Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Dialogues Between Shmoopy's.

Here's an interesting dialogue (re: email exchange) between myself and my uber brain girl

Kara
"Interesting dialogues blog, wonder how much class and pop culture/conspicuous consumption issues play a part in these kinds of questions generally."

My reply
"Class- definitely, pop culture- hmmm I'm unconvinced (is this a media= action thing? Refer to the porn blog), conspicuous consumption (hiding your drinking habits?)- I'll wait to comment until I understand..."

Kara
"I think being on a 'weird' diet is definitely a form of capital in today's society. People are always following celebrity diets and I think that can become a form of status among the pop culture literate. People who are like that wouldn't feel their friends wont like them cause they eat crap."

My reply
"I do too, it seems not in these instances, or perhaps cause I'm not a celebrity?"

Kara
"Hehe maybe but still alot of people would value being on a diet whatever it is, in terms of the status it would give them in front of their friends."

My language is pretty simple but I find what Kara was saying an interesting insight into the psychology and group mentality by someone whose perspective is of the larger cultural kind. My big brain girl!

5 comments:

  1. I think I'm hanging out with the wrong crowd.
    Bogan metalheads have no time for diets other than the "meat and beer" diet. Can you find me some hot little fad diet-loving friends? :( :( :(

    I think people are very quick to fake an intolerance because it's somehow "cool". I had a mate say she was Coeliac once. I went around to her house with gluten-free snacks prepared, and she was eating normal bread. WTF.

    I think when it comes to "normal" people, following an alternative diet is just an inconvenience. That said, I made jelly shots for my then-boyfriend's birthday and we were vegan, so they were vegan, but I set aside some mix and made plain jelly in one or two so my straight edge vegan friend could join in. I am all for equality :P

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  2. "I think I'm hanging out with the wrong crowd.
    Bogan metalheads have no time for diets other than the "meat and beer" diet. Can you find me some hot little fad diet-loving friends? :( :( :("

    El you paint your friends out to sound like douchebags, if they're not going to tolerate your choices, tell em to walk.

    "I think people are very quick to fake an intolerance because it's somehow "cool". I had a mate say she was Coeliac once. I went around to her house with gluten-free snacks prepared, and she was eating normal bread. WTF."

    Which confirms Kara above, I agree too, I think people like to think there's something special going on about them, which there may be, but that kind of thing needs to be determined by a professional.

    "I think when it comes to "normal" people, following an alternative diet is just an inconvenience. That said, I made jelly shots for my then-boyfriend's birthday and we were vegan, so they were vegan, but I set aside some mix and made plain jelly in one or two so my straight edge vegan friend could join in. I am all for equality :P"

    I can see some truth to this too, and was the point I was making, I wish my clients thought it was cool, that I'm tryin to get them to diet, mostly, as you say, they view it as inconvinience.

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  3. I think culture plays a huge part, but not in the pop-culture/celebrity sense, but more in terms of what people consider a 'normal' diet. This is usually what they've been brought up with and may contain what I would consider a huge amount of carbs via pasta, rice, bread etc.
    So if you choose not to eat those things you are viewed as 'weird', which in contrast to being cool and unique, probably makse most people feel self conscious and uncomfortable.
    My other issue is the whole notion of 'being on a diet' which for most people has built in the implication that it is temporary (and usually extreme in some way).
    For any diet to be successful it really needs to be a lifestyle change, and a change in your mindset about what is normal, what is healthy etc. And when you get that you really start to see other people as weird when they have pasta for dinner most nights, or when they are constantly on and off 'diets'..

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  4. I can see where Kara is going with this I think it is much more common in the US than it is in Australia. Culturally both countries are very similar, in some way but worlds apart in others.

    Just a thought ... In the US it is a lot more common for people to jump on the bandwagon with different religions that are frequently endorsed by celebrities(Scientology/Kabbalah) than in Australia. Even the most celebrity obsessed Australians I know tend to not be as influenced as the American counterparts. When is the last time you met a Australian Scientologist? So yes, I could see how pop culture could influence, but I don’t think it happens that often in Australia. Just opinion/observations from living in both places.

    As for people having ‘one up’ on their friends ... yes. I can see that happening, but people who engage in that sort of competition with their friends ... need new friends. 

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  5. Precisely! Totally agree with you Daevid. When changing your eating habits you need to basically train your mind to think of it as a permanent lifestyle, not a temporary measure. That means, learning to find ways to enjoy a particular nutritional plan so that you CAN stick to it. It also means making an effot to stick to it for a certain amount of time until it feels like second nature.

    Re: the cultural thing. Yes that explains why my European mother for many years had no issue in adding cream and butter to EVERYTHING. Unfortunately, I did not inherit her 18inch waistline so, the cream and butter are off the list!

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