Cross-posted at Jezebel.
Sara sent in an example of a phenomenon that I always find somewhat funny: the socially constructed life trajectory.
Never fear! If you don’t know what to do next in life, the answer is out there. When I filled my taxes out with Turbo Tax, it happily pointed a strong finger towards marriage, buying a house, and having children. In that order of course. A slide show about birth control options laid out my best choice depending on what it told me I was to be doing in each decade of my life.
Sara’s example is on the Weight Watchers website. Under the phrase “Life Stages,” it nicely lays out a trajectory. First you go to college, then you get married, then you have a child, and then you are old. (At every stage of life, though, you’re too fat!)
Get in line, ladies! College, husband, babies, old person! Oh, and make sure you’re losing weight every step of the way.
Lisa Wade, PhD is an Associate Professor at Tulane University. She is the author of American Hookup, a book about college sexual culture; a textbook about gender; and a forthcoming introductory text: Terrible Magnificent Sociology. You can follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Comments 34
Ali — September 26, 2012
I used a website called The Knot to help with my wedding plans and schedule. With the tracker tool knowing our wedding date, it promptly sent me requests to go to a sister site, The Nest (because then comes the house). For some reason it didn't promote The Bump site... Maybe after 9months or so it might've...
Nick — September 26, 2012
And of course, men never want to try and lose weight
Elena — September 26, 2012
The new "maiden, mother, crone", I see.
Mr. S — September 26, 2012
I'm not so sure that WeightWatchers is necessarily a life trajectory, but rather stages in your life that commonly necessitate weight management.
College Student - Most first year students are making food choices for the first time, and those choices are typically limited to what is available in the dining hall.
Bride-to-Be - Many women aspire to lose weight for their wedding day. With the thousands of dollars spent on wedding dresses, makeup/hair, and professional photographers, I don't blame them.
New Mom - Again, many women seek to lose the extra weight they carried during pregnancy.
Over 50 - It's typical for all people at this age to experience a slowing in metabolism.
The events that TurboTax highlights all have significant tax implications. So I'm not sure I quite see a socially constructed life trajectory in either case.
teknohed — September 26, 2012
Hey so, another great article. Just something I think about whenever fat shaming is brought up. Now, I'm a big guy. My family are all big folks. In fact my dad has type 2 diabetes. Now ever since his diagnosis I have been making a concerted effort to lose some weight and get of the "high risk" category for diabetes. I'm just curious if the consensus here is that I'm being coerced by society into trying to be "healthy" or if by eating more Kale and less Jack in the Box I am actually more "healthy" which seems like a legitimate life goal. Not necessarily to be "thin" but to try to maintain a weight recommended by a physician given my family history. Every time I read something like "
At every stage of life, though, you’re too fat!" on Soci Images or Jezebel I always feel like I'm being duped into thinking I should get up early and do p90X when I could just hit the snooze bar.
Diane Moffatt — September 26, 2012
Ah - I'm in the safe zone - over 50 -nothing else happens any more.
brittany — September 26, 2012
It seems to be a case also of Heterotemporality, that life follows a set specific course that follows what is assumed to be a 'normal' - read:heteronormative- life. Especially so that a ciswoman would get married, have children, etc.
Rishi — September 26, 2012
Also, Nanny Bloomberg says that your fatass is too fat to have a large soda.
Mantis Toboggan — September 26, 2012
God forbid companies make an effort to make their product easier for the vast majority of their users. They need to make things as difficult as possible to avoid any indication that you are not as unique and special as you think are. Gather your torches and pitchforks, let's get them!
Tusconian — September 26, 2012
Someone else said, there is logic to the categories, even though they're shallow and simplistic. An 18 year old college student, a 30 year old new mother, and a woman who's hit menopause will by definition need different diets, especially if they're trying to lose weight (and of course, all brides-to-be are fretting over if they're look thin in their fancy dresses! Yeah, that one is a bit out of place if we're trying to rationalize it). What's more striking to me is the lack of acknowledgement of men trying to lose weight. I know there's a new "Weight watchers for Men" campaign, but the division is still pretty evident; losing weight is for women, men are an afterthought. And men lose weight to be healthy and emulate professional athletes, while women lose weight to look good in wedding dresses.
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dee — September 28, 2012
you people are forgetting that the 'new mom' category includes nursing moms, which need a bit more calories in a given day. get over yourselves.
mimimur — September 28, 2012
Even that the life stages are gendered is interesting. Delving deeper, both New mom and Bride to be seem to be explicitly referring to beauty, the classical "look thin for your wedding" and pregnancy weight aspirations, while 50+ might traditionally be more health oriented. I can't really place the student section, would that be beauty too, or is it mord of healthy diets?