‘Ask a pro’ is a special A Sizable Apple feature geared to bring quality information to readers through professionals in the health and nutrition field. Leslie Goldman (Master of Public Health) is the author of ‘Locker Room Diaries- the naked truth about women, body image, and re-imaging the ‘perfect’ body’.
Goldman is also a well known contributor to Women’s Health, Runner’s World, Health and People Magazine among many more. Her work can be found on the iVillage.com blog- The Weighting Game. Below is my interview with her discussing her health projects, and her personal commitment to health and fitness as well.
A Sizable Apple: Your book, "Locker Room Diaries" talks about women's body images, can you explain a little bit about image acceptance and the "perfect" body?
Leslie Goldman: The premise of Locker Room Diaries is that I spent about five years observing and talking with women of all shapes and sizes about their body image. Why is it, I wanted to know, that almost no one seems satisfied with her physique? I chose the locker room because, yes, it can be a nice retreat, a place to toss aside our worries of the day. But it is also where our flaws become most apparent beneath those awful fluorescent lights-- and where most of us can’t help but wonder how we “measure up.” Who hasn’t tried to sneak a peek to see how we stack up next to the woman at the locker next to us – Does she have cellulite? What does her stomach really look like under that t-shirt?
When we are naked, we are at our most vulnerable — physically and emotionally. There are no Miracle bras to lift our breasts to magnificent heights, no control-top panty hose to smooth away the dimples, no high heels to coax our calf muscles out of hiding. And without the armor of clothing, insecurities emerge, with nothing to hide us except a measly little towel. As someone who works out a lot and spends a lot of time in the locker room, I started hearing these comments from women – horrible comments that, if our partner or spouse uttered them, it would be considered emotional abuse…but if we say them to ourselves, it’s somehow acceptable.
Things like, “If I could just cut off this part of my leg, then I’d be perfect” or “The scale says 120…I’m so fat! Why can it just say 116?” I realized how what goes on in the women’s locker room can be viewed as a distillation of our of body-obsessed society’s impact on women.
For my book, I spoke with little three-year-old girls who talked about being on diets, pregnant women and new moms battling their shifting weight, women of all different ethnic backgrounds, women who had undergone gastric bypass, women who had overcome eating disorders like anorexia, bulimia and compulsive over-exercising, and women in their 60s, 70s and 80s for the chapter on “the older generation.” Bottom line: The grass is always greener. Everyone wants what they can’t have (tall vs petite; slim vs athletic; 34A vs 40DD) and very, very few women were happy as they are. Of those who are, the majority of them fell in the “older women” category, which is why I especially enjoyed interviewing those women. They had so much wisdom to impart – many of them spoke of how the years have allowed them to view their body as more than just eye candy, but a tool for building a family, fighting off disease, caring for grandchildren. It became less about vanity and more about keeping themselves healthy and strong.
ASA: How can we change how we view the media to benefit our personal body images?
L. Goldman: We all know that companies, from perfumers to maternity apparel stores, use sex and women's bodies to sell their products. For the majority of Americans, it's accepted. Not many of us write letters to the heads of television channels or editors-in-chief of magazines, decrying the oppression of women. Surely some do, but for rest, we generally just flip the page or change the channel when these demoralizing ads appear.
Sometimes, we don't even realize an ad is especially oppressive or seriously digitally retouched. I tend to fall in the middle of the "do something" spectrum, perhaps a bit towards the proactive end. For my own sanity, I specifically avoid TV shows and publications known for ads showing pin-thin models, women lying in bloodied heaps on the floor, women as nothing more than a body part that needs to be whittled down.
There was a time where I actually tuned into the Howard Stern show -- why, I have no idea -- and it was only once I realized and said the words out loud, "Hey, this show makes me feel like crap!" that I switched channels forever. I also speak publicly about the effects ads and airbrushing can have on American women and men alike, and a hush falls over the crowd as recount a story from a psychologist colleague of mine: She was treating a woman for an eating disorder -- a patient who, coincidentally or not, worked in the art department for a major lingerie company (I won't name names...it's a secret). She said everything, from wiping away cellulite to lengthening navels to elongate the torso, took place via retouching software, only to be transmitted to thousands of consumers as "real."
The remainder of my interview with Leslie will appear on A Sizable Apple tomorrow!
