"Lets talk about thin privilege" response

This article is extremely well written and is written by an author that has a very interesting standpoint. She defines thin privilege as you hating your body but society does not. It is a common misconnecption that if you're skinny you must be happy with your body. This is so untrue. There is too much hatred when it comes to people's body size. If you're too big you'll be attacked for that. If you're too skinny someone will attack you for that. “Women are such because they identify as women, curves or not".  

The way the author confronts the issue of an eating disorder is cautious, as it should be, "when you feel trapped in and controlled by your body, when you’ve reached that level of self-consciousness, when you’re suffering every single day just to make it through, it’s unlikely that you’ll feel like you’re experiencing privilege". She then continues to explain how being marginalized doesn't negate your privilege. 

Overall this was a very good essay and brought up various issues that are not discussed often enough. When talking about body shaming people automatically assume fatphobia so an article about shaming thin people is very fascinating.

"Who gets to be the "good schizophrenic"?"

I decided to read this article because the title was very engaging. Schizophrenia is unfortunately a disease that runs in my family, I try to read as much as I can on the disease. The most interesting part of this article is when Esme discusses her experience in a psychiatric hospital and the hierarchy that is in place. The hierarchy was determined by functionality. The people on the top were people who suffered from depression, the middle was eating disorders and bipolar, the bottom was the serious mental disorders like schizophrenia. These patients are isolated from the rest of the patients, "excluded from group therapy, seen as lunatic and raving, and incapable of fitting into the requirements of normalcy". This is when she differentiates between the "good" schizophrenic, Pauline and the "bad" schizophrenic, Laura. 

“There is nothing better than hearing that there is a drug that will fix a terrible problem,” she writes, “unless you also hear that the drug is for treating schizophrenia". This quote is extremely powerful and stood out to me. Its the most amazing thing when you are told that you can fix an issue but not knowing that the issue is schizophrenia is horrifying and devastating. 

Schizophrenia is something that many people are able to deal with but if it goes undiagnosed it can be lethal. Not everyone who suffers from a mental illness can be categorized the same way, “I’m uncomfortable because I don’t want to be lumped in with the screaming man on the bus, or the woman who speaks in loose associations at the mental health clinic”. This is important, too many people don’t realize this and categorize everyone suffering from schizophrenia as crazy.

"Cutting Desire" response

I have heard of BIID before reading this article but never really understood it or really thought much about it. I now know that BIID is a very serious disease and we, as society, need to help the people who are suffering. The first time I heard of BIID was while watching one of my favorite TV shows- Grey’s Anatomy. The episode was about an Iraqi veteran with a mysterious leg pain, he asked Dr. Torres and Dr. Hunt to remove his perfectly good leg and to fit him with a prosthetic so that he can return to the ar. The episode concluded with the doctor’s completing the surgery. A major issue with BIID is there aren’t many cases, which makes it harder for there to be any coverage or discussion regarding this issue. This is similar to the topic of transgender individuals since neither feels comfortable with them; “it took years for people who felt they were born into the wrong gender to convince the medical and psychiatric professions to recognize their plight.” If people can accept others for not being comfortable with their gender then why cant people accept that fact that some don’t feel comfortable with their limbs?

I do believe the only true treatment for BIID is the removal of the limb. There should be an intense screening process before the surgery to make sure that this is truly something that the person wants. I don’t consider these people to be choosing to be disabled. They are choosing to do something that makes them happier and more accepting. Being happy with your body and who you are as an individual is crucial. If the removal of a limb is the difference between their happiness who are we as society to tell them they can’t amputate? They struggle everyday with having a limb that doesn’t feel like it belongs to them.

I agree with Dr. Smith, “Dr. Smith argued that by preventing his patients from pursuing more life-threatening alternatives, he was following the Hippocratic oath to do no harm.” This relates to the conversation we had in class about how it is safer for a medical professional to preform these procedures rather than some random sketchy guy in the basement. The opening paragraph put into perspective how dangerous and how willing people are to remove these limbs, “he had tried to cut it off before—once putting it underneath a truck and trying to crush it (the jack didn’t collapse right); once attempting to saw it off with a table saw (he lost his nerve).” The risk of infections and even death sky rockets when someone does this, in the article they mention a man who traveled to Mexico paid 10,000 dollars to have an illegal operation and he died of gangrene.  We have the doctors and the technology in this country to help these people accept themselves. If there is intense screening and the individual still wants the limb removed it should be removed, no more questions asked.

rough draft

Living in your skin can be extremely difficult, especially if you are not comfortable or happy with the way you look. Attaining the perfect body can be extremely difficult and is possibly unattainable. Body builders put an unimaginable amount of effort into forming the perfect bodies; most of them use performance-enhancing drugs, which include the most popular choice, steroids. Even with all the known side effects, body builders and even casual gym attendees use steroids. Body Builders use steroids to help them attain their idea of the “perfect” body, regardless of what they can do to the human body.  Body builder, Roxanne Edwards admitted to using steroids during her interview with Dis Magazine. H. Cassils used steroids to help form his perfect body.

            There is so much more to body building then just going to the gym and lifting some weights, staring at the mirror and occasionally having a spray tan. As seen in “Bodybuilding” by Brian Finke, it is amazing how people can transform their bodies. Some of the people featured are massive and their bodies look almost superhuman. Bodybuilders are extremely self aware, they keep track of everything they put into their body and they know what certain drugs and foods can do to their bodies. There is a limit to what the human body can do, “many of these people have come face to face with the limits of the mortal body” (H. Cassils). Over working your body and the chance of hurting yourself are two thoughts that are very important, and are very crucial in deciding if something is healthy or not.  Some bodybuilders aren’t healthy with how they put on weight or how they lift. Steroids are popular amongst bodybuilders because they build and strengthen muscles while reducing body fat. Unfortunately, there are so many side effects for steroids. “For men some side effects are shrunken testicles, infertility and baldness. For women some side effects are a deeper voice, increased body hair and also baldness.” This is just a small list of the possible side effects someone can develop through their use of performance enhancing drugs.

            When asked if she had ever used steroids, Roxanne Edwards’s response was of course, like it was something everyone did. She used steroids to achieve a “peeled” body structure. The term “peeled” refers to the ultimate level that someone’s body could appear. You can see all the muscles extending through the skin when watching someone whose physique is “peeled”.  Roxanne Edwards is very intimidating to look at; she can easily kick anyone’s ass that she wanted to.

            H. Cassils did everything he could to reduce the risk and side effects of taking steroids, “I got blood tests before and after and I took half of the lowest dose recommended” (Cassils). The steroids made H. Cassils even more aware of his body, “The weights that had felt like lead the weeks before suddenly felt like feathers in my hands.” Overall his body transformation is overwhelming, as seen in the video, it is obvious how much he truly struggled with this project. Overall this project was not healthy and H. Cassils put his body in danger by going through with it. In the video, it states “23 pounds in 23 weeks”. That is 23 pounds of muscle gained in 161 days, the average for a man to gain in 1 month is 1-2 pounds.

            The most important thing to keep in mind when discussing the topic of health is that it depends on the person. Bodybuilding by itself is not bad for you. Steroids can be detrimental to someone’s health. With so many negative effects why would someone use them?

Roxanne Edwards Interview

Roxanne Edwards is an amazing woman. Her interview was truly inspirational as is all that she has accomplished.  Within the first few minutes I was very intrigued and did not want to stop listening to her. During her interview, numerous important topics were brought up including femininity and the subject of race. She has been influenced by many different groups of people including drag queens. Also, a very interesting fact about Roxanne was that she did not start bodybuilding until the age of 30, which are almost 10 years older than all of the body builders that I know, even the ones who compete in competitions. She said that it was ideal for her to start bodybuilding at that age because your hormones are changing at that time. Estrogen is decreasing and testosterone is increasing.

When discussing the topic of race, Roxanne said that race wasn’t a huge problem, but if there is another competitor who is the same weight and is just as great of a person but is white then she will win since Roxanne isn’t “marketable”. This doesn’t get Roxanne down; she wants to stick around long enough to prove all of her doubters that they were wrong about her. Everyone thinks she is great except the people who have to judge her.  

This is very relatable to what we were discussing in class on Thursday about the perfect body image and what that means to us. One of the words used to describe the perfect female was boobs. Roxanne and DIS magazine talked about how bodybuilding affects breasts. Some body builders have been called unfeminine because of their lack of breasts but that should have no impact on a woman’s femininity.  Breasts are body fat and if you decide to cut (lose fat) then chances are you are going to lose your breasts, some body builders decided to have breast implants but that is a decision that is solely their own. “Femininity is not necessarily your breasts, but how you be as a human being or a woman”, this is something that is SO important! Women have the option to decide how they express their femininity (if they so choose to do so). Roxanne explained that she “wears her strength out.”

This interview also was easily relatable to “Against Ordinary Language: The Language of the Body.” Both pieces were talking about different terms and the language that are usually used in the gym setting. Kathy Acker talked about the lack of language the simple words that are used while being at the gym. For example; set, lift, and squat. Roxanne discussed the different terms used to describe the type of people who attend the gym. Words like “shredded”, “ripped”, “cut- up” and lastly, “peeled.”  

The interview finished up talking about her sex life and that isn’t something that I found to be super intriguing and went off the topic that I wanted to discuss. Overall, Roxanne Edwards is a great example of a strong woman and is an amazing role model.