America's Obsession with Wedding Diets

When my mom got married centuries ago (haha), she wasn't concerned about dieting or looking super fit. Sure, she is slim to begin with, but her wedding was simple, small, and didn't demand money and time the way many of today's weddings do.

It seems like there is increasing pressure in America (and perhaps in other developed countries) to look super skinny and impossibly impeccable on your wedding day. There are TV shows, such as "Say Yes to the Dress" that are devoted to just finding the perfect wedding dress. Celebrities get even more coverage on tabloids for their wedding diets and exclusive pictures of their wedding day with details on how they fit into their dress. The thing is, most of those celebrities were already thin to begin with, and they want to look even more "perfect". So the rest of us American women, big or small, begin to feel pressure to diet our way to death (I know that's extreme, but it can happen) just to look good on that special day.

There is nothing wrong with wanting to feel fit and have nice hair on your wedding day. I would like that, and I'm sure many others do. But so much of this issue is emphasized for women and not for men. Do you see tabloids covering how Mike Comrie (recently married Hilary Duff's husband) lost weight for the wedding? No, it was all about Hilary and her diet.

As a society, we are hitting new lows. Apparently, there is a show in the works on E! Television called "Bridalplasty", in which women compete to win a plastic surgery method of their choice for their wedding day. I think I just threw up in my mouth. Who in their right mind would sign up for this??? I ask myself, naively. Oh wait, probably 80% of American women. We are that screwed up in our perceptions of ourselves in America. And it needs to stop.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/celebritology/2010/09/bridalplasty_when_reality_tv_h.html

Dieting products are now barking at us to buy their products as a weight-loss option for weddings. This Slim Fast ad is SO revolting. It emphasizes the woman as overweight and not the man and it adds to the message that we all need to lose weight for our wedding to look "perfect". It's not even a healthy form of dieting either. It seems like the company just threw together a bunch of unhealthy additives and random kitchen essentials (canola oil!?!?) and called it a shake. This ad encourages not only excessive dieting, but an unhealthy form of dieting as well.

My grandma drinks that stuff and I looked at the ingredients (from their own website):

FAT FREE MILK, WATER, SUGAR, COCOA POWDER (PROCESSED WITH ALKALI), CANOLA OIL, MILK PROTEIN CONCENTRATE, FRUCTOSE, GUM ARABIC, CELLULOSE GEL, HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN OIL, MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, POTASSIUM PHOSPHATE, MALTODEXTRIN, SOY LECITHIN, CELLULOSE GUM, NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR, CARRAGEENAN, SODIUM BICARBONATE, SOY PROTEIN ISOLATE, SUCRALOSE AND ACESULFAME POTASSIUM (NONNUTRITIVE SWEETENERS), SODIUM CITRATE, CITRIC ACID. VITAMINS AND MINERALS: MAGNESIUM PHOSPHATE, CALCIUM PHOSPHATE, SODIUM ASCORBATE, VITAMIN E ACETATE, ZINC GLUCONATE, FERRIC ORTHOPHOSPHATE, NIACINAMIDE, CALCIUM PANTOTHENATE, MANGANESE SULFATE, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE, RIBOFLAVIN, THIAMIN MONONITRATE, FOLIC ACID, CHROMIUM CHLORIDE, BIOTIN, SODIUM MOLYBDATE, POTASSIUM IODIDE, PHYLLOQUINONE (VITAMIN K1), SODIUM SELENITE, CYANOCOBALAMIN (VITAMIN B12) AND CHOLECALCIFEROL (VITAMIN D3). SWEETENED WITH NUTRITIVE SWEETENERS AND NONNUTRITIVE SWEETENERS. CONTAINS MILK AND SOY.The Aware Consum

The only way to end this system? Don't buy the products and don't buy the tabloids. These days, much of our power comes from keeping our wallets IN our bags.