All I Want For Christmas is a Salad, Hold the Dressing
by Kelly
Food and I have a love/hate relationship. It’s the standard story: Girl has chocolate addiction, eats tons of (insert sugar-laden food item here). Afterwards, she feels guilty/bloated/ (choose another adjective, as many as you’d like). You’d think this relationship with food would inspire me to a) stop eating chocolate b) exercise to “cancel out” the “negative effects” or c) just get over it. Alas, I do none of the above and the cycle continues.
Some say that appetite is linked to passion and sexuality. A strong hunger can indicate a voracious sex life or maybe even sexual frustration. There are foods linked to love and food designed to comfort. It’s undeniable, not only do humans eat to live, but they can live to eat. So when did an appetizing meal become a girl’s worst enemy?
Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins…and to be sure, our fatphobic society is a testament to this. Many women (and some men) look towards stick-thin models who don’t touch sugar unless it’s in their exfoliation cream as their beauty ideal. Yet, interestingly enough, American meal portions are notoriously on the excessive side. Once you stop and think about it, even on a societal level we have food issues.
Our advertisements tell us to eat all we can, to go to unhealthy fast food restaurants (“It’s quicker, it’s cheaper!” they say) yet all of the actors and actresses in these commercials are what the infamous BMI would deem as “underweight”. Mixed messages, anyone?
This isn’t a new topic to any of you, you’ve probably heard about Courtney E. Martin’s Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters, you might read Shapely Prose and may even have a complicated relationship with food yourself. Harlequin has written about her former eating disorder and Dolly has written about fat acceptance blogging.
So as we approach this festive holiday season, full of family reunions, gift giving, and a large helping of candy canes and holiday-themed sugar cookies, I’d like to share these wise words by several famous authors, comedians, and thinkers. But most of all, I’d like to quote my mother: “You only live once. Why deny yourself the small pleasures in life?”
“Nothing would be more tiresome than eating and drinking if God had not made them a pleasure as well as a necessity.” – Voltaire
“We think fast food is equivalent to pornography, nutritionally speaking.” – Steve Elbert
”No man in the world has more courage than the man who can stop after eating one peanut.” – Channing Pollock
”A bagel is a doughnut with the sin removed.” – George Rosenbaum
“Part of the secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside.” – Mark Twain
“There are people who strictly deprive themselves of each and every eatable, drinkable, and smokable which has in any way acquired a shady reputation. They pay this price for health. And health is all they get for it. How strange it is. It is like paying out your whole fortune for a cow that has gone dry.” – Mark Twain
What is your relationship to food? Share your stories, thoughts, or other awesome quotes about food! Happy holidays, everyone!
Cheers, Dollface
First off, cheers for the link love! It made my birthday! (20 years, w00t!)
Second off, I have a *bizarre* relationship with food, like blah blah every American girl today. During the summer, I’m usually cool. My family’s middle-class, so we can afford to buy a lot of produce. We get strawberries, watermelon, pineapple… oh, makes my mouth water. And I get tons more exercise during the summer, so I feel less guilty about eating bad.
Over the schoolyear though when I get cooped up in my dorm, I always *feel* fatter. Feel is the key word here. I may lose a muscle tone over the school year and my endurance decreases, but in all actuality my weight does not change at all. Yet because I move less and I get shit like pizza and fries for lunch, I *feel* worse. And then of course there’s the inevitability of a cafeteria filled with girls who all also have bizarre relationships with food, scolding themselves for ice cream after dinner while guys wolf down the cheeseburgers like they’re just coming into style.
For me, I would just like to eat and not care. I’d like to be able to get fat and not care. I know I will some day–that’s what being a woman and aging is all about. But some part of me still has this ingrained cultural fear that if I’m fat, I’ll never be loved, I’ll never be beautiful, I won’t look good in public, etc.
I think in the end though, I give up worrying about food. It’s too good, and I just can’t worry about it. So, today, for my birthday dinner, I had fried wontons, wonton soup, beef & broccoli, an eggroll, fried rice, and cheesecake for dessert. It was a totally massive Chinese meal, and I just couldn’t care.
I think we need to be able to reach that point in our society. Women with appetite can’t be considered gross or unlovable. In fact, it should be exactly the opposite. Ugh, rambling. Terrific post, dollface! ^_^
I Love food.
I try to make it a point to eat healthier. I try to watch portion sizes. I try to munch on fresh fruit and veggies. And I stick to the lean meats. Though, on occassion, I like to cook up a burger. I do this partially for health reasons (because I am rather lazy, and I don’t like going to the gym to work out). And, I do this partially because eating healthier is cheaper. I try to limit myself to 50 dollars or less on groceries a week.
That being said…I love Oreos and Pizza Rolls and soft prezles and japeleno potato chips and chips and french onion dip and spaghettiOs and cup cakes and so on. And I don’t usually feel guilty about munching on these goodies.
…okay…so maybe after I’ve realized that I’ve eaten an entire row of Oreos, I feel guilty. But, that doesn’t actually happen too often.
It’s too bad that many women feel they need to stifle the urge to eat. It drives me insane when women count calories or count food points. Then again, I’ve never had a “weight issue”, so I’ve never had a desire to lose weight or even just control it.
I agree with Dolly, I’d love to live in a world where women can embrace their appetite. A few of my girlfriends would never eat in front of their boyfriends because they were afraid their boyfriend would think it was gross. How bizarre. Luckily for me, I have a man in my life that encourages my big appetite and doesn’t make me feel self conscious about it!
I am eating a pecan-chocolate chip cookie as I type this. :D
I love the feeling of lots of food at my disposal. I also love the feeling of complaining after eating. In fact, me and my sister bond this way. We eat, and then complain about eating.
:D Good post Dollface.
Thanks for the positive comments, ladies!
yummi! ;)
My attitude to food alternates between wildly healthy and appallingly bad, which is terrible! I definitely need a better balance, and within the past month, I’ve started to achieve this more.. I’ve really started concentrating on the nutritional value of my meals rather than the fat contents, and am feeling much better for it. I have an hourglass-shape figure, and it’s weird because I can lose weight super easily, but gain it easily, too..