As a man, it is interesting to get insight into the insecurities that women have to face. Thank you, Shivani, for this illuminating discussion. With that said, I think an interesting addendum to this discussion, and a possible idea for a future podcast topic would be to interview a man about the issues that we have with body image. Many discussions have been had regarding media, cultural and social pressures that culminate in body dysmorphia in women. Very little discussion is focused on how this is becoming an increasing problem in young men.
Thank you both for speaking so openly about this topic. I can resonate with restrictive eating and seeing one thing in the mirror when the reality is something different. I felt uncomfortable with my body for such a long time. It wasn’t until my late twenties that I started to genuinely care less about what others thought of me and I changed my eating and exercise habits to work for ME and my body. It takes a lot of effort to get to that stage though. Loved this episode!
In minute 11:30 - 11:55 Shivani speaks about her obsession with having a flat stomach, and wanting to emulate the defined abdominals seen on Victoria Secret models. It should be noted that this is an uphill battle for most people of South Asian descent, as we were are genetically prone, on average, to accumulate a disproportionate amount of fat in our midsection compared to people of Caucasian or African descent. There are many videos now on RUclips, some from physicians, who speak about the genetic predisposition that South Asians have towards central adiposity. The odd thing is this propensity to accumulate fat more so in the abdomen conferred upon us an evolutionary advantage to survive famines, but now it works to our detriment when attempting to abide by Westernized standards of beauty. It also impacts us negatively because, in a calorically abundant environment, it makes us more prone to diabetes and heart disease.
As a man, it is interesting to get insight into the insecurities that women have to face. Thank you, Shivani, for this illuminating discussion. With that said, I think an interesting addendum to this discussion, and a possible idea for a future podcast topic would be to interview a man about the issues that we have with body image. Many discussions have been had regarding media, cultural and social pressures that culminate in body dysmorphia in women. Very little discussion is focused on how this is becoming an increasing problem in young men.
Thank you both for speaking so openly about this topic. I can resonate with restrictive eating and seeing one thing in the mirror when the reality is something different.
I felt uncomfortable with my body for such a long time. It wasn’t until my late twenties that I started to genuinely care less about what others thought of me and I changed my eating and exercise habits to work for ME and my body. It takes a lot of effort to get to that stage though.
Loved this episode!
In minute 11:30 - 11:55 Shivani speaks about her obsession with having a flat stomach, and wanting to emulate the defined abdominals seen on Victoria Secret models. It should be noted that this is an uphill battle for most people of South Asian descent, as we were are genetically prone, on average, to accumulate a disproportionate amount of fat in our midsection compared to people of Caucasian or African descent. There are many videos now on RUclips, some from physicians, who speak about the genetic predisposition that South Asians have towards central adiposity. The odd thing is this propensity to accumulate fat more so in the abdomen conferred upon us an evolutionary advantage to survive famines, but now it works to our detriment when attempting to abide by Westernized standards of beauty. It also impacts us negatively because, in a calorically abundant environment, it makes us more prone to diabetes and heart disease.
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