As for the slogan, I'm sorry to say it's true. It is associated with the Pro-Ana movement. I prefer to change it to "Nothing tastes as good as healthy feels."
But actually, I'm out of that level altogether. I suppose if I had a slogan, it would be "No food or food choice should be the driving force in your life."
Jay
Seriously? Wow, so is/was Weight Watchers Pro-ana? I lost a significant amount of weight back in 1990 on the old WW exchange program, and that slogan was used almost weekly. Matter of fact I wrote it down on my weekly weigh in chart...which I still have. Gosh you learn something new everyday.
Well, I think that slogan goes along with a LOT of calorie counting behaviors that can end up healthy/unhealthy depending how they are used. Exercise to burn calories - good! Exercise to burn every single one of the calories you ate that day, plus 500 extra - unhealthy. Counting calories eaten to stay within a reasonable, healthy limit - IMO good! Counting calories so you can stay under 500...bad. Using that mantra would fall into that category, for me - using it to avoid a craving for a food that doesn't fit into your plan would be a healthy use, but it is used unhealthfully as well, as a reason to avoid eating altogether in those struggling with anorexia. There is a well known association of the slogan with the anorexia community, which is probably why the news agency reported it, but that's not the only way it is used.
I can't comment on the Palin kerfluffle, because I'm not following it, but it would seem like the gym-wear photo would be a bit out of context on the cover of a news magazine. It undermines any sense that she's a valid political player, IMO.
You know, I think Sarah Palin is a very beautiful woman. She looks great and is very fit.
THis is a lovely photo of Sarah, who really does look that good in real life (though she needs a new hairdo IMHO ) but as kerfuffles go in her life, this is certainly a minor one! I'm of the same era as Jay, and I agree that it is sexist of the media to feature her this way, but I usually consider the source (mainstream America media) and let it go. Like Lori and Mindi, I live in a very small town, and our newspaper usually doesn't sensationalize things - though since it's in Sarah's hometown, we do get a lot of Sarah coverage.....
Lori Bell, I said it is associated with the Pro-Ana movement, not that they started it, not that anyone or any organization that is using it is therefore Pro-Ana. Obviously, WW is not Pro-Ana.
I can see how the cover is sexist now, but my initial impression was "Oh ,the Runners World pic. How does she make time to run?" rather than "Oh, my what a sexist picture." I'm just amused with my initial interpretation of it.
We have become a society that can't wait to jump all over anyone for anything they say...anyway they look...anything they stand behind...we watch closely... photographing every freakin' thing they do...waiting for them to screw up so we can say...SEE I TOLD YOU!!
We go around strutting our chests out saying we ALL have a right to our opinion...go free speech...UNTIL something is said against what we believe or think...then we jump all over them...
We have talk shows up the ying-yang for all sides...political and entertainment wise...
for pete's sake people..is it really important to know what Spencer and Heidi had for lunch...
I am so glad my life isn't on display to the entire world!....my mistakes and ideas...thoughts...cares...concerns...
WHEW....I thought I was going to be a Threadkiller here...thank you ALLISON for saving me!
I got to thinking that I may have offended some of you by what I posted...NOT my intentions and definitely did not want to ruin my good friend, BABY CATCHER'S Thread
As Allison said...we all are guilty...which I hope I was able to get that across in my post, that was my intent...I am as guilty or more than the next person.
I believe we should have views...and I am well aware we can be confrontational at times...we should be!
You all know that I WILL BE!
I was just upset all week about what was done to Sarah Palin by the media (YES! I understand she brought a lot on herself by things she says and by her position in all this)...
I just really feel she was treated unfairly....that's all.
Here's what I thought when I saw the Palin Newsweek cover: Hey, that's a very slimming top, the gray color-block under the arm up against the red front create a nice narrowing effect at the waist.
lol... I remember the Palin Newsweek cover. I too thought it was a fantastic photo. And I thought the title was rude, but that's what I expect nowadays from mainstream media.
When RW did the article on her - I thought it was a great article and I am amazed and how much she incorporates fitness into her life. But I also figured RW put a controversial figure in their "I'm A Runner" feature because it drives comments and reactions and readers. And more comments, reactions and readers = higher advertising revenue. I, too, used to work in the media until I got sick of it and made the switch to marketing and eventually technical writing. Make no mistake that the media is a business interested in making money, just like every other typical business out there. Some outlets go to extremes to do so.
On the Palin thing, I think it is sexist just because women are so frequently reduced to their appearances the way that men usually aren't. Barack Obama has shown up in the media in his swim trunks, too, but it's different when that treatment is applied to a group (women) that has traditionally experienced discrimination versus privilege (men). Palin was put in a political context and reduced to her body, her appearance, rather than her mind. That said, she knew when she took those Runner's World photos that they'd be in the public domain and used in this way. The picture wasn't taken of her actually running, (though there may have been that too, in Runner's World) it was taken of her standing in a traditionally pageanty cheesecakey pose. She is just using the currency of patriarchy to her advantage, which arguably hurts women as a group even though she gets ahead. It's a tough line to walk--does it mean you can't assert your femininity if you are aspiring to public office? I don't know. But it just seems to me like her femininity is about the only thing she asserts, besides her folksiness. Maybe that's the problem, for me. Yes, as women we are feminine and there is nothing inferior about being feminine--but let's expand the definition of femininity beyond a pencil skirt and heels please, perhaps to include authority and brains to name a few.
As for the thin mantra, pretty much anything can be appropriated and taken to extremes, like on the other end of things Fat Acceptance can be used as an excuse not to take responsibility for your actions, but by and large people use and accept the term FA to encompass a range of positive behaviors. I think it depends on the history and context of "Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels" and to what extent it has acquired too many negative connotations based on the pro-Ana movement. The only example I can think of right now is the extreme one of the Swastika-- started out as a good (Hindu?) symbol and some people still use it that way, but now it's overpowering connotation is with the Holocaust and you just can't use it in polite society in this country any more. I don't think the WW motto has been hijacked by pro-Ana to that extent, but I don't think you can entirely divorce the phrase from it's pro-Ana connotations.
"Nothing tastes as good as being thin feels." Pro-ana??? That's one of my mottos, and I guarantee I am NOT anorexic.
I used to consider this as a pro ana slogan, but since I`ve trimmed down myself I realise that it`s not! It`s ever so true! Beign slim is compensating ten-fold for all the (food) things I`ve cut out!
"Nothing tastes as good as thin feels," has always been an uncomfortable one for me...
Chiming in here with my own take.
I think it's just another one of the catchy slogans
that the majority of people accept as truth, without analysis,
simply because they hear it frequently.
Personally, I've always found the slogan so false as to be ridiculous.
Partly it is a matter of values:
Taste is one of my 5 senses: taste, touch, sight, smell, and sound,
yet all of my 5 senses are closely intertwined with food consumption.
While only sight and possibly touch, are the senses involved with "how thin feels".
I, personally, find all of 5 my senses to be the most compelling when they are involved with food intake.
Partly it is a matter of semantics:
Comparing apples to oranges.
While the slogan uses the word "feels",
it is actually comparing the physical to the mental.
as it compares one of the body's SENSES, taste,
to the mind's convoluted THOUGHTS about body size,
Also, I don't like the words "thin" or "skinny" any better than "fat".
To me, they are the same as "boney", defining a look I find unattractive.
I love being normal weight, but I don't really consider that "thin.
To me "thin" doesn't mean 5'0" at between around 105 to 115, (normal weght).
It means 5'0" at below 95 lbs..(beginning underweight definition re Charts).
Last edited by Bright Angel; 12-04-2009 at 09:36 AM.
) but as kerfuffles go in her life, this is certainly a minor one! I'm of the same era as Jay, and I agree that it is sexist of the media to feature her this way, but I usually consider the source (mainstream America media) and let it go. Like Lori and Mindi, I live in a very small town, and our newspaper usually doesn't sensationalize things - though since it's in Sarah's hometown, we do get a lot of Sarah coverage..... 
