1. All I wanted to do was buy things. There were articles about how to have great summer hair, of course you had to buy one of the ten products featured. There were articles about the perfect outfit to wear while traveling in which most of the articles of clothing you had to buy. Buy, buy, buy that's one of the many mantras of the USA that I've become quite disgusted with while being abroad.
2. The second observation was somehow, backwardly, all of these magazines are saying you need to want more. You need to want to be prettier or live in a better neighborhood or take better/more trips. You need flatter abs and you need them in 5 weeks. You need better romance and you need it in 20 steps. You need a bigger house and here's where you should look.
Seriously? Is that all I've been missing? It's interesting to me how I loved magazines at home! I would read through them cover to cover and I would always have a couple of things in mind to 'pick up' next time I was at Target. But now, I look at them and all I can think about is I'm satisfied with my life here and I didn't know I needed all of these things or needed to be a certain way until I picked up this magazine.
This certainly wasn't one of the things I had expected to learn while being here. But its an interesting rabbit hole and I think I'm going to explore it further.
I first had these thoughts a couple of weeks ago and since then I keep coming back to them. Another thing that I've noticed is that everything needs a gimmick. For example, I have in my hand 3 issues of Prevention. On the cover of one "Drop Two Sizes Flatten Belly Bulge, Tone Your Butt, Shrink Your Thighs." On the cover of another "SLIM BY SUMMER!" And on the cover of the third "25 Healthiest Foods for Women." I don't know why this is bothering me but don't these all sound like gimmicks? I can tell you how to drop two sizes, every woman in the world can tell you how to drop two sizes. Burn more calories than you consume. It's not rocket science. The "SLIM BY SUMMER" issue came out in May. Isn't summer one month away? What if I'm 30 lbs overweight, I'm not going to be slim by summer. It's not going to happen. And the "25 Healthiest Foods," I bet you could ask a 1st grade class to name you the 25 healthiest foods. Can I just tell you that I just now opened the magazine to list for you some of the healthiest foods and THEY ARE ALL PACKAGED FOODS! WHAT IN THE WORLD AMERICA? YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS! Prevention, please tell me you are joking! If you were to ask the 1st graders they would tell you things like spinach, carrots, tomatoes, bananas, strawberries, chicken, beans, potatoes, milk, etc. Not Healthy Choice All Natural Roasted Red Pepper Marinara, Triscuit Thin Crisps, or Annie Chun's Mini Wontons.
We wonder why America is so fat it's because we read this garbage and we believe it.
Now Prevention is a reputable magazine, focused on women's health but let me ask you... Why is there a Prevention magazine? Everyone knows what they need to do to live a healthy life, right? Eat well, avoid foods that aren't natural, move your body on a daily basis, don't drink too much, don't smoke too much, do things that give you joy inside, exercise your mind, engage in positive relationships. I didn't have to read those things from a magazine, you just know them.
Another one of America's mantras that I have come to detest is "how can we make money off of this?" The health industry has become just that an industry and the people that control it don't care about your health, they care about making money. From health food, to healthy lifestyle magazines, from beauty products to workout clothing and videos, they care about one bottom line: making a profit at the end of the day. I know some of you will disagree with me, but let me just ask you this one question:
When women in America want to lose weight they try to cut calories by eating diet products. Diet soda, diet salad dressing, diet crackers, diet popcorn, diet, diet, diet. Call it what you will: diet, low fat, zero calorie, whole grain, whatever... it's all diet. Plus they join a gym, create a home workout plan, buy some new videos. Now, how many of those women actually loose a substantial amount of weight? How many of us women are still trying to loose that weight? How long have some of us been trying? Years upon years... let me just tell you: it's an industry ladies.
More to come...
MULUB,
Taylor
