Here is a link to the website I made about my research paper topic:
http://kmuscaro.weebly.com
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Extra Credit Questions
- What do you think of having an "avatar"? Have you tried any sort of virtual reality game, program, or tool? How has it worked out? I have never been compelled to have an avatar or really given it much thought at all. Computers have never really been my favorite thing.
- What is your "policy" on forwarded emails? I usually dismiss forwarded emails completely. I never forward them unless I think they are really funny. You can usually tell if they are going to be stupid and sappy at the very beginning and I usually just delete those without even reading them.
- Do you have a Facebook or MySpace account? What is your experience with it? If you have kids, what kind of restrictions do you put on their use of the computer and providing personal information on it? I have a Facebook account. It is a really good tool to keep in touch with friends from high school for me. On my account I have restrictions that don't allow you to even find me on Facebook unless you have a mutual friend. I don't put phone numbers or addresses or anything like that either and I only "friend" people that I know.
- How do you feel about giving your name, phone number, email address, and/or your address or zip code when shopping? It is really strange that we are always giving out information, especially when identity theft is ever present. I am always a little irritated when I am asked.
- On p.113, Gurak mentions an "information panopticon" which refers to an endnote on p. 165 mentioning Michel Foucault. Foucault has written about 18th century philoshopher Jeremy Bentham's theory of surveillance in his book Discipline and Punish. He was a bit ahead of his time, don't you think? He was very much ahead of his time. I bet people thought he was crazy when he talked about his philosophies in the 1700s.
- Have you ever bought anything through the Internet? Have you ever been ripped off? What are your favoirite places to purchase things online? Yes, I purchase things from the Internet. No, I have never been ripped off. I usually buy clothes online and currently, Christmas presents from Amazon.
- How can we filter out the angriest sites? Should we? On p. 61, Gurak advocates "developing and supporting sites that embody inclusiveness, civility, and scholarly ideals"-- would you agree with this? Should everyone have to be inclusive? Or should everyone hold scholarly ideals? I don't think we should just filter sites because they are angry. I feel that everyone has the right to their first amendment. As readers, we can choose to disregard the angry sites if we wish. Not everyone has to hold "civility and scholarly ideals."
- How many of you have been looking dilligently at the notes in the back as she includes them? Also, have you noticed and can identify the documentatuion style she is using? What is it? Why does she choose this style over others? Has anyone checked out any of the sites she lists at the end of the book? I have, admittedly, not been looking at the notes in the back of the book or visiting the websites listed. I think she may be using MLA format as her documentation style but I am not sure why.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Cyberliteracy Discussion
Chapter one
Combines features of prin and spoken word and does so in ways that change how we read, speak, think, and interact with others. How so?
It is more impersonal, makes it hard to confront others, people don't understand sarcasm, etc.
Cyberliteracy is not neutral in value.
Combines features of prin and spoken word and does so in ways that change how we read, speak, think, and interact with others. How so?
It is more impersonal, makes it hard to confront others, people don't understand sarcasm, etc.
Cyberliteracy is not neutral in value.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Notes for Friday, November 20
micro-ethnography: writing about a subculture of people. gain information from interviews, observation, and artifacts.
Literacy= being able to read and write, being able to comprehend what you are reading
Cyberliteracy
Computer Literacy
Community Literacy
Technology Literacy- knowledge of cell phones, websites, etc. (Turkle)
Literacy= being able to read and write, being able to comprehend what you are reading
Cyberliteracy
Computer Literacy
Community Literacy
Technology Literacy- knowledge of cell phones, websites, etc. (Turkle)
Monday, November 16, 2009
My 4th Rough Draft
Kristen Muscaro
Dr. W.W. Austin
English 102
November 12, 2009
Paying the Price: What it Means to be Fat in America Today
In America today, constant reminders of health and well-being flood the view of our surroundings. We are expected by the government to make sound healthful choices in our life, or pay the price. Demands are being made to eat healthy and get the proper amount of exercise. There is without a doubt an ideal human form personified in the media today, one that as Americans we are expected to live up to or else fall to the shameful scrutiny of our peers. To ensure that these healthy and thoughtful choices are being made, the government is implementing laws and regulations. What the government does not realize about these implementations are the negative effects it poses for American citizens. In this “land of the free,” Americans are unwillingly being subjected to lies that give them low self-esteem and take away their rights.
Small Steps is a campaign implemented by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Their website states their overall goal is to improve the health and well-being of Americans today by implementing healthy choices into a day to day routine of activities. While this might all sound harmless, there are condescending undertones and forceful attitudes about actions you should take to improve your health. The website includes information about what you should eat, how you should exercise, what you should avoid and what you need to embrace. Complete with quizzes about your fitness, startling health related statistics at the bottom of each page, and images of beautifully trim people to make you feel bad about yourself, the website alarmingly connotes an aura of propaganda about the whole topic of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. It really makes you wonder why the government feels so strongly about the whole issue. Aren’t there more important things to worry about?
Although the Small Steps campaign seems a bit incriminating, America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009, takes the cake. This bill, approved just a few weeks ago in October of 2009, blatantly discriminates against people who are overweight, and thus, considered unhealthy by their standards. It introduces incentives for people who are deemed to have maintained “healthy lifestyles” with beneficial health care coverage through Medicare and Medicaid. As a whole, the bill actually “Lets insurers increase financial incentives (i.e. penalties) based on weight and other outcomes.” (Big Brother)
The implementation of this bill is discriminatory and weak minded. There are plenty of other countries around the world that provide government funded health care and see positive results without voicing these prejudices. Maybe we should take note of what has worked for them instead of starting from our feeble base of little experience with the topic. This is a sheer act of discrimination and it is abominable that this has actually passed through the legislative system.
Along with these oppressive government actions there are still more measures being taken as well, including proposed and implemented social solutions including snack taxes, corporate sponsored exercise breaks, stronger food labeling laws, and state mandated weigh-ins at public schools (Guthman 1). Also, on a more corporate level, the introduction of the Mini Coke Can will premiere on the market in December. William Saleton refers to this innovation as “the new light cigarette,” as Coca Cola attempts to market the mini Coke cans to health conscious individuals (Coke Suckers). Should being healthy really be debased to a mere trend in popular culture? People have such an aloof opinion about people who make “unhealthy” choices. This is really just a new way to justify an unhealthy choice by marketing the product as health conscious as well as trendy.
Bennett Gordon poses a very interesting argument in Healthy Options Make People Eat Unhealthy posing that these reforms, such as the mini Coke can, actually have an opposite effect on humans psychologically. He quotes Psychology Today by saying “twice as many subjects tended to choose the least healthy item when the choices included a healthy option, compared to when one was not available.” These results clearly show the backlash that could potentially happen in the U.S. if the government starts implementing more health reform laws. Unhealthy food is being lowered to sinful and wrong, which makes people want to indulge and rebel against societal moralities. This is much like the child who is told to not stick anything up his nose. Because he is told not to, he is intrigued by what might happen if he does.
Another reason as to why this health reform will not work is due to the simple fact that for some people, becoming thin or staying thin is nearly impossible. Some people were born and will always be overweight, no matter how hard they try to change their body. According to Julie Hanus:
To abandon the ranks of the overweight or obese, an American must achieve some Herculean combination of the following: overcome a genetically predisposed weight; starve through the hunger that naturally stems from exercise; resist the savvy marketing cues that trick us into consuming even larger portions; and move into a better neighborhood, one with access to fresh foods, fewer fast food joints, and safer sidewalks. (1)
Junk food is everywhere around us. Processed food has become an accepted norm of our every day diets. Unwholesome corn has taken the reigns to add unnecessary sugar and fat to our every day food choices without us even realizing it. Eating processed foods is only unavoidable if you make a severe conscious decision that, quite frankly, is difficult to keep up. The FDA has accepted these food additives as satisfactory for our every day diets. It is possible that they could also be at fault for the allowance of processed foods on the market today. But, if they controlled these foods from being on the market, could it be an invasion of our rights as consumers?
Although weight is often a predisposed state for many Americans, being considered overweight does not necessarily mean that you are unhealthy, especially by the skewed standards that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services employs. One of these standards used regularly by the government is the calculation of one’s Body Mass Index, commonly referred to as BMI. On the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) website, there is a BMI calculator to determine if your current BMI is at a healthy standard. They calculate this bogus number by taking your height and current weight to determine your overall body fatness. No doctor appointment needed! It is so simple! So simple that the results you will obtain will really tell you close to nothing about your current health. These BMI calculations are “based on a remarkably elaborate series of lies- lies about fat, lies about fitness, and health that, not coincidentally, serve the interests of America’s $50-billion per-year diet industry” (Campos 207).
A common misconception, which is deemed as somewhat of a universal truth, is that all overweight people are unhealthy. This is false and has no scientific base proving that having a diet containing foods high in fat have a negative effect on your mortality. In fact this theory has been tried and tested only to conclude that, “the most rigorous meta-analysis of the clinical trials of low-fat diets, published in 2001 by Cochrane Collaboration, concluded that they had no significant effect on mortality.” (Tierney 3) Tierney attributes this chain of falsified information to what social scientists call a cascade. He describes this chain in relation to the television show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” referring to the studio audience, posing:
Suppose instead of the audience members voting silently in unison, they voted out loud one after another. And suppose the first person gets it wrong. If the second person isn’t sure of the answer, he is liable to go along with the first person’s guess. By then, even if the third person suspects the other answer is right, she is more liable to go along just because she assumes the first two together know more than she does. Thus begins and “informational cascade” as one person after another assumes that the rest can’t all be wrong (1-2).
This cascade theory leads doctors and scientists to believe this false notion without ever doing any research on the topic themselves. They assume that the information is correct, as it has been passed down to them by other scholarly sources that also did not do any research to prove this theory. At the center of the issue, when research has been done on the topic of obesity and its negative effects on health, there has been no correlation when put to rigorous scientific study.
Although fattening foods may have no correlation to overall health, the social perception of fatness does have an overall negative emotional impact on individuals stigmatized by the label. As Hannah Lobel puts it, “to be fat in our culture is to be labeled a glutton and a vessel of disease” (1). American culture simply has an extraordinarily skewed judgmental view about the physical stature of humans. Fat people are viewed as unattractive; the government advertises an overwhelming amount of imagery of an ideal thin being as a constant reminder of health consciousness. In turn, overweight people think negatively about themselves, as they struggle to fit the prototype of that American ideal. Lobel describes this emotion as “sending people into prisons of self-loathing that have them seek refuge in yo-yo diets that feed the multi-billion dollar weight-loss industry” (2) Americans, especially women, fall into the trap of being overly weight conscious as “obesity talk further stigmatizes those who are fat” (Guthman 3). Everyone is aware of the eating disorders Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa caused from being overly body conscious, but few are aware of the dangers of Orthorexia Nervosa, which has noticeably been on the rise since the new American push for health.
Orthorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder that begins as a seemingly benign goal of improving health (Hanus 1). An Orthorexic strives to gain purity of their body by eating only foods that are organic and pure, which in theory will increase their health and well-being. This drive can then amount to a “degeneration of their body and spirit,” as they start to feel alienated socially and creatively (Rosenthal qtd in Hanus1). Their focus on being healthy is insurmountable. It becomes the center of every waking moment and “overtime, what to eat, how much, and the consequences of dietary indiscretion come to occupy a greater proportion of the orthorexic’s day” (Tsoukanelis 1). They generally keep taking more and more foods out of their diet, as they do not meet their increasing standards of purity. Their bodies slowly but surely start to waste away, often to their amazement.
This serious disease is a relatively new phenomenon, a disease that until now has never been addressed. The increase in the presence of Orthorexia Nervosa cannot be ignored. The government wants people to become more health conscious particularly in the way we eat. It would be juvenile to not think that the government’s overwhelming push for health might not be part of the problem dealing with the rise of Orthorexia and the disease’s victims.
If the campaign has so many negative effects on the well being of Americans, why would they still make the push for health reform? Money. This health reform has jump-started a 50-billion dollar per year weight loss industry (Campos 207). Consumers buy into gimmick products, expensive diet foods, fitness centers, and harmful drugs in order to submit to the demand of health. There is no doubt that this is a stimulant to the dwindling American economy. Because the issue of obesity is on an individual level, it is something that Americans tend to take to heart very seriously. In turn, they will do whatever they can to improve themselves, in attempt to escape the “moral decrepitude” (Guthman 1) of being fat. These actions include putting their money into the fight against their body weight and therefore stimulate the economy. This is a much more effective, and subconscious, way to convince Americans to spend money to subdue economic turmoil.
The exploitation of the American population and the implementation of discriminatory laws are stealing the rights we, as Americans, are entitled to. The government is controlling our visual field to view fit and trim people as the ideal form, to convince us to eat healthy and exercise daily, and to scare us with consequences if we do not heed their word. This visual stimulation causes an inner “sizeism” to take over, we judge fat people instantly, bargaining how they might be a better version of themselves if they could just lose some weight. Much like racism, these harsh judgments are completely unprovoked, our minds morphed into hating machines. To quote the United States Surgeon General Richard Carmona: “[Obesity is] every bit as threatening to us as is the terrorist threat we face today. It is the threat from within” (qtd in Balko 1). Stigmatizations such as this, going as far as to compare fat people to terrorists, are causing extraordinary amounts of subconscious brainwashing as Americans fight to eradicate fat. The propaganda and the actions taken by the government to solidify this propaganda about being fat are an invasion of our rights.
As Americans, we should be allowed to be fat if we damn well please! Instead of promoting the alienation of fat people, we should be promoting the joys of having high self-esteem. We should love ourselves and the people around us for more than simple outward appearance. There is more to the human race than just fat and thin. Humans are complex beings capable of amazing feats of knowledge, skill, and creativity. We are vessels of emotion, action, and thought. We should be celebrating instead of punishing ourselves. We are more than what we eat. We are what we think, the way we act, and the things we do. We are what we learn and what we create. We are all human, and it is about time that we stop bastardizing our race to such superficial terms of acceptance.
Works Cited
Balko, Radley. "The "War" Against Obesity." Cato Institute (25 Jun. 2004): 1-7. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
Campos, Paul. “Being Fat is Okay.” Jewish World Review 2001. Rpt. in “They Say/ I Say”: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. New York: Norton, 206-09. Print. 16 Oct. 2009. Print.
Gordon, Bennett. "Healthy Options Make People Eat Unhealthy." Utne Reader 28 Aug. 2009: n. pag. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
Guthman, Julie. "The Food Police. Why Michael Pollan Makes Me Want to Eat Cheetos." Utne Reader Jan./Feb. 2008: 1-5. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
Hanus, Julie. "The Healthy Eating Obsession." Utne Reader 06/26/2009: n. pag. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
Lobel, Hannah. "How an Obsession with Obesity Turned Fat into a Moral Failing." Utne Reader Jan./Feb. 2008: 1-2. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
Saletan, William. "Big Brother is Watching Your Weight: Your Tax Dollars at Work, Penalizing Fat People." Slate Magazine. 21 Oct. 2009. Web. 3 Nov. 2009.
---. "Coke Suckers." Slate Magazine. 19 Oct. 2009. Web. 4 Oct. 2009.
Smallstep Adult and Teen. Web. 12 Nov. 2009. http://www.smallstep.gov/.
Tierney, John. "Diet and Fat: A Severe Case of Mistaken Consensus." New York Times 9 Oct. 2007: 1-4. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
Tsoukanelis, Erika Alexia. "Obsessed With Health: Orthorexics Take Healthy Eating to the Extreme." EMagazine n. pag. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
Dr. W.W. Austin
English 102
November 12, 2009
Paying the Price: What it Means to be Fat in America Today
In America today, constant reminders of health and well-being flood the view of our surroundings. We are expected by the government to make sound healthful choices in our life, or pay the price. Demands are being made to eat healthy and get the proper amount of exercise. There is without a doubt an ideal human form personified in the media today, one that as Americans we are expected to live up to or else fall to the shameful scrutiny of our peers. To ensure that these healthy and thoughtful choices are being made, the government is implementing laws and regulations. What the government does not realize about these implementations are the negative effects it poses for American citizens. In this “land of the free,” Americans are unwillingly being subjected to lies that give them low self-esteem and take away their rights.
Small Steps is a campaign implemented by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Their website states their overall goal is to improve the health and well-being of Americans today by implementing healthy choices into a day to day routine of activities. While this might all sound harmless, there are condescending undertones and forceful attitudes about actions you should take to improve your health. The website includes information about what you should eat, how you should exercise, what you should avoid and what you need to embrace. Complete with quizzes about your fitness, startling health related statistics at the bottom of each page, and images of beautifully trim people to make you feel bad about yourself, the website alarmingly connotes an aura of propaganda about the whole topic of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. It really makes you wonder why the government feels so strongly about the whole issue. Aren’t there more important things to worry about?
Although the Small Steps campaign seems a bit incriminating, America’s Healthy Future Act of 2009, takes the cake. This bill, approved just a few weeks ago in October of 2009, blatantly discriminates against people who are overweight, and thus, considered unhealthy by their standards. It introduces incentives for people who are deemed to have maintained “healthy lifestyles” with beneficial health care coverage through Medicare and Medicaid. As a whole, the bill actually “Lets insurers increase financial incentives (i.e. penalties) based on weight and other outcomes.” (Big Brother)
The implementation of this bill is discriminatory and weak minded. There are plenty of other countries around the world that provide government funded health care and see positive results without voicing these prejudices. Maybe we should take note of what has worked for them instead of starting from our feeble base of little experience with the topic. This is a sheer act of discrimination and it is abominable that this has actually passed through the legislative system.
Along with these oppressive government actions there are still more measures being taken as well, including proposed and implemented social solutions including snack taxes, corporate sponsored exercise breaks, stronger food labeling laws, and state mandated weigh-ins at public schools (Guthman 1). Also, on a more corporate level, the introduction of the Mini Coke Can will premiere on the market in December. William Saleton refers to this innovation as “the new light cigarette,” as Coca Cola attempts to market the mini Coke cans to health conscious individuals (Coke Suckers). Should being healthy really be debased to a mere trend in popular culture? People have such an aloof opinion about people who make “unhealthy” choices. This is really just a new way to justify an unhealthy choice by marketing the product as health conscious as well as trendy.
Bennett Gordon poses a very interesting argument in Healthy Options Make People Eat Unhealthy posing that these reforms, such as the mini Coke can, actually have an opposite effect on humans psychologically. He quotes Psychology Today by saying “twice as many subjects tended to choose the least healthy item when the choices included a healthy option, compared to when one was not available.” These results clearly show the backlash that could potentially happen in the U.S. if the government starts implementing more health reform laws. Unhealthy food is being lowered to sinful and wrong, which makes people want to indulge and rebel against societal moralities. This is much like the child who is told to not stick anything up his nose. Because he is told not to, he is intrigued by what might happen if he does.
Another reason as to why this health reform will not work is due to the simple fact that for some people, becoming thin or staying thin is nearly impossible. Some people were born and will always be overweight, no matter how hard they try to change their body. According to Julie Hanus:
To abandon the ranks of the overweight or obese, an American must achieve some Herculean combination of the following: overcome a genetically predisposed weight; starve through the hunger that naturally stems from exercise; resist the savvy marketing cues that trick us into consuming even larger portions; and move into a better neighborhood, one with access to fresh foods, fewer fast food joints, and safer sidewalks. (1)
Junk food is everywhere around us. Processed food has become an accepted norm of our every day diets. Unwholesome corn has taken the reigns to add unnecessary sugar and fat to our every day food choices without us even realizing it. Eating processed foods is only unavoidable if you make a severe conscious decision that, quite frankly, is difficult to keep up. The FDA has accepted these food additives as satisfactory for our every day diets. It is possible that they could also be at fault for the allowance of processed foods on the market today. But, if they controlled these foods from being on the market, could it be an invasion of our rights as consumers?
Although weight is often a predisposed state for many Americans, being considered overweight does not necessarily mean that you are unhealthy, especially by the skewed standards that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services employs. One of these standards used regularly by the government is the calculation of one’s Body Mass Index, commonly referred to as BMI. On the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) website, there is a BMI calculator to determine if your current BMI is at a healthy standard. They calculate this bogus number by taking your height and current weight to determine your overall body fatness. No doctor appointment needed! It is so simple! So simple that the results you will obtain will really tell you close to nothing about your current health. These BMI calculations are “based on a remarkably elaborate series of lies- lies about fat, lies about fitness, and health that, not coincidentally, serve the interests of America’s $50-billion per-year diet industry” (Campos 207).
A common misconception, which is deemed as somewhat of a universal truth, is that all overweight people are unhealthy. This is false and has no scientific base proving that having a diet containing foods high in fat have a negative effect on your mortality. In fact this theory has been tried and tested only to conclude that, “the most rigorous meta-analysis of the clinical trials of low-fat diets, published in 2001 by Cochrane Collaboration, concluded that they had no significant effect on mortality.” (Tierney 3) Tierney attributes this chain of falsified information to what social scientists call a cascade. He describes this chain in relation to the television show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” referring to the studio audience, posing:
Suppose instead of the audience members voting silently in unison, they voted out loud one after another. And suppose the first person gets it wrong. If the second person isn’t sure of the answer, he is liable to go along with the first person’s guess. By then, even if the third person suspects the other answer is right, she is more liable to go along just because she assumes the first two together know more than she does. Thus begins and “informational cascade” as one person after another assumes that the rest can’t all be wrong (1-2).
This cascade theory leads doctors and scientists to believe this false notion without ever doing any research on the topic themselves. They assume that the information is correct, as it has been passed down to them by other scholarly sources that also did not do any research to prove this theory. At the center of the issue, when research has been done on the topic of obesity and its negative effects on health, there has been no correlation when put to rigorous scientific study.
Although fattening foods may have no correlation to overall health, the social perception of fatness does have an overall negative emotional impact on individuals stigmatized by the label. As Hannah Lobel puts it, “to be fat in our culture is to be labeled a glutton and a vessel of disease” (1). American culture simply has an extraordinarily skewed judgmental view about the physical stature of humans. Fat people are viewed as unattractive; the government advertises an overwhelming amount of imagery of an ideal thin being as a constant reminder of health consciousness. In turn, overweight people think negatively about themselves, as they struggle to fit the prototype of that American ideal. Lobel describes this emotion as “sending people into prisons of self-loathing that have them seek refuge in yo-yo diets that feed the multi-billion dollar weight-loss industry” (2) Americans, especially women, fall into the trap of being overly weight conscious as “obesity talk further stigmatizes those who are fat” (Guthman 3). Everyone is aware of the eating disorders Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa caused from being overly body conscious, but few are aware of the dangers of Orthorexia Nervosa, which has noticeably been on the rise since the new American push for health.
Orthorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder that begins as a seemingly benign goal of improving health (Hanus 1). An Orthorexic strives to gain purity of their body by eating only foods that are organic and pure, which in theory will increase their health and well-being. This drive can then amount to a “degeneration of their body and spirit,” as they start to feel alienated socially and creatively (Rosenthal qtd in Hanus1). Their focus on being healthy is insurmountable. It becomes the center of every waking moment and “overtime, what to eat, how much, and the consequences of dietary indiscretion come to occupy a greater proportion of the orthorexic’s day” (Tsoukanelis 1). They generally keep taking more and more foods out of their diet, as they do not meet their increasing standards of purity. Their bodies slowly but surely start to waste away, often to their amazement.
This serious disease is a relatively new phenomenon, a disease that until now has never been addressed. The increase in the presence of Orthorexia Nervosa cannot be ignored. The government wants people to become more health conscious particularly in the way we eat. It would be juvenile to not think that the government’s overwhelming push for health might not be part of the problem dealing with the rise of Orthorexia and the disease’s victims.
If the campaign has so many negative effects on the well being of Americans, why would they still make the push for health reform? Money. This health reform has jump-started a 50-billion dollar per year weight loss industry (Campos 207). Consumers buy into gimmick products, expensive diet foods, fitness centers, and harmful drugs in order to submit to the demand of health. There is no doubt that this is a stimulant to the dwindling American economy. Because the issue of obesity is on an individual level, it is something that Americans tend to take to heart very seriously. In turn, they will do whatever they can to improve themselves, in attempt to escape the “moral decrepitude” (Guthman 1) of being fat. These actions include putting their money into the fight against their body weight and therefore stimulate the economy. This is a much more effective, and subconscious, way to convince Americans to spend money to subdue economic turmoil.
The exploitation of the American population and the implementation of discriminatory laws are stealing the rights we, as Americans, are entitled to. The government is controlling our visual field to view fit and trim people as the ideal form, to convince us to eat healthy and exercise daily, and to scare us with consequences if we do not heed their word. This visual stimulation causes an inner “sizeism” to take over, we judge fat people instantly, bargaining how they might be a better version of themselves if they could just lose some weight. Much like racism, these harsh judgments are completely unprovoked, our minds morphed into hating machines. To quote the United States Surgeon General Richard Carmona: “[Obesity is] every bit as threatening to us as is the terrorist threat we face today. It is the threat from within” (qtd in Balko 1). Stigmatizations such as this, going as far as to compare fat people to terrorists, are causing extraordinary amounts of subconscious brainwashing as Americans fight to eradicate fat. The propaganda and the actions taken by the government to solidify this propaganda about being fat are an invasion of our rights.
As Americans, we should be allowed to be fat if we damn well please! Instead of promoting the alienation of fat people, we should be promoting the joys of having high self-esteem. We should love ourselves and the people around us for more than simple outward appearance. There is more to the human race than just fat and thin. Humans are complex beings capable of amazing feats of knowledge, skill, and creativity. We are vessels of emotion, action, and thought. We should be celebrating instead of punishing ourselves. We are more than what we eat. We are what we think, the way we act, and the things we do. We are what we learn and what we create. We are all human, and it is about time that we stop bastardizing our race to such superficial terms of acceptance.
Works Cited
Balko, Radley. "The "War" Against Obesity." Cato Institute (25 Jun. 2004): 1-7. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
Campos, Paul. “Being Fat is Okay.” Jewish World Review 2001. Rpt. in “They Say/ I Say”: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein, and Russel Durst. New York: Norton, 206-09. Print. 16 Oct. 2009. Print.
Gordon, Bennett. "Healthy Options Make People Eat Unhealthy." Utne Reader 28 Aug. 2009: n. pag. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
Guthman, Julie. "The Food Police. Why Michael Pollan Makes Me Want to Eat Cheetos." Utne Reader Jan./Feb. 2008: 1-5. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
Hanus, Julie. "The Healthy Eating Obsession." Utne Reader 06/26/2009: n. pag. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
Lobel, Hannah. "How an Obsession with Obesity Turned Fat into a Moral Failing." Utne Reader Jan./Feb. 2008: 1-2. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
Saletan, William. "Big Brother is Watching Your Weight: Your Tax Dollars at Work, Penalizing Fat People." Slate Magazine. 21 Oct. 2009. Web. 3 Nov. 2009.
---. "Coke Suckers." Slate Magazine. 19 Oct. 2009. Web. 4 Oct. 2009.
Smallstep Adult and Teen. Web. 12 Nov. 2009. http://www.smallstep.gov/.
Tierney, John. "Diet and Fat: A Severe Case of Mistaken Consensus." New York Times 9 Oct. 2007: 1-4. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
Tsoukanelis, Erika Alexia. "Obsessed With Health: Orthorexics Take Healthy Eating to the Extreme." EMagazine n. pag. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Rough Draft #2
NEED INTRO
Small Steps is a campaign implemented by the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Their website states that their overall goal is to improve the health and well-being of Americans today by implementing healthy choices into a day to day routine of activities. While this might all sound peachy, there are condescending undertones and forceful attitudes about actions you should take to improve your health. The website includes information about what you should eat, how you should exercise, what you should avoid and what you need to embrace. Complete with quizzes about your fitness, startling health related statistics at the bottom of each page, and images of beautifully trim people to make you feel bad about yourself, the website alarmingly connotes an aura of propaganda about the whole topic of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. It really makes you wonder why the government feels so strongly about the whole issue. Aren’t there more important things to worry about?
Although the Small Steps campaign seems a bit incriminating,
There are plenty of other countries with either non-profit/regulated insurance, or government-funded health care, universal in either case. They get great results such as cheaper care and longer lives of their citizens. Why on earth are we innovating this discriminatory health reform when other countries have already tested and proven several different ways of delivering health care effectively without a base of prejudice? This is a sheer act of discrimination and it is abominable that this has actually passed through the legislative system. WEAK PARAGRAPH
Along with these oppressing governmental actions, there are still more other actions being taken as well including proposed and implemented social solutions including snack taxes, corporate sponsored exercise breaks, stronger food labeling laws, and state mandated weigh-ins at public schools. (Guthman) Also, on a more corporate level, the introduction of the Mini Coke Can will premiere on the market in December. William Saleton refers to this innovation as “the new light cigarette,” as Coca Cola attempts to market the mini Coke cans to health conscious individuals. Should being healthy really be debased to a mere trend in popular culture? People have such an aloof opinion about people who make “unhealthy” choices. This is a new way to justify an unhealthy choice by marketing the product as health conscious as well as trendy.
Bennett Gordon poses a very interesting argument in Healthy Options Make People Eat Unhealthy posing that these reforms, such as the mini Coke can, actually have an opposite effect on humans psychologically. He quotes Psychology Today by saying “twice as many subjects tended to choose the least healthy item when the choices included a healthy option, compared to when one was not available.” These results clearly show the backlash that could potentially happen in the
Another reason as to why this health reform will not work is due to the simple fact that for some people, becoming thin or staying thin is nearly impossible. Some people were born and will always be overweight, no matter how hard they try to change their body. According to Julie Hanus:
“to abandon the ranks of the overweight or obese, an American must achieve some Herculean combination of the following: overcome a genetically predisposed weight; starve through the hunger that naturally stems from exercise; resist the savvy marketing cues that trick us into consuming even larger portions; and move into a better neighborhood, one with access to fresh foods, fewer fast food joints, and safer sidewalks.”
Junk food is everywhere around us. Processed food has become an accepted norm of our every day diets. Unwholesome corn has taken the reigns to add unnecessary sugar and fat to our every day food choices without us even realizing it. Eating processed foods is only unavoidable if you make a severe conscious decision that, quite frankly, is difficult to keep up. The FDA has accepted these food additives as satisfactory for our every day diets. It is possible that they could also be at fault for the allowance of processed foods on the market today. But, if they controlled these foods from being on the market, could it be an invasion of our rights as consumers?
Although weight is often a predisposed state for many Americans, being considered overweight does not necessarily mean that you are unhealthy, especially by the skewed standards that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services employs. One of these standards used regularly by the government is the calculation of one’s Body Mass Index, commonly referred to as BMI. On the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) website, there is a BMI calculator to determine if your current BMI is at a healthy standard. They calculate this bogus number by taking your height and current weight to determine your overall body fatness. No doctor appointment needed! It is so simple! So simple that the results you will obtain will really tell you close to nothing about your current health. These BMI calculations are “based on a remarkably elaborate series of lies- lies about fat, lies about fitness, and health that, not coincidentally, serve the interests of America’s $50-billion per-year diet industry” (Campos).
A common misconception, which is deemed as somewhat of a universal truth, is that all overweight people are unhealthy. This is false and has no scientific base proving that having a diet containing foods high in fat have a negative effect on your mortality. In fact this theory has been tried and tested only to conclude that, “the most rigorous meta-analysis of the clinical trials of low-fat diets, published in 2001 by Cochrane Collaboration, concluded that they had no significant effect on mortality.” (Tierney) Tierney attributes this falsified information to what social scientists call a cascade. He describes this false information chain in relation to the television show “Who Wants to be a Millionaire,” referring to the studio audience posing,
“Suppose instead of the audience members voting silently in unison, they voted out loud one after another. And suppose the first person gets it wrong. If the second person isn’t sure of the answer, he is liable to go along with the first person’s guess. By then, even if the third person suspects the other answer is right, she is more liable to go along just because she assumes the first two together know more than she does. Thus begins and ‘informational cascade’ as one person after another assumes that the rest can’t all be wrong”
This cascade theory leads doctors and scientists to believe this false notion without ever doing any research on the topic themselves. They assume that the information is correct, as it has been passed down to them by other scholarly sources that also did not do any research to prove this theory. At the center of the issue, when research has been done on the topic of obesity and its negative effects on health, there has been no correlation when put to rigorous scientific study.
Although fattening foods may have no correlation to overall health, the social perception of fatness does have an overall negative emotional impact on people stigmatized by the label. As Hannah Lobel puts it, “to be fat in our culture is to be labeled a glutton and a vessel of disease.” American culture simply has an extraordinarily skewed judgmental view about the physical stature of humans. Fat people are viewed as unattractive; the government advertises an overwhelming amount of imagery of an ideal thin being as a constant reminder of health consciousness. In turn, overweight people think negatively about themselves, as they struggle to fit the prototype of that American ideal. Lobel describes this emotion as “sending people into prisons of self-loathing that have them seek refuge in yo-yo diets that feed the multi-billion dollar weight-loss industry.” Americans, especially women, fall into the trap of being overly weight conscious as “obesity talk further stigmatizes those who are fat” (Guthman). Everyone is aware of the eating disorders Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa caused from being overly body conscious, but few are aware of the dangers of Orthorexia Nervosa, which has noticeably been on the rise since the new American push for health.
Othorexia Nervosa is an eating disorder that begins as a seemingly benign goal of improving health (Hanus). An Orthorexic strives to gain purity of their body by eating only foods that are organic and pure, which in theory will increase their health and well-being. This drive can then amount to a “degeneration of their body and spirit,” as they start to feel alienated socially and creatively (Rosenthal). Their focus on being healthy is insurmountable. It becomes the focus of every waking moment and “overtime, what to eat, how much, and the consequences of dietary indiscretion come to occupy a greater proportion of the orthorexic’s day” (Tsoukanelis). They generally keep taking more and more foods out of their diet, as they do not meet their increasing standards of purity. Their bodies slowly but surely start to waste away, often to their amazement.
This serious disease is a relatively new phenomenon, a disease that until now has never been addressed. The increase in the presence of Orthorexia Nervosa cannot be ignored. The government wants people to become more health conscious particularly in the way we eat. It would be juvenile to not think that the government’s overwhelming push for health might not be part of the problem dealing with the rise of Orthorexia and the disease’s victims.
If the campaign has so many negative effects on the well being of Americans, why would they still make the push for health reform? Money. This health reform has jump-started a 50-bilion dollar per year weight loss industry. Consumers buy into gimmick products, expensive diet foods, fitness centers, and harmful drugs in order to submit to the demand of health. There is no doubt that this is a stimulant to the dwindling American economy. Because the issue of obesity is on an individual level, it is something that Americans tend to take to heart very seriously. In turn, they will do whatever they can to improve themselves, in attempt to escape the “moral decrepitude” (Guthman) of being fat. These actions include putting their money into the fight against their body weight and therefore stimulate the economy. This is a much more effective, and subconscious, way to convince Americans to spend money to subdue economic turmoil.
The exploitation of the American population and the implementation of discriminatory laws are stealing the rights we, as Americans, are entitled to. The government is controlling our visual field to view fit and trim people as the ideal form, to convince us to eat healthy and exercise daily, and to scare us with consequences if we do not heed their word. This visual stimulation causes an inner “sizeism” to take over, we judge fat people instantly, bargaining how they might be a better version of themselves if they could just lose some weight. Much like racism, these harsh judgments are completely unprovoked, our minds morphed into hating machines. To quote the United States Surgeon General Richard Carmona: “ [Obesity is] every bit as threatening to us as is the terrorist threat we face today. It is the threat from within.” Stigmatizations such as this, going as far as to compare fat people to terrorists, are causing extraordinary amounts of subconscious brainwashing as Americans fight to eradicate fat. The propaganda and the actions taken by the government to solidify this propaganda about being fat are an invasion of our rights.
As Americans, we should be allowed to be fat if we damn well please! Instead of promoting stigmatization of fat people, we should be promoting the joys of having high self-esteem. We should love ourselves and the people around us for more than simple outward appearance. There is more to the human race than just fat and thin. Humans are complex beings capable of amazing feats of knowledge, skill, and creativity. We are vessels of emotion, action, and thought. We should be celebrating instead of punishing ourselves. We are more than what we eat. We are what we think, the way we act, and the things we do. We are what we learn and what we create. We are all human, and it is about time that we stop bastardizing our race to fat and thin, black and white terms.
NEED TO SOLIDIFY ENDING POINTS ABOUT INVASION OF RIGHTS AND CELEBRATION OF SELF. COULD ONE OF THESE BE MY CONCLUSION? NEEDS MORE WORK.
Revising Checklist
Should you do more research to find support for certain points?
I feel as though I have enough research done, I might need to refine my points better to make a stronger argument for some of them.
Do you need to reorder the major sections of your paper?
Yes, the order of my paper is still very up in the air at the moment.
Should you rearrange the order in which you present your points within those sections?
I believe my points are in a functional order.
Do you need to add section headings? Transitional paragraphs?
I do not think I will employ section headings. I would prefer to flow my sections together without them.
Have you integrated source material smoothly into your paper?
I think I have done a good job of integrating my source material smoothly into my paper.
Have you chosen visuals carefully and integrated them smoothly into your paper?
I have not chosen any visuals for my paper.
Are quotations blended with paraphrase, summary, and your own observations and reactions?
I think I might have over quoted, and will probably have to go back and paraphrase more.
Have you avoided plagiarism by carefully documenting all borrowed ideas?
Yes, I have avoided plagiarism but have not yet perfected my in text citations.
Have you analyzed and interpreted the ideas of others rather than simply stringing those ideas together?
I have interpreted and analyzed the ideas of all my sources.
Do your own ideas- not those of your sources- define the focus of your discussion?
My ideas are the focus of my paper.
I feel as though I have enough research done, I might need to refine my points better to make a stronger argument for some of them.
Do you need to reorder the major sections of your paper?
Yes, the order of my paper is still very up in the air at the moment.
Should you rearrange the order in which you present your points within those sections?
I believe my points are in a functional order.
Do you need to add section headings? Transitional paragraphs?
I do not think I will employ section headings. I would prefer to flow my sections together without them.
Have you integrated source material smoothly into your paper?
I think I have done a good job of integrating my source material smoothly into my paper.
Have you chosen visuals carefully and integrated them smoothly into your paper?
I have not chosen any visuals for my paper.
Are quotations blended with paraphrase, summary, and your own observations and reactions?
I think I might have over quoted, and will probably have to go back and paraphrase more.
Have you avoided plagiarism by carefully documenting all borrowed ideas?
Yes, I have avoided plagiarism but have not yet perfected my in text citations.
Have you analyzed and interpreted the ideas of others rather than simply stringing those ideas together?
I have interpreted and analyzed the ideas of all my sources.
Do your own ideas- not those of your sources- define the focus of your discussion?
My ideas are the focus of my paper.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
My Old and Revised Reseach Proposals
This was my original proposal:
My Research Proposal
My research paper will be about the overwhelming effects of media’s influence on the presence of poor body image and its effects on women. I will also examine eating disorders in women caused to guilt associated with eating food.
My Topic and Why I’m Interested In It
As a young female, I am well aware of the “ideal” thin and beautiful woman ever present in media coverage today. Although I have relatively high self-esteem, I personally know women that cannot say the same and I am interested in learning about the environmental causes of this poor body image. Media coverage of overly thin women and the popular new “diet of the day” surely have to have an effect on women, and I wanted to explore how. I am interesting in finding out how the media has shaped us cognitively with thin body awareness undertones subconsciously, making women have a food and guilt association and overall low self-esteem.
Guiding Research Question
1. What are some first hand thoughts of women who have eating disorders and what caused them to go down such a harmful and dangerous path?
2. Does guilt related to food consumption have an impact on the presence of eating disorders?
3. Is the media at fault for food related guilt?
4. Are social upbringings at fault for food related guilt?
Is the new national campaign for a healthy lifestyle really just harming self-image in women as they learn to associate guilt with certain foods and lifestyles?
What can we do to change poor self image in women?
Keywords and Keyword Combinations I am Using to Search
Eating disorders and women
Eating disorders and the media
Guilt and food
Self-image and the media
Guilt associated with food
And this is my revised proposal:
My Research Proposal
My research paper will be about the negative effects of the government’s war on obesity in America. I want to explore whether this campaign is in fact justified and if it is actually doing more harm than good.
My Topic and Why I’m Interested In It
There is an ever-present charge in America today to stay thin and beautiful. To heighten this, the government has also implemented a “war on obesity” to combat a condition they believe could become a very serious epidemic. I believe this campaign could have very negative effects on body image, as people are constantly flooded with images of “thin ideal” men and women and the urgencies the government commands about the “healthy lifestyle” one should live.
Guiding Research Question
Is the new national campaign for a healthy lifestyle really just harming self-image in women as they learn to associate guilt with certain foods and lifestyles?
Does guilt related to food consumption have an impact on the presence of eating disorders?
Is the anti-obesity campaign morally wrong by singling out overweight people?
Are the food regulations that the government is implementing an invasion of our rights?
Is the government really just trying to make money from the campaign by getting people to buy diet and exercise supplies?
Keywords and Keyword Combinations I am Using to Search
War on obesity
National health campaign
Small steps program
My Research Proposal
My research paper will be about the overwhelming effects of media’s influence on the presence of poor body image and its effects on women. I will also examine eating disorders in women caused to guilt associated with eating food.
My Topic and Why I’m Interested In It
As a young female, I am well aware of the “ideal” thin and beautiful woman ever present in media coverage today. Although I have relatively high self-esteem, I personally know women that cannot say the same and I am interested in learning about the environmental causes of this poor body image. Media coverage of overly thin women and the popular new “diet of the day” surely have to have an effect on women, and I wanted to explore how. I am interesting in finding out how the media has shaped us cognitively with thin body awareness undertones subconsciously, making women have a food and guilt association and overall low self-esteem.
Guiding Research Question
1. What are some first hand thoughts of women who have eating disorders and what caused them to go down such a harmful and dangerous path?
2. Does guilt related to food consumption have an impact on the presence of eating disorders?
3. Is the media at fault for food related guilt?
4. Are social upbringings at fault for food related guilt?
Is the new national campaign for a healthy lifestyle really just harming self-image in women as they learn to associate guilt with certain foods and lifestyles?
What can we do to change poor self image in women?
Keywords and Keyword Combinations I am Using to Search
Eating disorders and women
Eating disorders and the media
Guilt and food
Self-image and the media
Guilt associated with food
And this is my revised proposal:
My Research Proposal
My research paper will be about the negative effects of the government’s war on obesity in America. I want to explore whether this campaign is in fact justified and if it is actually doing more harm than good.
My Topic and Why I’m Interested In It
There is an ever-present charge in America today to stay thin and beautiful. To heighten this, the government has also implemented a “war on obesity” to combat a condition they believe could become a very serious epidemic. I believe this campaign could have very negative effects on body image, as people are constantly flooded with images of “thin ideal” men and women and the urgencies the government commands about the “healthy lifestyle” one should live.
Guiding Research Question
Is the new national campaign for a healthy lifestyle really just harming self-image in women as they learn to associate guilt with certain foods and lifestyles?
Does guilt related to food consumption have an impact on the presence of eating disorders?
Is the anti-obesity campaign morally wrong by singling out overweight people?
Are the food regulations that the government is implementing an invasion of our rights?
Is the government really just trying to make money from the campaign by getting people to buy diet and exercise supplies?
Keywords and Keyword Combinations I am Using to Search
War on obesity
National health campaign
Small steps program
Annotated Bibliography
Annotated Bibliography
Almond, S. "A11. The Influence of the Media on Eating Disorders." Journal of Human Nutrition & Dietetics 13.5 (Oct. 2000): 367-368. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Sep. 2009.
In this short article, Almond talks about the “ideal” body image that is portrayed in the media today, particularly advertisements, and their negative effects on women. He stated that by constantly viewing this ideal body image that women obtain dissatisfaction with their own bodies, in some cases these negative emotions cause disturbed eating patterns. This article will be good for me to use because it directly correlates main stream media with negative effects on eating patterns.
Balko, Radley. "The "War" Against Obesity." Cato Institute (25 Jun. 2004): 1-7. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
Radley’s article alludes to a three-day event called the Obesity Summit and refers to different speakers and their opinions at the lectures. He satirically addresses the strong willed combatants of obesity that hold radical opinions such as obesity being “every bit as threatening to us as is the terrorist threat we face today.” Radley refutes their ideas by providing evidence of the fictional belief that obesity causes cancer and heart disease. He mentioned Paul Campos and Dr. Jeffrey Friedman as advocates of uncovering the myths of obesity. This article is useful to me particularly for the extreme representation of the government.
Campos, Paul. “Being Fat is Okay.” Jewish World Review 2001. Rpt. in They Say/ I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing. Graff, Birkenstein, and Durst. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 206-09. Print. 16 Oct. 2009.
Campos addresses the inaccuracy of the government’s BMI calculator and poses the idea that the government’s anti-obesity campaign is really just a mechanism to make money from gullible Americans. He debunks the common lies that fat people are less healthy than thin people, that fat people would be as healthy as thin people if they lost weight, and that fat people can choose to be thinner. This will be useful to disprove the government’s extreme notions that fat is the route of all health problems in America.
Friedman, Jeffrey M. "The War on Obesity, Not the Obese." Scientist 13 May 2005: 1-3. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
Friedman takes a very scientific approach in this article, looking down upon diet industries and the common view of obese people a stigma to humankind. He argues that obesity is mostly due to genetic inheritance and is not as easily combated as portrayed in common media. He also talks about the skewed statistics of increasing obesity, when in reality Americans have only gained an average of 7 to 10 pounds since 1991.
Gordon, Bennett. "Healthy Options Make People Eat Unhealthy." Utne Reader 28 Aug. 2009: n. pag. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
The first two sentences of this article really sum it up and could be used as a good quote for my paper. It proposes “having the option to order a salad makes people more likely to order the least healthy item on the menu. And the more self control people have, the more likely they’ll be influenced to eat unhealthy according to Psychology Today.” This shows that the government’s persistence in health promotion could really be promoting poor health.
Guthman, Julie. "The Food Police. Why Michael Pollan Makes Me Want to Eat Cheetos." Utne Reader Jan./Feb. 2008: 1-5. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
This article’s purpose is to critique Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. Guntham argues against Pollan to state that his theories of caloric metabolism and food are false. She states “caloric metabolism appears to explain less than half of body size variation,” and “obesity talk further stigmatizes those who are fat.”
Hanus, Julie. "The Healthy Eating Obsession." Utne Reader 06/26/2009: n. pag. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
This article talks about the negative effects of obsessively eating healthy to the point when it becomes a very unhealthy eating disorder called Orthorexia nervosa. This disease is known to disturb relationships and cause feelings of disconnectedness. I feel that this evidence may correlate well to the government’s flooding promotion of eating well in America today. Could the rise of Orthorexia be blamed on the governments’ anti-obesity campaign?
Lobel, Hannah. "How an Obsession with Obesity Turned Fat into a Moral Failing." Utne Reader Jan./Feb. 2008: 1-2. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
This article offers a very fair and balanced view of obesity in America. Lobel states that obesity is in fact a problem, yet focuses on the twisted view Americans have of overweight and obese people. A good example of this is a quote that states “ We’re sending people into prisons of self-loathing that have them seeking refuge in yo-yo diets that feed a multibillion-dollar weight-loss industry but do nothing but keep the pounds off and, in fact, often contribute to health problems later.” This concise article will be good to use for powerful quotes and ideas in my paper.
Tierney, John. "Diet and Fat: A Severe Case of Mistaken Consensus." New York Times 9 Oct. 2007: 1-4. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
John Tierney discusses the common idea that reducing fat intake in your daily diet decreases disease. He poses several cases of evidence in which scientific study has disproved this idea. He explains the overwhelming belief of fat causing disease as an instance of a “cascade” of misinformation, which means that doctors and scientists believe what others say without scientifically testing the idea themselves.
Tsoukanelis, Erika Alexia. "Obsessed With Health: Orthorexics Take Healthy Eating to the Extreme." EMagazine n. pag. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
This article aims to define what Orthorexia-nervosa is, the consequences, and plausible treatments. Some good quotes from the article include a description of Orthorexia as “an iron self-discipline bolstered by a hefty dose of superiority over those who eat junk food.” This article also included information about skeptics of the disease. Overall, I think this article will provide good general information for my paper.
Almond, S. "A11. The Influence of the Media on Eating Disorders." Journal of Human Nutrition & Dietetics 13.5 (Oct. 2000): 367-368. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Sep. 2009.
In this short article, Almond talks about the “ideal” body image that is portrayed in the media today, particularly advertisements, and their negative effects on women. He stated that by constantly viewing this ideal body image that women obtain dissatisfaction with their own bodies, in some cases these negative emotions cause disturbed eating patterns. This article will be good for me to use because it directly correlates main stream media with negative effects on eating patterns.
Balko, Radley. "The "War" Against Obesity." Cato Institute (25 Jun. 2004): 1-7. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
Radley’s article alludes to a three-day event called the Obesity Summit and refers to different speakers and their opinions at the lectures. He satirically addresses the strong willed combatants of obesity that hold radical opinions such as obesity being “every bit as threatening to us as is the terrorist threat we face today.” Radley refutes their ideas by providing evidence of the fictional belief that obesity causes cancer and heart disease. He mentioned Paul Campos and Dr. Jeffrey Friedman as advocates of uncovering the myths of obesity. This article is useful to me particularly for the extreme representation of the government.
Campos, Paul. “Being Fat is Okay.” Jewish World Review 2001. Rpt. in They Say/ I Say: The Moves that Matter in Academic Writing. Graff, Birkenstein, and Durst. New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 206-09. Print. 16 Oct. 2009.
Campos addresses the inaccuracy of the government’s BMI calculator and poses the idea that the government’s anti-obesity campaign is really just a mechanism to make money from gullible Americans. He debunks the common lies that fat people are less healthy than thin people, that fat people would be as healthy as thin people if they lost weight, and that fat people can choose to be thinner. This will be useful to disprove the government’s extreme notions that fat is the route of all health problems in America.
Friedman, Jeffrey M. "The War on Obesity, Not the Obese." Scientist 13 May 2005: 1-3. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
Friedman takes a very scientific approach in this article, looking down upon diet industries and the common view of obese people a stigma to humankind. He argues that obesity is mostly due to genetic inheritance and is not as easily combated as portrayed in common media. He also talks about the skewed statistics of increasing obesity, when in reality Americans have only gained an average of 7 to 10 pounds since 1991.
Gordon, Bennett. "Healthy Options Make People Eat Unhealthy." Utne Reader 28 Aug. 2009: n. pag. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
The first two sentences of this article really sum it up and could be used as a good quote for my paper. It proposes “having the option to order a salad makes people more likely to order the least healthy item on the menu. And the more self control people have, the more likely they’ll be influenced to eat unhealthy according to Psychology Today.” This shows that the government’s persistence in health promotion could really be promoting poor health.
Guthman, Julie. "The Food Police. Why Michael Pollan Makes Me Want to Eat Cheetos." Utne Reader Jan./Feb. 2008: 1-5. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
This article’s purpose is to critique Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. Guntham argues against Pollan to state that his theories of caloric metabolism and food are false. She states “caloric metabolism appears to explain less than half of body size variation,” and “obesity talk further stigmatizes those who are fat.”
Hanus, Julie. "The Healthy Eating Obsession." Utne Reader 06/26/2009: n. pag. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
This article talks about the negative effects of obsessively eating healthy to the point when it becomes a very unhealthy eating disorder called Orthorexia nervosa. This disease is known to disturb relationships and cause feelings of disconnectedness. I feel that this evidence may correlate well to the government’s flooding promotion of eating well in America today. Could the rise of Orthorexia be blamed on the governments’ anti-obesity campaign?
Lobel, Hannah. "How an Obsession with Obesity Turned Fat into a Moral Failing." Utne Reader Jan./Feb. 2008: 1-2. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
This article offers a very fair and balanced view of obesity in America. Lobel states that obesity is in fact a problem, yet focuses on the twisted view Americans have of overweight and obese people. A good example of this is a quote that states “ We’re sending people into prisons of self-loathing that have them seeking refuge in yo-yo diets that feed a multibillion-dollar weight-loss industry but do nothing but keep the pounds off and, in fact, often contribute to health problems later.” This concise article will be good to use for powerful quotes and ideas in my paper.
Tierney, John. "Diet and Fat: A Severe Case of Mistaken Consensus." New York Times 9 Oct. 2007: 1-4. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
John Tierney discusses the common idea that reducing fat intake in your daily diet decreases disease. He poses several cases of evidence in which scientific study has disproved this idea. He explains the overwhelming belief of fat causing disease as an instance of a “cascade” of misinformation, which means that doctors and scientists believe what others say without scientifically testing the idea themselves.
Tsoukanelis, Erika Alexia. "Obsessed With Health: Orthorexics Take Healthy Eating to the Extreme." EMagazine n. pag. Web. 16 Oct 2009.
This article aims to define what Orthorexia-nervosa is, the consequences, and plausible treatments. Some good quotes from the article include a description of Orthorexia as “an iron self-discipline bolstered by a hefty dose of superiority over those who eat junk food.” This article also included information about skeptics of the disease. Overall, I think this article will provide good general information for my paper.
Citing Sources Within a Paper
Signal Phrase- verb introducing the source's word
Attribution Phrase- name of a source and a signal phrase, also known as identifying tag
Parenthetical Reference- last name of a soure and page number of source.
Attribution Phrase- name of a source and a signal phrase, also known as identifying tag
Parenthetical Reference- last name of a soure and page number of source.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Exericse 45.1
Oral history is an important way of capturing certain aspects of the past that would disappear when the people who could relay their experiences have died. While history books relate the stories of great men and events. Jean R. Friedman also makes note that history books do not usually include the experiences of ordinary people- slaves, concentration camp survivors, and the illiterate, for example (30). By providing information about the people and emotions of the past, oral history "makes sense of the present and gives a glimpse of the likely future, according to Allison Gregg. Due to the nature of memories changing over time, it is important to evaluate the context of an oral history (139). Honig points out that "oral history is just one of many possible versions of an individual's 'past' (139)."
Works Cited
Freedman, Jean R. "Never Underestimate the Power of a Bus: My Journey to Oral History." Oral History Review 29.2 (2002): 30. Print.
Gregg, Allison. "Planning and Managing an Oral History Collection." Aplis 13.4 (2000): 174. Print.
Honig, Emily. "Getting to the Source: Striking Lives: Oral History and the Politics of Memory." Journal of Women's History 9.1 (1997): 139. Print.
Works Cited
Freedman, Jean R. "Never Underestimate the Power of a Bus: My Journey to Oral History." Oral History Review 29.2 (2002): 30. Print.
Gregg, Allison. "Planning and Managing an Oral History Collection." Aplis 13.4 (2000): 174. Print.
Honig, Emily. "Getting to the Source: Striking Lives: Oral History and the Politics of Memory." Journal of Women's History 9.1 (1997): 139. Print.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
My Tentative Thesis
Subject Area: Obesity
Topic: The Government's anti-obesity health campaign.
Research Questions: Is the government's campaign for a healthy lifestyle posing more harm than good for Americans?
Tentative Thesis: The government's new anti-obesity/healthy lifestyle campaign is not the pretty picture it is made out to be. This campaign has several negative effects on Americans, most of them oblivious to many.
Points to Develop:
Topic: The Government's anti-obesity health campaign.
Research Questions: Is the government's campaign for a healthy lifestyle posing more harm than good for Americans?
Tentative Thesis: The government's new anti-obesity/healthy lifestyle campaign is not the pretty picture it is made out to be. This campaign has several negative effects on Americans, most of them oblivious to many.
Points to Develop:
- Background on specific actions the government has taken
- Explain the negative effects and why the campaign really does not work as planned
- Explain Orthorexia and its potential correlation to the anti-obesity/healthy lifestyle campaign
- Address the reasons how the government is actually benefiting from implementing the campaign
- Address the invasion of rights that the government is implementing by means of the campaign
Monday, October 12, 2009
Website Search
Definitely a reliable and credible source for information, as it is a governmental organization focused on raising awareness of current issues in the United States. It is not biased our outdated and is easily comprehended as it is written in common English.
This website seems to be very credible, and it is part of the government's Department of Health and Human Services. It focuses on a healthy lifestyle in a positive light, although I can see how it could become very easy to get overly obsessed with trying to not be obsese after looking at this website's many warnings.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2009/jan/05/government-anti-obesity-campaign-change4life
This website contains advertisements along the top and sides which makes the site lose some credibility. It is also a blog, which is not always a reliable source for information. It is also a very opinionated article, which makes me think again about its credibility. It is current and from January 2009.
This website contains advertisements along the top and sides which makes the site lose some credibility. It is also a blog, which is not always a reliable source for information. It is also a very opinionated article, which makes me think again about its credibility. It is current and from January 2009.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Paraphrasing/Plagiarism
Paraphrasing- to put something in your own words in the same amount of space as the original.
Summary- boils down information into a smaller version highlighting main points
Plagiarism- using someone elses words or ideas without permission; "the act of taking ideas and/or expression of ideas of another person and representing them as one's own. It is nothing less than an act of theft"
(http://users.edinboro.edu/warren/AntiPlagiarismhandbook.htm)
How to prevent and avoid plagiarism:
Summary- boils down information into a smaller version highlighting main points
Plagiarism- using someone elses words or ideas without permission; "the act of taking ideas and/or expression of ideas of another person and representing them as one's own. It is nothing less than an act of theft"
(http://users.edinboro.edu/warren/AntiPlagiarismhandbook.htm)
How to prevent and avoid plagiarism:
- change both the words and the sentence structure
- identify the source and signal phrase
- Include parentetical phrase, footnote, provide documentation
- when in doubt, cite it anyway
- double and triple check!
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Progress on My Annotation
So far, I have only summarized two of my sources for my annotated bibliography. They are listed below.
1. Almond, S. "A11. The Influence of the Media on Eating Disorders." Journal of Human Nutrition & Dietetics 13.5 (Oct. 2000): 367-368. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Sep. 2009
In this short article, Almond talks about the “ideal” body image that is portrayed in the media today, particularly advertisements, and their negative effects on women. He stated that by constantly viewing this ideal body image that women obtain dissatisfaction with their own bodies, in some cases these negative emotions cause disturbed eating patterns. This article will be good for me to use because it directly correlates the media with disturbed eating.
2. Tiggermann, Marika, and Amanda S. Pickering. "Role of Television in Adolescent Women's Body Dissatisfaction and Drive for Thinness." International Journal of Eating Disorders 20.2 (Sep. 1996): 199-203. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Sep. 2009
This article talked about a study performed on 11 year-old girls in Australia. They administered questionnaires with questions pertaining to how much and what types of television shows they watched, and, their overall body confidence and drive for thinness. Surprisingly, the amount of television posed no results to have a positive correlation of number of hours watched and ranked lowness of self-esteem. What they did find out though was that the types of shows that the girls watched, particularly music videos, had a very high correlation of number of hours watched per week to lowness of self-esteem. This article is great for me to use because it provides me with evidence suggested from a real study performed on girls and will allow me to use statistics in my paper.
1. Almond, S. "A11. The Influence of the Media on Eating Disorders." Journal of Human Nutrition & Dietetics 13.5 (Oct. 2000): 367-368. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Sep. 2009
In this short article, Almond talks about the “ideal” body image that is portrayed in the media today, particularly advertisements, and their negative effects on women. He stated that by constantly viewing this ideal body image that women obtain dissatisfaction with their own bodies, in some cases these negative emotions cause disturbed eating patterns. This article will be good for me to use because it directly correlates the media with disturbed eating.
2. Tiggermann, Marika, and Amanda S. Pickering. "Role of Television in Adolescent Women's Body Dissatisfaction and Drive for Thinness." International Journal of Eating Disorders 20.2 (Sep. 1996): 199-203. Academic Search Complete. Web. 24 Sep. 2009
This article talked about a study performed on 11 year-old girls in Australia. They administered questionnaires with questions pertaining to how much and what types of television shows they watched, and, their overall body confidence and drive for thinness. Surprisingly, the amount of television posed no results to have a positive correlation of number of hours watched and ranked lowness of self-esteem. What they did find out though was that the types of shows that the girls watched, particularly music videos, had a very high correlation of number of hours watched per week to lowness of self-esteem. This article is great for me to use because it provides me with evidence suggested from a real study performed on girls and will allow me to use statistics in my paper.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Summary of "College: A Time of Wonder"
The article College: A Time of Wonder by Robert A. Bonfiglio spoke of the first year experience for new college students and the shift of ideas that universities project to new students today. Bonfiglio talked about how higher education used to be projected as prideful scholarship; it was something challenging that not just anyone could achieve. In more recent years as college enrollment has skyrocketed, the message from the university has changed from excitement and pride to warnings and precautions about the coming year. Universities now fill the minds of students and their parents with potential physical and emotional dangers. This causes much anxiousness and both students and parents are constantly on the defensive, waiting for something horrible to happen. Bonfiglio concludes with stating that there should be a shift from this negative projection of university life to more active advising for enrolled students, and a heightened attitude of opportunity and overall success as an individual.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Self-Directed Library Tour
- No.
- I have no questions about the current assignment.
- Eating disturbances, Body Image Disorder
- The books that I looked up on PILOT were not available in the library. I looked up Fat is a Feminist Issue, The Obesity Myth, and The Anorectic's Struggle as a Metaphor for Our Age and got no results.
- Abstracts are good for finding out what the article is about before you read through the whole article. It saves time to read the abstract and see if it pertains to what you are looking for.
- Hrabosky, Joshua I., et al. "Multidimensional body image comparisons among patients with eating disorders, body dysmorphic disorder, and clinical controls: A multisite study." Body Image 6.3 (June 2009): 155-163. E-Journals. EBSCO. [Library name], [City], [State abbreviation]. 27 Sep. 2009
- The books that caught my eye in the reference section were In an Influential Fashion, and The Pen Is Ours.
- I have no questions about the Microforms room.
- I looked at Art Papers, Art Forum, and Ceramic Review in the periodicals section.
- I never knew about the McNaughton Collection before and thought it was pretty cool. Also, I did not know what was in the microforms room or how to use them until now.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
current research status
As I am looking for information on my topic ideas, I find myself with an overload of information on the topics of female anorexia and its correlations with the media. Finding information on the topics of food related guilt is much more difficult.
I would rather write about food related guilt just because I think it would be more of an interesting topic to explore and for other people to want to read, but I am troubled by the lack of information I am able to find. As a result, I am thinking about collaborating the two subjects and covering the topics of women feeling guilty when eating food due to the coverage of the slender "ideal woman," and the sensory overload of dieting advertisements in the media. I think I will be able to recover enough information to gain some insight on the topic, although I have not explored this route for information yet.
Some questions I am considering for my proposal include:
1. What are some first hand thoughts of women who have eating disorders and what caused them to go down such a harmful and dangerous path?
2. Does guilt related to food consumption have an impact on the presence of eating disorders?
3. Is the media at fault for food related guilt?
4. Are social upbringings at fault for food related guilt?
5. Is the new national campaign for a healthy lifestyle really just harming self-image in women as they learn to associate guilt with certain foods and lifestyles?
I would rather write about food related guilt just because I think it would be more of an interesting topic to explore and for other people to want to read, but I am troubled by the lack of information I am able to find. As a result, I am thinking about collaborating the two subjects and covering the topics of women feeling guilty when eating food due to the coverage of the slender "ideal woman," and the sensory overload of dieting advertisements in the media. I think I will be able to recover enough information to gain some insight on the topic, although I have not explored this route for information yet.
Some questions I am considering for my proposal include:
1. What are some first hand thoughts of women who have eating disorders and what caused them to go down such a harmful and dangerous path?
2. Does guilt related to food consumption have an impact on the presence of eating disorders?
3. Is the media at fault for food related guilt?
4. Are social upbringings at fault for food related guilt?
5. Is the new national campaign for a healthy lifestyle really just harming self-image in women as they learn to associate guilt with certain foods and lifestyles?
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Chapter 13 in They Say, I Say dealt with the issue of fast food and obesity in American today. The title of the introduction to the chapter is titled, "Is Fast Food the New Tobacco?" and it poses interesting arguments about the current food industry and how we do and/or should respond to it.
The image of a McDonalds advertisement of a large hamburger at the beginning of the chapter stating, "You know you want me," provided an interesting insight as to the thoughts and eating habits of people and the guilt they may experience when they eat. This interesting conflict of eating food and being healthy or looking good is a very interesting topic to me as a psychological battle. I am interested in investigating this psychological battle in women and the possible consequence of eating disorders and low self esteem.
I think it might be interesting to research the traditions of eating and drinking in America as well as around the world. The idea that it is acceptable to overeat and drink on holidays and special occasions also adds to this negative connotation of consuming food by making it acceptable to consume only on special occasions. Also, the overall evolution of the size and portions of food and drink have dramatically increased over the very recent years. Especially in fast food, the sizes of portions have increased across the board. An interesting research question may ask if fast food really is the problem, or is it just the tradition of overeating that we have adopted in our society.
Keywords:
obesity
overweight
fat
thinness
obsessive eating/not eating
women and self esteem
eating disorders
culture and eating
The image of a McDonalds advertisement of a large hamburger at the beginning of the chapter stating, "You know you want me," provided an interesting insight as to the thoughts and eating habits of people and the guilt they may experience when they eat. This interesting conflict of eating food and being healthy or looking good is a very interesting topic to me as a psychological battle. I am interested in investigating this psychological battle in women and the possible consequence of eating disorders and low self esteem.
I think it might be interesting to research the traditions of eating and drinking in America as well as around the world. The idea that it is acceptable to overeat and drink on holidays and special occasions also adds to this negative connotation of consuming food by making it acceptable to consume only on special occasions. Also, the overall evolution of the size and portions of food and drink have dramatically increased over the very recent years. Especially in fast food, the sizes of portions have increased across the board. An interesting research question may ask if fast food really is the problem, or is it just the tradition of overeating that we have adopted in our society.
Keywords:
obesity
overweight
fat
thinness
obsessive eating/not eating
women and self esteem
eating disorders
culture and eating
Monday, September 14, 2009
Main Highlighgts of Chapter 9
Chapter 9 of our Handbook dealt with "Reading to Write." The author addressed the technique of active reading, and its importance to understanding the text you are currently reading. Some examples of active reading that the text gave included previewing a text, highlighting a text, and annotating a text.
When previewing a text, one should skim through it by looking at the table of contents, pictures, and captions. When previewing articles, read the abstract or skim the introduction and conclusion for the author's main points.
Highlighting a text is fairly straight forward. The text suggests to actively read by physically highlighting and underlining key points and their relationships in the text you are reading.
Annotating a text means to think more critically about it by writing comments in margins and responding to the text. This could mean summarizing, defining, or noting parallels in the text.
When previewing a text, one should skim through it by looking at the table of contents, pictures, and captions. When previewing articles, read the abstract or skim the introduction and conclusion for the author's main points.
Highlighting a text is fairly straight forward. The text suggests to actively read by physically highlighting and underlining key points and their relationships in the text you are reading.
Annotating a text means to think more critically about it by writing comments in margins and responding to the text. This could mean summarizing, defining, or noting parallels in the text.
Friday, September 11, 2009
First Entry
This is my first entry for my English 102 blogs for Austin's class.
In the past, the research papers I have written have been about a topic that has mostly been assigned to me to write about. It will be a nice change of pace to write and explore a topic of my choice and compose a paper, rather than being forced into a topic. I have not chosen a topic quite yet, but I am hoping to apply it to my major. As a ceramics major, I hope to explore an aspect of ceramics to enable me to grow both as a writer and as an artist. I will post later about potential topics.
In the past, the research papers I have written have been about a topic that has mostly been assigned to me to write about. It will be a nice change of pace to write and explore a topic of my choice and compose a paper, rather than being forced into a topic. I have not chosen a topic quite yet, but I am hoping to apply it to my major. As a ceramics major, I hope to explore an aspect of ceramics to enable me to grow both as a writer and as an artist. I will post later about potential topics.
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