Emily
MikeThis book has been out for a while, but I saw a review today. Julia Savacool wrote “The World Has Curves: The Global Quest for the Perfect Body.” The review starts with: 
When journalist Julia Savacool asked women from around the world to describe their ideal body, diverging portraits emerged — from a curvy, Coca-Cola bottle silhouette in Jamaica to a linear, kimono shape in Japan. But universally, she found , women’s bodies are economic and social indicators.
The book talks about how the looks of women’s bodies have different meanings depending on the cultural. For instance, ” thinness typically signals wealth in overweight America, [but] it’s synonymous with sickness and poverty in AIDS-ravaged South Africa.” And “Western physical ‘ideals’ are constantly being exported by way of beauty products and the images of slim American TV stars” so, that, for example, “strict communist dress codes have given way to a culture in which cosmetic surgery is one of the fastest-growing industries.”
It doesn’t sound as if there are any new insights there. But I wonder if there is anything comparable for the meaning of body shape for men. For instance, isn’t being “thin” and being “fat” valued differently for men in certain cultures? I wonder what the “quest for the perfect body” is for men. When I read men’s health magazines, all I see if being thin and fit.
Filed under: International, Male Perspectives, Pop Culture Tagged: | Body Shape, Julia Savacool, women's health
