In today's class, we discussed Kafka's "A Hunger Artist" (1922) as an allegory of the misunderstood artist in the age of alienation. The modern artist becomes the "fallen" artist because he can no longer have a reciprocal rapport with the world and the public; he feels alienated from the world which no longer appreciates his art. Once upon a time there was no fallenness; poets in the past were deemed as "prophets" who could enter the superior realm of the sacred and the ideal. The fallen status of the artist is caused by the sense of isolation triggered by the modern age. The artist symbolizes a "grand refusal"; he is a martyr figure who refuses to compromise with the shallow, vulgar, sensation-and-spectacle-hungry fellow human beings. Therefore, the question of eating should be examined symbolically and to eat or not to eat becomes an ontological question. In a world without spiritual values, starving is a piece of cake for the hunger artist who cannot find the sustenance he needs.
In today's society, the symbolism of hunger is still prevalent. Although we have arrived at capitalism's "promised land" in which commodities are abounding and material developments are unprecedentedly advanced, we are also living in what is possibly the most emotionally depleted society in history, where the only "satisfactions" seem to be sunk in materialism or consumerism. The more we buy,the more we consume, the more we feel spiritually depleted.
An interesting question arises: if we can use a more dialectical way to look at eating disorders--the most self-destructive body project in today's youth culture, how do we make of the phenomenon of the starving women who embody the extremity of hunger that terrifies us, and who insist that they are not hungry? Could it involve a more complicated tangle of cultural or ontological issues? Instead of blaming those women for blindly obsessing with thinness, could we say that anorexia is really something deeply symbolic of what is wrong in our culture?
In her documentary Thin, director Lauren Greenfield explores the deadly desire to be thin. In the interview with the director, we can listen to her exploration of the issue of female physicality in the US culture. What do you think when Greenfield argues that anorexia is not just about the food or the body image, it's about something more complicated?
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Now a day, there are too many supper models and movie stars with slender body and pretty face. We can see them everywhere on TV, magazine, advertisement and then we are affected unintentionally. A lot of people think they can become more beautiful by losing weights, but they never satisfy their body. Going on a diet now becomes a fashionable activity in our society. I have gone on a diet in my junior high school time; as a result, it caused my height not good enough. Honestly, I think being thin is important to me, but it depends on a person’s attitude. We are not supper models, and we don’t need to be as thin as them. The most important thing is our confidence; if we have confidence, we can be in any kinds of body shape. At last, if anyone wants to lose weight, be sure to choose the healthy way. Because health is the first of all things, we have to take care ourselves when we want to become beautiful. Without health beauty is only skin deep.
Being slender has became a fashion among people all over the world. Some people want to lose weight so badly, I think their goals may be different from one another. For models, I think the reasons why they want to be thin is that they want to achieve a higher standard of beauty which is far more than we, common people, can imagine. We can regard those models as high-class artist sacrificing their desire to eat just to satisfy our common people's vision. We can consider those people which are on a diet is just having a higher standard of his/her own figure.
We can view the phenomenon of fasting as an art or a problem. It just depends on how we look at it.
There are many friends of mine going on a diet for a long time . Most of them who are girls have been losing weight since they were young . They all want to be more thinner in order to have a nice body shape .But I find that they are not carefree at all . The most important thing is their mind are going weaker.
In our society, being fat is thought to be guilty , abnormal,out of the rules . People combine "thin" and "beauty" as a inseparable thing from each other . But actually it is weird . I mean : Someone still looks good with a bigger shape in the world . Beauty should have wild explanations . However current environment is not allowed this happen . I endorse to lose weight in moderation which is very feasible . Nevertheless if it leads us becoming worse , just like the poor girls in the video , I truly consider it unnecessary . Once you can't love yourself in any case , you will not satisfied forever.
Nowadays, it is very famous for people to keep fit in order to make themselves. Look the model; we can see each girl is skinny and scrawny. Everybody loves the skinny body; therefore, many companies like to find some skinny models to introduce their products. So, if when it comes to the question- how do we make of the phenomenon of the starving women who embody the extremity of hunger that terrifies us, I think everything are terrified us, for everything are telling us the skinny body looks beautiful. In this society, the scrawny women mean the beautiful women; however, women choose the starving way to let themselves be skinny. Is it the definite way to do? I don’t think so, but it is the trend we meet now.
In my opinion, this situation will tangle the society, because it tells people the wrong concept to meet this condition. It will bring about the situation which all women are very thin, but they still think they are fat. How a scary situation it is! I think the concept should change, because it is same with the condition which the hunger artist meets. People are stubborn on the specific whether it is good for them or not. Although in some sides it is helpful for them, it is also harmful to them. Therefore, anorexia is strongly connected with our wrong society.
To sum up, the body images influence our society strongly, and we can see the differences between the hunger artist and people desiring about the skinny body. However, they just do the same way, isn’t it?
Just like the issues we talked in the contemporary class, there are lots of slimmy and good-proportion models in the modern society. We can see them almost everywhere and they certainly affect our daily life. It is not surprised that many young ladies or teenagers want to be like them. Therefore, they usually try their best to lose weights, such as using emetics or going on a diet. Although all the people know that it's bad to our body, there are still many doing so. Day by day, not to eat somehow becomes a habit. Even if they don't want to go on a diet anymore, they just couldn't help it. Then, anorexia occurs. Maybe the problem is not really because of the food, but the environment we are in touch.
I think in this modern time, it is very easy for us to forget about our own spiritual. And since we grew up gradually, we start to face the complicated world. We may feel that other people can't know my feelings. The hunger artist felt that way, so he die in the end. I consider to eat or not to eat, it is just like a symbolic of one's mind. For that he want to do what he or she really want and desire for. However,it could caused problems sometimes. For example, models are so thin that exactlly not everyone can achieve or need to be. Being thin is not means you are beautiful; the most important thing is your health and self-confidence. We have to think more deeeply when we want to do anything. Is it because of following the trend or for is it good for you or not.
Being thinner is not only for girls’ but for boys’ dream. Most of my friends are going on diet, and so do I. I agree that being thinner is necessary. For example, we can become more beautiful and healthier than past. In the processing of being thinner, we should take more exercise; go on diet. The important thing is that we should know the reason of why we want to be thinner. For health, for confidence, or for most of people think that thinner is beautiful? We need to understand the reason of why we want to be thinner. Moreover, having a unique personality is very important in our life, such as kind, modest, hospitable, and the like. Then we will know how to promote ourselves, to have a good friendship with our friends.
If you ask some women “Are you going on a diet?”, I could say surely over half of the answers are “Yes!”. How to cut down weight is a certainly popular discussion between the youthful girls. Pursuing to have a slender figure becomes more usual as daily routine in this modern society. Upon learning of the thin trend that is showed within models and idols and also unfolded before our eyes by the fashion designer, we are subconscious to think that possessing a slim stature is a standard judgment when people understand someone at the first time. Who’s the objective referee? That’s we accept the criterion of the body image in the contemporary society which we are gradually uplifted influence on. As far as I am concerned, I don’t think girls want to be svelte is a morbid behavior. It’s natural and normal when a woman wants to change her size from M to S in order to let her gain more gazes and maybe confidence as well. However, if a woman diets to lose weight excessively, and furthermore falls sick of anorexia, that’s a really serious problem. In the interview, Greenfield mentions that anorexia isn’t just about the food or the body image, it’s about mental anatomizing. The patients have to cope with the mechanism which makes them find none of food they want to eat. I can imagine how painful they are. They have a drastic war between not only food but body and mind, especially in psychology. When this tormenting suffering involves in internal situation, it’s pathetic to own a thin body and like a kind of losing ego and control, right? Hence, I consider that the basic theme of healthy body founds on both physical and mental soundness. Not that a hunger artist lacks for foods, but that he suffers from spiritual mysophobia.
I had gone on a diet when I was in junior high school. However, I then found it a stupid action. Why should I go on a diet? I think being healthy is way more important. People shouldn't forget to care about their health for having a diet. and when talking about body shapes or figure, I think not too fat will be okay, do not be too thin. In my opinion, having a slender body shape doesn't mean anything. I wouldn't like to have a bony girlfriend, for example. If a person really wants to be thinner, just exercise and eat healthily, that'll do just fine. Exercising is much more better than going on a diet.
Nowadays, Many people want to be slender like the models whom we see through the media. Having a healthy body is not equal to the thinness. Some people go too far, they turn out to be in anorexia; However, they denied the truth. Sometimes I would think that people just want to appeal others. Girls or boys who have anorexia probably only want people take a look at them. They can't find the definitional site of their lives, so they use this method to approve their existences. It is just my opinion, I know things aren't so easy.
Girls that going on a diet are usually because they want to have a good body shape. They think having a slim body can make them looks more beautiful. This kind of thought is all influenced by the media. Medias put the models that have good body shape on the TV shows, news papers and magazines. The images repeating make people have a concept that it is necessary to be as thin as the models on the TV are. I think we people should think more about the value of one person and not just persuade the outward perfect. It’s useless and shallow.
Being slender has become women’s “obligation”. It seems that women are never slender enough. Nowaday, we spend a lot of time on dieting. Some celebrities follow an extremely strict diet code. They almost eat nothing but salad or only eat something “washed” in a glass of water before they eat them. It seems ridiculous but believe me, it is true and common. I used to think this phenomenon is ridiculous, and think what on earth are these girls doing, but now I think I can understand that little by little. Every girl wants to be amazing and gorgeous. They want to find belonging. On the other hand, they pursue slender for getting more material lives. They can buy more beautiful cloths, wearing them and enjoying the attention from other people, otherwise they will feel isolated in this world.
Many people are eager to have a perfect body shape. Girls want to be just like the models that have such slim body. And In many people’s opinion, thin is related with beauty. As you become thinner, then you can be prettier.
Following with those consciousnesses, going on a diet becomes the common phenomenon in today’s society. Besides, a trend for keeping shapes thin is still prevailing nowadays. From my point of view, it’s necessary to keep your body in a healthy situation. But it’s not mean you have to lose the weight too much and force yourselves not to eat. If I lose the health during I manage to lose my weight, I don’t think it’s a worthy thing to do.
In today’s society, looking thin seems to be a necessity. Women are obsessed of thinness. I agree with Greenfield’s argument that anorexia is something more complicated than the food or the body image. Those women who suffer from eating disorder have different background; however, there is something they have in common which is the desire to look better by being thin. The reasons for them to go on a diet might include: pressure from the peers, influence by the media...etc. Most of those who go on diet will lead to eating disorder and anorexia. I feel sad every time when watching people suffering from the pain. I wonder: who is to blame for this? Is it the media? Or ourselves? The answer is hard to find, though. We talk about healthy body image all the time and we understand that being slender is not the only way to be beautiful, but at the same time, we are still paying attention to the calorie. I think this issue is way too complicated, and it’s not like we have a solution for it. What we should do, I believe, is to be aware of what we are doing and make sure we won’t regret doing such thing.
In my opinion, diet is not a bad thing because of the report on internet and news, the fat guys are easier get some heart disease than the thin ones. But, it's no need to shape your body like skeleton. Knowadays, there are a lot of girls and even the boys try to lose weight through the wrong way. If you type" lose weight" on google website, you will be surprised how many website there are.
In my opinion, anorexia is really something deeply symbolic of what is wrong in our culture. Those who care a lot about their appearance often compare themselves to the people around them or to fashion icons and celebrities. I think the problems of anorexia get serious simply because this kind of body image is widely spread in our society.
Nowadays, negative body image perceptions have become increasingly prevalent among people of all ages. Failure to achieve this high standard may lead to depression and eating disorders. Also, living under an anxious life might also lead people to sickness. They may lose their appetite due to mental illness.
Therefore, I agree with Greenfield’s argument that anorexia is something more complicated than the food or the body image.
I can't realize the hunger artist's thought that he would rather not to eat if there isn't anything he want to eat. In my opinion, at most time people eat because they are hungry, not because there are somthing he or she considers delicious. Sometime I also don't really like the food in front of me, but I always eat them for my physical need. So it's hard for me to imagine the artist's thought.
Nowadays because of the influence of media, many people choose to go on a diet,but for a different reason, that is, in order to be thinner. Many people are deeply influence by the body imageand I am no exception. But I would take care of my health when I want to lose weight. After all, without a healthy body, beauty is useless.
Anorexia is not just about food and body, that’s for sure. It has to do with your emotional side and personalities; it is persuading of perfectness. This persuading act occurs with many factors; each one of the factor can stand alone and trigger this result easily. We have unfulfilled and unsatisfied as emotional cause, values on beauty as outside cause (either twisted or not, people having anorexia might even have their own definition of beauty), sense of responsibility and strict on one’s self as the personalities side. But what Greenfield is arguing is more of the other way around, not the opposite, but another concept and approach to explain this phenomenon. I don’t know about his theory; it might be true, but it is against the majority. And if you are happy with yourself, throw away the public expectation.
People in modern society tend to discriminate at those who are fat or overweight. In many cultures especially women are required to maintain the slender body shape. The media had influenced our society deeply. Only for those with slender bodies can have chances to appear on the cover of fashion magazines or being models. Besides, top models tend to go on diets in unhealthy methods. They starved themselves and like to compete with other. Publics like to imitate celebrities or idols. When the fashion magazines are published, people consider that all of women on the earth should own that kind of body shape. The media had erected a narrow stander and they express the values that thin body is beautiful while fat is ugly and unhealthy. A lot of teenage girls have no sense to distinguish the photogenic photo from reality. I think there is still a long way to go before the media and our society really realize that there shouldn’t be the only stander of beauty.
I think being slender and perfect are dreams of people nowadays, for the whole social phenomenon. When we turn on the TV, there are full of skinny girls. In fact, although I am not very fat, I still tried to keep fit. I think I should be more slender, for models on the magazine look so perfect. They lead the mainstream about what we should look like, so we always follow it. Sometimes I feel the mainstream is foolish, for it always don't have any reasons. I watched a film when I was in senior high school, the film is about a young women who had anorexia. She is just 26 years old; however, she looks like 50 tears old. To our surprise, she really looks skinny but ugly, she says that she is regretted because the process is slow and painful. I think it is suitable for girls who wants to keep fit because they usually don't know the consequences. In fact, I think to be yourself is good now, for it is relaxing to do nothing about body shape. SO, I think it is better to believe in yourself because mainstream is foolish sometimes.
Being thin is one important goal in people’s life. In high school, I saw many of my classmates tried so hard to be thin. They dreamed to have a slender body shape. The only thing they thought was to find the effective ways to being thin. They thought slenderness all the time. Their grades became worse and worse. Because they couldn’t concentrate in the homework, their whole attention was attracted to the slenderness. They starved all the time. They became weak not only in physical but also in mental state. They looked like a thin skeleton without brain and a moving mummy.
But I think the beauty is not equal to slenderness. Someone looks more beautiful in a plump way. Thin body shape is not appropriate to everyone. I think everyone has its own beautiful way. We should focus on finding our own beautiful way instead of losing weight blindly. Doing thing that everybody likes to do is not always right. I think we have to find the own value of ourselves, and then present our beauty in an appropriate way. A hunger artist and hunger women all want to present their own beauty to the world. But the way they use do not appropriate enough.
In the "Hunger Artist",the hunger artist does not want to eat because he cannot find something he likes.But nowadays people do not want to eat is because they want to become fit,even though there are many kinds of food presented before them.Evey one want to become thin as a supper model,and they usually think "not to eat"is the fasties way to achieve it.But there also have many positive examples that some people want to become more thin desperately and finally get sick,even die.So "to eat or not to eat"that's a problem when we face the dillama between figure and health.
In the documentary, many people cried and said they want to be thin! And I just see people who only with bones worried of their body image. It is a common issue in our life. From another course, we discuss this issue,too. People are inflenced by the media and outer circumstances. They feel they are fat on a wrong standard. It is really bad for people who effected by other people. But actually I sometimes affected by some media. When I see the beautiful and perfect image from TV or magazines, I could start to compare myself to them. However, when I calm down and mull over it again. I would b feel really good.
"Hunger Artist" has same main point to "A Very Old with Enormous Wings"-artists were ignored and misunderstood in their period.I think when Kafka wrote this story,he must had experienced deeply that no one really understood artists,and he tried to wrote down this disappointment through the story.Many people rather "cheap art" then the deep insight,I think that's why Kafka did not want to publish his works.
It is a common thing to see people trying everything to lose their weights, they even use illegal ways just because they want themselves look like the models on magazines or their idlos. What is more, some people, who have been thought very slim, still continues to do such things. I think that the openomenon would happen is because the lacking in modern people' spirits. They want to follow trend, but forget to do thing what they really want.
There are many people who just follow the mainstream instead of contemplating the meaning of fasting themselves, I suppose. Thus, I don't think that it is all for a more complicated reason that women blindly obsessing with thinness, but I agree on the statement that anorexia is not just about the food or the body image. Is this assumption possible that anorexia is for the alienation in the modern age? People show off themselves on blogs these days as if they want to reassume their existence in the world; still, there is great
misunderstandings between people and that may be the reason why some people prefer not to eat--to say no to the unsatisfactory world?
All girls want to have nice body shape. It’s frustrate when you can’t dress what you like. Most all of the people say that it’s sick to control the quantity of food to look great. But everybody loves beautiful things. The reason why girls go on a diet is just the whole society tell them to do. If the diet is out of control, it may cause eating disorder. Finally, they are thinner than models. And they will find out it’s hard for them to eat, their body becomes difficult to have food.
But I think a little control of eating is good for health.
I think it is a hard thing to not considered yourself fat. There are too many commercials,TV programs and magazines that show us nothing but those slender body shapes. Or in my opinion, too slender body shapes. I think those body image make their audience want to become them. I think if you are healthy then it is no need to pursue the perfect or wonderful body shapes, I think health is more omportant than that.
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