WeEk SiX

Body Outlaws: Intimate Enemies

“So now I am walking every day with two-pound weights on each ankle and wrist, taking my Tums for calcium after every meal, puffing morning and night, telling waiter after waiter ‘I have a severe allergy to eggs’ and I’m still trying to figure out where the freedom and joy went.”

I like this quote because when I first went to college I noticed myself gaining a substantial amount of weigh and I assumed it was the “freshmen fifteen” coming to haunt me. But I found out after my first semester that I had food allergies. As people are going away to college, there is a rising amount of gaining food allergies because of the changes in diet and sleep patterns. I didn’t have a food allergy nearly as bad as she’s describing hers, but I feel for her because of the constant struggle she has just by trying to eat what she can. I remember scanning menus at restaurants and finding very little that I could eat and it was frustrating for sure.

“My body is my own, although it betrays me without mercy. I live with it and take care of it. My body talks to me. I have a talent in knowing exactly when I need to sleep, when I need to eat, when to stop the stress of research papers and exams. I’m so in touch with my body that I sleep when I should be writing those papers. I don’t have less energy than others; I’m simply more aware that I’m running down before I actually run myself down. I have been given a gift of self-awareness, an awareness that other people I know haven’t developed as much.”

This quote sums up the whole reading because she knows that she lives differently than others but she accepts it and tries her best to cater to her body. She is empowered but still cautious of her special circumstances.

Mondo Barbie: Astrology Barbie:

“Barbie’s potential for combining the material world with her inspired philosophical vision would be tremendous.”

Astrology Barbie is about Barbie learning all the things that will come her way in life. She learns that she will have money and fame, while being linked to the handicapped. She will meet Ken and they will be like soul mates. I like this reading because it puts perspective to how Barbie’s life will turn out and it’s all of the stories that have been told about her over the years.