The main ideas of these articles focused on the societal construction of gender and how it is connected to exercise or sport.
“The Heterosexual Nature of Health and Hygiene Advertisements in the Cold War” – Thomas Wendelboe
This article was interesting because it discussed the idea of the heterosexual image of men and how it justified certain aspects of society as being a real man. The image of heterosexuality and the societal determined image of a desirable man was being used to sell health products, and certain sports were deemed male sports. This article spent time suggesting that the sphere of sports was seen as a male dominated area of society. The idea that the image of a socially constructed male was used the sell health products is an interesting topic. This idea seemed to create the sexualization of all the products that were advertised in this way. While focusing on the dominate idea of heterosexual males, Thomas Wendelboe suggested the negative stigma that was placed on homosexual males and the image that is portrayed. The societal thoughts on homosexuality during the time period this article focused on were not positive and there were demeaning names associated with anyone who identified in that way. This article adds to the historical context of this broader topic of socially constructed ideals for men, it goes to show the stigma that was placed on anything that did not match up with masculinity or heterosexuality.
“Let Me Hear Your Body Talk: Aerobics for Fat Women Only, 1981-1985” – Jenny Ellison
Jenny Ellison touches on some body image issues that are still prevalent in society today, and that is the idea of overweight women taking part in fitness classes. She focuses on the idea of these classes designed for overweight women, and they performed exercises that would benefit them, and would be doable. This idea really took off when these overweight women started teaching these classes, instead of a small, fit individual. Not only was it suggested that this type of class was beneficial to the self-esteem or self-confidence of these women, because they were surrounded by women who looked, and most likely struggled with the same issues they did. It would have provided a safe place for them to exercise but also be in a place with people like them without judgement. The societal construction of this groups of people in society, was portrayed in a very negative manner, and it caused much negative stigma around these women. The idea of exercise for overweight women was challenged when these classes became popular, and it changed the way these women thought of themselves and exercise. Some could argue that this idea constructed about overweight women and exercise still occurs today and it is still a common struggle that women face in today’s society. This article adds to the greater historiography of this topic, and how this stereotype was slightly altered over time, but society hasn’t completely changed. To this day, society presents an image of what women should look like in the media, which in some cases is impossible to achieve, but that image affects how all women think of themselves.
“Alcohol use During Pregnancy: A Challenge for the ‘80s.” – Mary Jane Ashley
In this article, Mary Jane Ashley discusses the changes in research that have been done in the 1900s. She quotes a 1965 book written by Ashley Montague stating, “it can now be stated categorically, after hundreds of studies covering many years, that no matter how great the amounts of alcohol taken by the mother – or by the father, for that matter – neither the germ cells nor the development of the child will be affected.”[1] I have interlibrary loaned this book by Montague to use in my paper, to support that even in 1965, alcohol was not seen as a contra-indicator. It was also discussed in this article by Ashley, that even in the 80s they were still discussing and doing research on the impacts of alcohol on fetuses, and trying to determine whether there were significant, life changing effects of alcohol. It was suggested that the determination on social drinking was still being discussed, as to whether it caused damage, and if women could still partake in it during their pregnancy. Ashley stated that it was determined that heavy drinking did result in a negative impact on the unborn child. Even though this article does not connect significantly to the other articles assigned for this week, it still discusses a socially constructed idea and how hard it can be to change the norm, even with research. It was also suggested by Ashley that since the detrimental effects of alcohol use during pregnancy are fairly recent discovery, in the 80s, that there were still some older doctors who weren’t necessarily trained or educated in this new development, meaning that the 1960s ways of thinking about this topic was still floating round in the 80s. This article adds to the historical evidence of this topic because it shows the slow change in a societal constructed idea on health and safety of fetuses.
Bibliography
Ashley, Mary Jane “Alcohol use during pregnancy: A Challenge in the ‘80s.” Canadian Medical Association Journal (1981) Vol. 125 p. 141-143
Ellison, Jenny, “‘Let Me Hear Your Body Talk’: Aerobics for Fat Women Only, 1981-1985,” in Cheryl Krasnick Warsh (Ed), Gender, Health and Popular Culture: Historical Perspectives, Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press, 2011: 193-214
Wendelboe, Thomas, “The Heterosexual Nature of Health and Hygiene Advertisements” in Penny Light, et.al, “Introduction,” in Bodily Subjects: Essays on Gender and Health, 1800-2000, Montreal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2015:
[1] Mary Jane Ashley, “Alcohol use during pregnancy: A Challenge in the ‘80s.” Canadian Medical Association Journal (1981) Vol. 125 p. 141.