexible. After enrolling for the practice, I learned that yoga is an exercise that keep challenging oneself and body, not only flexibility but also training muscle endurance. Sometimes I used to cry during the yoga classes due to the severe pain in the muscles. However, in the long run yoga practice made me calm and self- motivated. I therefore resolved to encourage myself that there is no option about yoga. Either one is willing to shape up or to shape out. Each of which has serious consequences. Besides practicing yoga two hours every day and going to gym three times per week to do cardio training, I also stretched so hard to exceed my limit. My body was always in pain whenever I stretched in order to shape a new reflection in front of the mirror. I was under high pre ssure both physical and mental because I had to destroy my original body shape and had to rebuild it in pain in order to suit the society demands. Fortunately, every time I took a look in the mirror after practice, I felt motivated by my outlook which inspired me to move on to achieve my goal. Although, sometimes I felt upset of my lifestyle and thought it was quite unfair because I exercised a lot and controlled my daily meal so carefully compared to other normal individuals. I was wondering why I suffered to do all this, but after reforming my body shape, I noticed that it was quite worth. For my mental part, I was getting relieved after going through all the painful stages. Conclusively, embodiment and experience all relate to personal perspective and lifestyle. Tischner (2012) suggests that psychology is often seen as discovering the reasons why individuals behave in obesogenic ways and subsequently apply this knowledge to facilitate behavior change in fat people with the aim of weight loss. It is hard to build up the new habit and change the personal embodiment which takes at least 21 days to use to create the new habit (Mesluk, 1999). References Buchanan, I. (2011).Deleuze and the body. Edinburgh: Edinburgh university press. Coleman, R. (2008). The becoming of bodies,Feminist Media Studies, 8(2), pp. 163179. doi: 10.1080/14680770801980547. Mesluk, R. (1999)How to write a million dollar adventure novel: Novel writing as aprofitable profession. Toronto: Productive Publications,Canada. Paus, C. (2014).Queering fat embodiment: Edited by Cat Pause. London, UnitedKingdom: Ashgate Publishing. Powrie, P. (2004).The trouble with men: Masculinities in European and Hollywoodcinema. New York: Wallflower Press. Tidd, U. (2003)Simone de Beauvoir. London: Taylor Francis. Tischner, I. (2012)Fat lives: A feminist psychological exploration. London, United Kingdom: Taylor Francis.