The term “diet” so loosely thrown around has never had such dangerous weight or cringing aftertaste in implications. Yet there once was a time where “diet” was associated with being healthy, balanced, or restricted to certain foods due to health reasons such as diabetes. Ordering a salad was seen as too frumpy, and women were praised for their lumps and curves as one would say “more cushion for the pushing”. Let’s not forget the rear-end praising song of the 1990’s “Baby Got Back”, where Sir Mix A Lot love of big butts leads him to sing “shake that healthy butt”. Back then a healthy butt belonged to size 6 jeans; women who ordered steak were seen as sexy, baby-bearing bodies of the world. Even in the young girl novel series The Baby-sitters Club, “The Truth about Stacey” was focused on the diabetic character Stacey, whom was ashamed to order a diet coke on a date, since she did not want to reveal she was diabetic. Eating disorders, skinny jeans, and social acceptance may be the current connotations of dieting, but the trend as a text did not used to have such negative associations. The evolution of trends is never ending, and the good days of dieting will soon return. Real foods will come back again, and dieting as a means to being happier due to better health, as seen in the Biggest Loser, will overpower the reason to be skinny. Let’s not forget the power of populations as a norm and their significance in giving meaning to ideas, texts, and trends.
The term “diet” so loosely thrown around has never had such dangerous weight or cringing aftertaste in implications. Yet there once was a time where “diet” was associated with being healthy, balanced, or restricted to certain foods due to health reasons such as diabetes. Ordering a salad was seen as too frumpy, and women were praised for their lumps and curves as one would say “more cushion for the pushing”. Let’s not forget the rear-end praising song of the 1990’s “Baby Got Back”, where Sir Mix A Lot love of big butts leads him to sing “shake that healthy butt”. Back then a healthy butt belonged to size 6 jeans; women who ordered steak were seen as sexy, baby-bearing bodies of the world. Even in the young girl novel series The Baby-sitters Club, “The Truth about Stacey” was focused on the diabetic character Stacey, whom was ashamed to order a diet coke on a date, since she did not want to reveal she was diabetic. Eating disorders, skinny jeans, and social acceptance may be the current connotations of dieting, but the trend as a text did not used to have such negative associations. The evolution of trends is never ending, and the good days of dieting will soon return. Real foods will come back again, and dieting as a means to being happier due to better health, as seen in the Biggest Loser, will overpower the reason to be skinny. Let’s not forget the power of populations as a norm and their significance in giving meaning to ideas, texts, and trends.
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