Victims ... Victims ...

Around two months ago a workmate of mine (a woman, in her mid forties) got a quite serious illness so that she needed to be hospitalized. That made her drop two classes assigned to her since her doctor said that she needed quite a long time to rest for the medication.
When some workmates and I talked about it, one workmate said that probably her illness was caused by her strict diet she had been undergoing. One new workmate (female, less than thirty years old) showed her surprise with that because we all knew that the sick workmate had quite a slim body. What made her be in a strict diet? So I explained to her that the sick workmate had a slim body because of her strict diet. She indeed easily got upset when she found out that her weight went up although only for one kilogram. She told us openly about it without feeling shy, and without thinking that it was a personal matter. I could say that she was a kind of naïve.
Hearing my explanation, my new workmate said, “Oh poor her … She cannot enjoy her life then. She cannot enjoy eating delicious food as much as she likes. She will keep thinking of how to make her weight stable. Look at me! I am plump and I don’t consider it a big problem in my life. I am confident enough with this condition. Therefore, I enjoy eating delicious food.”
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Around a week ago, my new workmate read an article in a magazine about some exercises that can help shape some parts of the body. So interested was she that she copied it. That really stunned me since I still remember what she said two months ago, about her being confident with her body. She has changed, eh? So soon?
Since then, I have overheard several times about her complaint about her own appetite. “How can I reduce my weight if I keep eating? But I am starving now. How to make my stomach full without making my weight go up?” One evening I heard her say that in the teachers’ room. I kept quiet. I didn’t want to embarrass her by reminding her about what she said two months ago.
There she was … A new victim of consensus that beauty is slim. What has changed her? I have no idea.
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This morning, my mood was bad to join aerobics so that I just did some fitness, such as riding a stationed bicycle, and did some other exercises for muscles. (Well, I don’t know how to say it in English. LOL.) When the aerobics finished, and some members went down, I approached one friend. “Hi … were there many members joining the aerobics today?”
“Well, quite a lot. Why didn’t you join it?”
“Oh well, I just wanted to do some fitness.”
“By the way, did you get any offer from someone here—a man—to consume medicine to reduce the weight?”
“Oh yeah? How do you know such an offer?”
“Some of our friends have consumed it.” She answered.
“I see. Well, nobody offered me. Perhaps he thought that I am slim already?” I teased her. LOL.
“Oh, yeah, maybe.” She said.
“Or maybe because I have a frightening face so that nobody dared to offer me?”
“Oh well, not frightening I think. But, people respect you so that they feel a bit reluctant to offer you.”
I just smiled to hear that. Then, she left.
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Well, it is not easy to offer me anything, I assure you. I will change when I want to change. I will use a product when I think I need to do that. I will buy a product when I need that.
And about being a victim of BEAUTY IS SLIM propaganda, well, I must say that sometimes I am one victim too. LOL. But I can control myself. Well, it is just like propaganda of BEAUTY IS WHITE, I am also one victim of it too. But it doesn’t mean that I will leave my swimming hobby, although I know it has really made my complexion much tanner than before I swam regularly. Besides, my blog (western) friends said that tan complexion is very exotic. 
This patriarchal culture with its capitalism really sucks, doesn’t it? Especially to people who don’t’ have high confidence with their own appearance.
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