Society’s fascination of living a healthier lifestyle has become a huge part of popular culture during recent years. The celebrity endorsement has shed some light on numerous diet crazes along with “get thin quick” schemes. Most of these diets can be very harmful to the body and take a toll on your lifestyle. Along with diets a new wave of wacky exercising equipment has started to be developed more. These equipment advertisements promise easier gain in muscle or toning with little to no effort put forth. Most of these workout equipment is made so there can be profit made opposed to people’s lives actually being changed to be healthier. The whole healthy lifestyle craze is fueled by the social pressure to be thin and attractive in order to be accepted in society. These norms have been fueled throughout the last two decades through celebrities, media portrayal of beauty, and stereotypes about weight.
The Trim Track and the Ab Circle Pro are two unique exercise machines. They are not usually found in gyms. Therefore, people are forced to buy these types of equipment. So many people who are dying to lose weight are willing to spend quite a lot of money on machines like these, even though they can get the same results by simply working out at the gym. Going to the gym would probably be either the same cost or less as these fancy workout machines, but people are so obsessed with their body image and desperate to lose weight that they automatically believe the good results that they hear. Some of these machines, like the Trim Track, are not so bad and might be easier than going to the gym every day. This machine provides strength and endurance training and is very robust and resistant. It is also attractive, appeals to all ages, and can even be fun to use. On the other hand, machines like the Ab Circle Pro can be very misleading. Like many other expensive machines that are not found in gyms, the Ab Circle is falsely advertised. People watch these commercials and instantly believe what they see and hear because it apparently works for the celebrities that are endorsing it. However, odds are that these celebs are already super fit and are just doing it for the paycheck.
Weird diets have been on the rise for many years through celebrities endorsing harmful body thinning secrets. The diets have ranged from the popular Atkins, Zone, and South Beach diets to more harmful Master Cleanse, Cookie, and Liquid diets. Celebrities use wacky diets in order to lose weight fast for movies, photo-shoots, or award shows. The only reason they choose to do these strenuous diets is to lose weight fast, not necessarily to keep weight off. One of the harmful diets is the Master Cleanse diets where the dieter only drinks a lemonade mixture of lemon, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper along with laxative tea in the evening and a glass of salt water in the morning. This Master Cleanse diet was made famous by Beyoncé when she was trying to lose weight for her role in the movie “Dreamsgirls”. Another extreme diet is the liquid only diet done by Matthew McConaughey in order to lose weight for a role in a movie. The actor would only drink liquids all day including protein shakes, smoothies, and water for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. These are examples of some extreme diets done by celebrities to lose weight fast for important events. These diets are often taken to the extreme in society where people do them for a long amount of time to lose a large amount of weight. This can cause unhealthy consequences to the body and, in some cases, death just to pursue a social accepted body.
Weight has been a huge controversy in social issues for a while. There have been many stereotypes toward body types along with the way media portrays beauty. Some stereotypes are based on one’s appearance. For example, a skinny person would be seen as mean, conceited, hardworking, and confident. On the other hand, a bigger person is stereotyped as passive, nice, lazy, and insecure. All of these are judgments that are made just from the appearence of a person opposed to what their personality is like. Adding to these weight stereotypes, the media likes to shed light on a healthy, attractive America where everyone is thin and happy. In every type of commercial for a product or advertisement there are young, thin people integrated into the advertisements so there can be a social connection built. Through this false display of beauty in media, there is an image of a “healthy” body etched into society’s mind.
Whether it is wacky exercise machines, extreme diets, or media’s portrayal of healthy, society’s fascination of living a healthier lifestyle has become a huge part of popular culture. Celebrities play a huge role in endorsing certain diets and workout systems that may not work. The popular media advertises with attractive, thin people in order to move toward a healthier America. Stereotypes on body image still remain a factor in everyday life that can play a role in how people are perceived. Healthy lifestyle choices are still fueled by social pressure accepted in society. These norms have grown tremendously throughout the last two decades through these factors. So the real question is: What’s the skinny America and why do we have to be thin in order to be accepted?
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