As my readers know, I do not believe in serendipity. Things happen for a purpose and a series of incidents in the past few days makes it abundantly clear that this post needs to be published.
As my readers know, I am a regular walker in our local joggers’ Park. Since I have been walking there for many years I am a familiar figure to regulars there as many are to me too. I am on nodding acquaintance with most and quite friendly with some others. I have also been teasing some of the younger ladies who are regulars that if they walk or jog any more, they will simply float away one day. A few days ago, I was informed by a regular, that another young lady jogger, is in serious trouble and hospitalized for various problems including poor food intake and excess exercising. I do not know her enough to find our more details but hope that she will get alright and learn from the experience.
In one of my earlier posts, I had mentioned my visits to a local gym in my own pursuit of weight reduction and how it was made abundantly clear by the ladies there that I was an oddity! I gather that one gym regular, again a lady of casual acquaintance, has had a heart attack and is recovering after a stretch at a local hospital. Again the reason for the attack attributed to excess exercise and inadequate food intake. The BBC had an article about it SIX years ago. If anything the problem in India is getting to be more acute.
Some time ago, a frequent commentator on this blog, blogged at Nick’s post about the same problem and it is interesting to see the comments and his own response to the comments on his blog.
Just two days ago, The Independent had a shocking article on the subject which takes this subject into a new direction altogether.
Looney’s post which takes one to this, talks about human beings in general and women in particular evolving into different shapes than hitherto.
In all these confusing signals the Independent’s suggestion that the airbrushing for advertisements to show models with unattainable figures is driving women to try and attain figures not achievable. This is of course followed by disastrous effects.
Is it not time for human beings to take a strong look at what society wants its people to look like? I can understand someone exercising to be fit and in good shape to avoid other health complications, but to try and achieve impossible goals for cosmetic purposes seems to be somehow in poor taste. As a man, I find many of the models featured in our publications, both men and women with figures which do not appeal to my sense of the practical and aesthetics. I wonder if they appeal to anyone at all other than the designers and the advertising profession who seem to want to shove their idea of beauty down the throats of us lesser mortals.
Here is a photograph of one of our leading actors with a so called zero size figure about which a book has been written by her dietician.
I do not find this figure alluring. Perhaps I am old fashioned. We older folks were brought up with the idea of beauty being buxom women with some flesh on them. Take a look at this one from one of my favourites from a film of 1966.
Quite where our ideas of beauty will take humanity in the next couple of decades with the way information overload is proliferating, is anybody’s guess.
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