Body Image: a picture of one's own physical look established by self-observation and by noting the reaction of others.
We are a society obsessed with body image. Today the amount of exposure we have to dieting and weight image is so great that younger generations are taught by society to think that our bodies are who we are; our appearance is who we are. Women today especially feel as though they are defined solely on their appearance. Through the media women are constantly forced to think that if they are supernaturally skinny like super-models and fit a certain script of what society sees as beautiful then the will fit in.
One thing that seems to be a major issue within society presently is diet pills. We see advertisements for dieting and weight loss on television commercials, billboards, in magazines, on the radio, etc. and it is only furthering this idea that "thin is in." How this pertains to our 'Women & Drugs' class is that although we are exposed to the positive effects that these diet pills are supposed to have on our bodies, in reality these drugs can become overly addictive and not only that they have extreme side effects that can be harmful to ones health through the chemicals and mixtures of substances used within these diet pills.
Diet pills can be over the counter appetite suppressants such as phenylpropanolamine and caffeine pills or prescription like Redux or Phen. Now while there are a wide variety of diet pills on the market available for women to buy, many of them have highly addictive qualities to them and often contain small amounts of laxatives. Both over-the-counter and prescription pills can cause nervousness, restlessness, insomnia, high blood pressure, fatigue and hyperactivity, heart arrhythmias and palpitations, congestive heart failure or heart attack, stroke, headaches, dry mouth, vomitting and diarrhea or constipation, intestinal disturbances, tightness in chest, tingling in extremities, excessive persperation, dizziness, disruption in menstrual cycle, change in sex drive, hair loss, blurred vision, fever and urinary tract problems.
Addiction to diet pills can be because of physical reasons and/or psychological reasons...sometimes even both. Like with many other drug addictions, diet pills can often be the sign of deeper emotional issues or even an eating disorder among many young women.
This is a video clip that was shown in class during one of the presentations which I thought related to the topic at hand. It's called Teen Truth: An Inside Look at Body Image
Diet Pill Addiction
Diet Pills, Laxatives, & Dangerous Methods
Prior to taking this class, I never really considered just how dangerous diet pills can be as I assumed that even though prescription and over-the-counter medicines can have dangers, the most dangerous drugs were the illegal ones. However, this blog illustrates what I have learned in this class; that ‘legal’ drugs can be just as dangerous (and sometimes even more so!).
ReplyDeleteIn contemporary Western societies, there is an obsession with being thin and it is assumed by young girls (and boys) that if they aren’t thin, they’re ‘ugly’ and ‘fat’. It is not surprising that individuals think like this as it is an ideology that can be seen everywhere from magazine articles, to billboards to movies. As many aspire to be like the very thin (and often either airbrushed or anorexic/bulimic) models and actresses, they will often go to very serious lengths in order to achieve the look that they want. Diet pills are just one such way of achieving this look.
There are many commercials for weight loss drugs or supplements but I was never really aware of just how addictive and dangerous these can be. The list of affects that these drugs can have in this blog really shocked me as I was unaware that something as ‘common’ as a diet drug can have such serious consequences such as heart attack or stroke. This blog really drew attention to the dangers of seemingly ‘harmless’ drugs such as diet pills.
I am happy to say that I have never bought or taken any type of diet pills. However, this isn't to say that I have never been tempted. The commercials for weight loss supplements are on every channel and the women in these commercials can be extremely convincing. It is already hard enough for young girls to have a positive body image of themselves and these advertisements do not make it any easier. I do have to admit that I never considered diet pills a drug until this class, but it is so true. They can be addictive, which really scares me. I don't have any close friends who ever took diet pills but what was really popular when I was a freshman in high school was taking adderall and ritalin to lose weight, and I actually had a friend from camp who lost up to 20 pounds by taking adderall. I was only fifteen at the time and I remember thinking "what a good idea". I hope to never succumb to the use of diet pills and I am pretty sure I will not but there is no way to avoid the commercials, magazine ads, billboards, etc.
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