A Response to: Seventeen Magazine's BMI Calculator

I had always scoffed at the teenagers who petitioned to magazines against them casting skinny and tall models for photo shoots.  I never believed that Seventeen, a magazine directed toward people from their pre-teens to young adults, was trying to tell readers that being slender and tall was beautiful.  Yet, after I stumbled upon a petition against Seventeen for their BMI calculator on change.org, a website where anyone can make, share, and rally others to fight for his or her cause, I found myself disgusted with what the magazine is teaching girls.

Although the website accurately calculates BMI, Seventeen’s ‘healthy ranges’ are far off the true healthy ranges adapted from the Clinical Guidelines on the Identification, Evaluation, and Treatment of Overweight and Obesity in Adults: The Evidence Report, the ranges that are used by the government to determine who is considered within a healthy ranges, on the brink of becoming obese, or already obese.

Whereas anywhere from a 19-24 is considered within the healthy range, Seventeen declares that anywhere from a 14.8 to a 21.7 is the healthy BMI range for sixteen year olds.  After playing around with the numbers on their BMI calculator I realized that if I were to gain a mere five pounds, I would be considered obese by Seventeen’s standard of healthy.

A BMI of 17.5 is considered the standard for diagnosing anorexia and a BMI of 15 is considered severely overweight.  Yet, Seventeen believes that these numbers lie within the ‘healthy ranges’ for teenage girls.

Studies conducted by the National Association of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders show that “95% of those who have eating disorders are between the ages of 12 and 25.8,” the prime age that Seventeen targets.  As anorexia holds the “highest mortality rate of any mental disorder,” it is necessary that Seventeen realizes how skewed its numbers are so that teens can practice healthy habits without the pressures of being considered thin and beautiful. 

I invite you all to sign the petition created by Lauren Stalnaker on change.org.  The petition can be found here: http://www.change.org/petitions/seventeen-magazine-correct-their-bmi-calculator-s-definition-of-healthy-range. 

A Response to: Suzanne Venker's "The War on Men"

Suzanne Venker, in the article The War on Men published on Fox News, details how it is “so unfortunate” that the modern woman is entering the workforce and beginning to provide for herself by not relying on a man for her well-being.  She suggests that women must “surrender… their femininity” so that marriageable men will come about since statistics show that as time progresses more women and less men have a desire marry.  This article is sexist toward women by commanding that women submit to domestic roles so that men can provide for their families since it’s “in their DNA.”

Today’s modern woman – an independent, self-confident individual – is described as “unknowingly… angry” and “defensive” since she “think[s] of men as the enemy.”  When did a woman striving for personal success have anything to do with looking down upon men as competition?  A woman strives for personal success because of her personal motivation and desire to be successful – just like men.  Although it is no longer taboo for women to enter the workforce, their motives are still questioned because they supposedly “push men off their pedestal.”  The fact that Venker believes it is a woman’s fault that a man feels less ‘manly’ since they are becoming more equal in the workforce is degrading to the female sex. 

Venker urges that women change in order to “live the balanced life they seek.”  There is nothing balanced about a woman being confined to domestic duties while the man provides for the family simply for the sake of the man’s self-assurance that he is the one in power.  She is right about one thing though, “Women have changed drastically.”  Just because women have achieved suffrage, have gained a voice in politics, started to influence government policies, and secured the rights to their body, it does not mean that “Women aren’t women anymore.”  Women have changed for the better and women will continue to change until universal equality is reached.

That is what feminism is all about – creating and protecting equality for people of all sexes, of all races, of all countries – not pressing for backward ideas that reverse the progression of women.  Instead of viewing the feminist movement as a necessary step to the progression of humanity, she views it as an advantage to men since they can “have sex at hello and… live with their girlfriends with no responsibilities.”  It is twisted that Venker tries to empower women into gaining financial security by marrying or having sex with a man.

If a woman chooses to not work, that’s great.  But if a woman chooses to pursue a career and achieve her dreams, she should not be shunned as foolish for limiting a man’s opportunity and not taking advantage of staying at home to care for the house and children.    

Women Participation in No Shave November

November ushers in not only the start of the holiday season with Thanksgiving, but also No Shave November, a month-long event dedicated to raising awareness for prostate cancer by having people refrain from shaving.  However, women are shunned and labeled as “gross” and “unkempt” for participating.

Women participation is regarded as a joke among the majority of the population – from my fellow class mates to celebrities.  As October came to a close, I found myself reading more and more Facebook statuses poking fun at women participation in this event, including “No Shave November.  #proudofwhoiam” and “I’ll be participating in Noshember guiz don’t hate!”  What bothered me the most about these statuses is that females were the ones creating them.  Additionally, Will Ferrell, most famously known for his role in the movie Elf, commented on the event by saying “Girls who participate in No Shave November will also participate in No D December.” 

While I am in no way trying to turn No Shave November into a feminist cause about the rights of  women to do whatever they want with their body hair, it seems like the true meaning of No Shave November has dwindled down into nothing more than a competition between men to advertise how much facial hair they can grow.  If I were to participate in this event, it would be because I want to spread awareness about prostate and testicular cancer, not because I’m trying to prove a point about the expectations for women to maintain the status of “beautiful.”

It is important for participants to remember what the cause is all about – raising awareness for prostate cancer – so that both men and women feel free to participate without being constrained by social norms and judgment from their peers.