Counterintuitive Spring 2023

Ambiguity is Absolute

Female virginity is an umbrella term representing the multitude of different interpretations and understandings for what it means to be a female virgin— an ambiguous concept. Not considering the broad female perspective for millennia in the West, collectively, men in power have strictly limited female virginity to a singular definition. In a male-dominated society, female virginity is defined as the act of avoiding vaginal intercourse that involves penetration through breaking the hymen. Confining female virginity to one definition limits a woman in her freedom of choice. Female virginity is as limitless as the woman who defines the concept herself. The definition of female virginity is truest when the woman herself makes the choice to define the term, not men.

The word “female” is more than an adjective and noun, the word itself is also an umbrella term. No woman can be put into a box and limited to a one line sentence. As a Western society, men have put these limits on women, defining women as to how she is supposed to dress, act, and or speak. Planned Parenthood states that women are generally expected to dress in typically feminine[ly] ways and be polite, accommodating, and nurturing. No woman will always dress in deemed femininely attire, be polite, accommodating, and nurturing— that request is simply inhumane, inaccurate, and outdated. If an individual who identifies as a woman were to live by misogynistic guidelines provided by men and act out in frustration, not keeping to being accommodating or polite, because her car was broken into and stolen from, that individual would not be a woman anymore, according to male-opinionated, prejudiced guidelines. Ideas of what a woman “should be” are constrictive like a cobra killing its prey, expectations and defining lines breed for inaccuracy and stereotypes. Planned Parenthood claims, “exaggerated gender stereotypes can make relationships between people difficult” (Planned Parenthood 1). In the world of want-to-believe limits, relationships are difficult when women are put into four-walled iron boxes. Authors Alice H. Eagly and Antonio Mladinic of “Gender Stereotypes and Attitudes Toward Women and Men,” claim, “women [are] perceived as inferior to men in agentic, or instrumental (i.e., masculine-positive), qualities…” (Eagly and Mladinic 554). Because women are perceived to be inferior to men in more masculine-positive qualities, this apparent gap becomes more distinct, therefore ruining any chance of equality. By understanding that the definition of a woman seeps out of this systemic patriarchal box, then can Western societies begin to understand the many layers to a woman.

According to men in power, female virginity is preserved only when a woman avoids having vaginal intercourse through her hymen being broken because of penile penetration (penile-vaginal intercourse involves the penis being inserted into the vagina). Penile-vaginal intercourse is a reasonable viewpoint to consider when conceptualizing what it means to be a female virgin; this viewpoint is true only if the woman herself believes the method of intercourse to be closest to her idea of what it means to be a female virgin. Penile-vaginal intercourse is most applicable to heterosexual women, excluding women who are non-heterosexual,  

Heterosexuality is not the forefront in the West. Restricting, penile-vaginal intercourse fails to cover the vast array of diverse sexualities and/or preferred methods of intercourse. According to Jeffery M. Jones, author of an academic article highlighting LGBT demographics in the United States for the year 2021, “… lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender identification finds 5.6% of U.S. adults identifying as LGBT” (Jones 1). This percentage is low but Jones adds, “7.6% [of American adults] do not answer the question about their sexual orientation” (Jones 1). The small percentage of confirmed LGBT American adults only accounts for adults who are fully out. The study fails to cover two pivotal points: LGBT children, teenagers, and individuals who keep their sexual orientation private, and the amount of individuals who identify as LGBT+. The percentage reported is likely to be larger— when including all different groups of individuals.

Besides penile-vaginal intercourse, anal and oral intercourse are two methods of intercourse that are valid and must be considered. Both anal and oral intercourse involve penetration of the penis. Respectively, both methods of intercourse have strict guidelines that set both of them apart: anal intercourse being achieved through the insertion of the penis into the anus while oral intercourse is achieved through the penis being inserted into the opening of the mouth. A study published in the Journal of Adolescent Health, conducted by scientific researchers in America, found that 29.4% of American adolescents believed that virginity is lost through oral intercourse while 83.9% believed virginity was lost through anal intercourse. Alternatively, writers for the Journal of Adolescent Health state that  “70.6% of [American] adolescent[s] believed that girls and boys retain their virginity if they participate in oral sex” (Bersamin, Fisher, Walker, Hill, and Grube 1) and “16.1% believed that an adolescent was still a virgin if he or she engaged in anal sex” (Bersamin, Fisher, Walker, Hill, and Grube 1). Being completely dependent on the individual woman, anal and oral intercourse should be considered when deciding what it means to be a female virgin.

Emotional-psychological aspects of intercourse are important which must be considered when defining what it means to be a female virgin. Intercourse is not only a physical process but rather intercourse is both emotional and physical (or only emotional— this perspective is dependent on the individual woman). Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender women may never have penile-vaginal, oral, and/or anal intercourse. This possibility should not exclude these women who identify as non-heterosexual. Women who avoid penile-vaginal, oral, and/or anal intercourse have creative methods to provoke sexual intimacy. Fondling, foreplay, kissing, rubbing, stroking, and or touching are effective methods that provoke sexual intimacy. Emotional-psychological intercourse is enthusiastic and must involve the presence of two people. Penile-vaginal, oral, and anal intercourse all can be one-sided, even with consent. Emotional-psychological intercourse that involves the presence of two people will always be two sided.

Multilayered and complex, female virginity is anything but simple. Men continue to define what it means to be a female virgin but when the woman herself decides to be in charge of defining female virginity, then will a woman be able to embrace the complexity of female virginity, freely. Though, this notion is challenged for childhood influences impact both girls and boys, thus creating a vicious cycle of repetition, unable to progress.

Bad influences result in more terrible solutions. Poor childhood influences are to blame for Western society’s inability to condemn systematic female oppression. An ongoing crisis, systemic female oppression has led to a fight for power— power available only to men. A childish way of handling differences in opinion, fighting has led women to take the objectification of female virginity men have created and use that objectification as a weapon. In the name of power, women continue to allow misogynistic behavior— romanticizing female virginity in order to fight back and/or to hold power, a behavior learned from men.

Peter Pan teaches boys that narcissism is an acceptable trait to have in society. Protagonist of the classic play, Peter and Wendy, written and produced by James Matthew Barrier, Peter Pan is a prime example of an exaggerated stereotype— a self-centered, absent-minded boy. Peter Pan inspires young boys alike who watch in awe, lacking a sophisticated mindset to make level-headed judgement. Like sponges, young boys’ minds are weak and absorbent, only able to pick up material presented without a second thought. Being so influential, the Peter Pan Syndrome is a metaphor psychologists use to describe adults who have characteristics similar to Peter Pan. Authors Melek Kalkan, Meryem Vural Batik, Leyla Kaya, and Merve Turan of “Peter Pan Syndrome ‘Men Who Don’t Grow’: Developing a Scale” define and outline the Peter Pan Syndrome— a spectrum. Adult males who meet the standards to be placed on the spectrum are often described as: lacking responsibility, immature, lacking sophistication, having the inability to express and process complex human emotion, and most commonly, narcissistic.

Egoistic men take authoritative positions in society which ruin the chance of allowing for  complexity to be a norm in Western societies. Simplicity is the best solution for men that lack the intellectual ability to process such complexities. Female virginity is an umbrella term—ambiguous and multilayered. Understanding female virginity is an individual process, unique to every woman. But often times, women and ideas of what is female virginity are limited to a one line sentence— an over exaggerated stereotype. The deep-rooted patriarchal system in the West is plagued by Peter Pans: adult men who refuse to grow up. These power-hungry men achieve simplicity in ambiguous terms such as female virginity by limiting the agency women have in making decisions. Barbara L. Fredrickson and Tomi-Ann Roberts, authors of “OBJECTIFICATION THEORY: Toward Understanding Women’s Lived Experiences and Mental Health Risks,” stresses objectification is used as a tool to degrade women in culture— leading to poor self-worth and anxiety. Objectification is used strategically to place women inferior to men, allowing men to keep and hold power, therefore limiting a woman’s agency. As women are objectified by men, the understanding of female virginity becomes shallow, simple, and misrepresented.

Women allow Peter Pans to be accepted in greater society— as women are taught. Another metaphor psychologists use is The Wendy Dilemma— used to describe women who take on a mother’s role in a relationship or marriage, instead of being an affective partner. Wendy is mature, caring, and attentive unlike Peter Pan who is immature and self-centered. Like boys, young girls also watch and absorb characters’ actions. Wendy teaches girls to be accepting of boys’ immaturity and inability to reason. Finally growing up, girls, now women learn to simply shrug off a man’s crudity. Women pacify men, continuing to cater to a man’s every need— as Wendy teaches girls. This process results in an unhealthy dynamic between men and women. A societal game of tug-of-war, this cycle creates a ripple effect. Neil Davidson, author of “Oh Boys! Sex Education and Young Men,” claims that men and women are born with the same emotions. Though, as both men and women grow and progress in life, men are taught to be more masculine while women are taught to be more feminine, Davidson continues. By masculine men are taught to be tougher, stronger, and rougher. In juxtaposition, women are taught to be more feminine which means to be soft spoken, gentle, and attending. As young girls grow into these stereotypical ideas of what a woman should be, girls learn to accept that boys will be Peter Pans— as Wendy teaches girls alike. 

Accepting the nature of men and misogynistic views, women lose power and respect. Desperate, women romanticize female virginity, allowing for continuous objectification and oppression of women alike— all to hold any ounce of power and use that claimed power against men. Laura M. Carpenter, author of “Gender and the Meaning and Experience of Virginity Loss in the Contemporary United States,” details that women consider female virginity to be sacred. This idealized concept of female virginity creates an uncomfortable distance between women and men—a terrible solution. By considering the concept of virginity to be sacred, women ultimately allow for objectification— objectification that men perseverate on. By treating the concept of female virginity as something of holy value, men then believe that female virginity is an object worth collecting, an object of high value. The Wendy Dilemma comes back to bite women in the end since women stay accepting of oppression and objectification.

Terrible solutions alleviate nothing. Systemic oppression and the objectification of women is an ongoing crisis in the West. Men continue to oppress women by objectifying female virginity while women simply accept these terms, in turn, using objectification proposed by men as a weapon. Instead of handling this crisis like adults, women and men look at childhood influences, such as Peter Pan and Wendy for guidance. A ripple effect, this vicious cycle continues as men pursue simplicity— a quality that solves nothing — and women pursue mere blindsided acceptance— a quality that also solves nothing. The Peter Pan Syndrome and Wendy Dilemma are a counterintuitive Ying and Yang that creates a ripple effect in Western society. In order to solve this ongoing debate, women must stop catering to a man’s every need while letting go of the idea that female virginity is sacred. Men, on the other hand, must learn to grow up and leave Neverland. Female virginity is anything but a singular definition.

Men in power have and continue to confine female virginity to a woman who has never had penetrative vaginal sexual intercourse. Because men hold the uppermost power in Western societies, women have been conditioned to believe that female virginity is an exclusive definition. The current, and singular, definition of female virginity dismisses a woman’s ability to make a choice. No single definition of female virginity will suffice unless women have the absolute right to define female virginity on personal terms.

Female virginity has no physical value hence a woman is unable to lose female virginity— unless that idea is closest to the woman’s definition of female virginity. Laura M. Carpenter, an author and associate professor of sociology at Vanderbilt University, claims, “…interpreting virginity loss as a step in a process holds the most promise for enhancing the ability of all people, regardless of gender or sexual identity, to experience virginity loss in ways that are empowering, health-enhancing, and consonant with their desires” (Carpenter 362). Carpenter’s definition argues since virginity loss is a process and not a singular action, the idea is applicable to virtually anyone— any woman. Contradictorily, Carpenter fails to acknowledge that virginity is anything besides loss. Carpenter’s definition has quite the opposite effect, nowhere near health-enhancing and empowering; Carpenter’s definition confines a woman’s freedom of choice. Viewing virginity as something a woman loses is anything but progressive— Carpenter’s thesis is regressive in its manner. A proposal inclusive to all women, regardless of sexuality, experience, and personal identity would be to disregard viewing female virginity as a loss but rather viewing female virginity in itself a process determined by the woman. Female virginity is ambiguous and abstract, like the universe, female virginity is always expanding, surpassing all perceived barriers.  

Men hold superior power in society. Used as a weapon, limiting defining lines of female virginity protects men’s authority over women. In order to secure societal control and power, men objectify women as a whole in order to keep the status of women inferior to men— a practice that has been relevant for centuries in the West. Barbara L. Fredrickson and Tomi-Ann Roberts claim, “…men tend to be portrayed in print media and artwork with an emphasis on the head and face, and with greater facial detail, women tend to be portrayed with an emphasis on the body” (Fredrickson & Roberts 176). Women are seen in mass media as sexual objects for personal use and/or pleasure— often being portrayed as promiscuous. Such depictions in mass media damage the reputation women have in society, alienating women. As biased depictions reach more people, the more women will continue to face discrimination. Fredrickson and Roberts continues, asserting, “…the sexual objectification of the female body has clearly permeated our cultural milieu…” (Fredrickson & Roberts 177). The damage has been done. Because women are portrayed in media as sexual objects up for use, female virginity is narrowed to penile-vaginal intercourse. Slyly, this idea of female virginity takes the forefront of definitions in Western society because it allows men to stay on top. In order to alleviate discrimination against future women, men must not be portrayed as the end-all-be-all.  

Men with power define female virginity as avoiding penile-vaginal intercourse which in turn excludes women who express nonheterosexuality. In Western societies, heterosexuality is taught to be the forefront of sexualities. Linda Eyre, a contributor for the Canadian Journal of Education, argues, “…curricula continue to reflect heterosexist assumptions…” (Eyre 273). Eyre continues to argue that lesbian, bisexual, homosexual, gay, and transgender teachers and students alike are forced to stay silent about nonheterosexuality, claiming, “…many lesbian and gay students and teachers continue to hide their sexuality, often with disastrous personal consequences” (Eyre 274). This barrier creates distance between diverse peoples in larger society— a crisis that effects all peoples. As the classroom teaches individuals to stay silent about diverse sexualities, heterosexuality continues to dominate groups who are deemed minorities by the same men who objectify women and define female virginity. Penile-vaginal intercourse as the leading definition of female virginity is heterosexist— assuming every woman is heterosexual. This assumption is restricting and outdated for not every woman is heterosexual nor defines female virginity as avoiding penile-vaginal intercourse. Like viewing female virginity as a type of loss, also viewing female virginity as something only achievable by heterosexual couples is regressive. This singular definition fails completely. An abstract, female virginity is anything but a one line sentence but in order to exclude women of diverse backgrounds and to promote heterosexuality, men with power limit female virginity to one sentence. 

Female virginity is limitless and free flowing— a decision every woman has the right to make. A weak one line sentence, the current definition of female virginity, fails to meet a progressive outlook where all women have a freedom of choice. Ambiguity as the leading definition of female virginity is best because ambiguity allows for personal interpretation and lack of judgment in society. Complex, female virginity is multilayered with a lack of a singular answer. By defining female virginity as ambiguous, women are provided with a road point and or the decision to dismiss any definitions or ideas, if chosen— a choice, which women were without before this proposed definition. To ignore man’s persistence on objectifying women, in turn objectifying female virginity, women must ignore man’s persistence— difficult but achievable. Female virginity has no merit value as men like to debate. There is no debate. Women are anything and everything, not objects for a man’s personal use and or control. Misogynistic approaches towards defining female virginity are of the past an in order to stay in the past, women must hold ground in order to repel a conservative, singular definition of female virginity. Ambiguity will always be absolute. Meeting the progressive outlook women have the right to, in ambiguity there is freedom and a choice— a choice in which every woman is entitled to.

References

Parenthood, Planned. “Gender Identity & Roles: Feminine Traits & Stereotypes.” Planned Parenthood, Simon & Schuster, https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/gender-identity/sex-gender-identity/what-are-gender-roles-and-stereotypes.  

Eagly, Alice H., and Antonio Mladinic. “Gender Stereotypes and Attitudes toward Women and Men.” Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, vol. 15, no. 4, 1989, pp. 543–558., https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167289154008.

Parenthood, Planned. “What Is Virginity & the Hymen?: Losing Your Virginity.” Planned Parenthood, Simon & Schuster, https://www.plannedparenthood.org/learn/teens/sex/virginity.

Bersamin, Melina M, et al. “Defining Virginity and Abstinence: Adolescents’ Interpretations of Sexual Behaviors.” The Journal of Adolescent Health : Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Aug. 2007, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1941649/.

Jones, Jeffrey M. “LGBT Identification Rises to 5.6% in Latest U.S. Estimate.” Gallup.com, Gallup, 20 Nov. 2021, https://news.gallup.com/poll/329708/lgbt-identification-rises-latest-estimate.aspx.

CARPENTER, LAURA M. “Gender and the Meaning and Experience of Virginity Loss in the Contemporary United States.” Gender & Society, vol. 16, no. 3, 2002, pp. 345–365., https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243202016003005.  

Davidson, Neil. “Promoting Public Health through Public Art in the – Proquest.” Oh Boys! Sex Education and Young Men, ProQuest, 1996, https://www.proquest.com/docview/1560670647?accountid=13605.

Fredrickson, Barbara L., and Tomi-Ann Roberts. “Objectification Theory: Toward Understanding Women’s Lived Experiences and Mental Health Risks.” Psychology of Women Quarterly, vol. 21, no. 2, 1997, pp. 173–206., https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00108.x.

Kalkan, Melek, et al. “Peter Pan Syndrome ‘Men Who Don’t Grow’: Developing a Scale.” Men and Masculinities, vol. 24, no. 2, 2019, pp. 245–257., https://doi.org/10.1177/1097184×19874854.

Effortless Destruction of the Human Body

The human pursuit to make life as effortless as possible, has deemed the human body as the equivalent of a utilitarian piece of junk. What once was building railroads and large ocean liners to improve transportation, is now starting our cars at the push of a button. When food was necessary we plowed fields, shoveled dirt and grew it ourselves. Now, we simply go to the grocery store and have our pick of a plethora of items. Communication went from writing letters to speaking from around the world via zoom or facetime.  Exercise was part of our daily routines  while taking care of the necessities of life.  However, we find ourselves in the ironic situation of lifting heavy weights and putting them right back down where we found them and running on treadmills while staying in the exact place we’ve started. Healthy and active work is so scarce that we essentially perform useless tasks in order to get our necessary activity in for the day.

This leaves us to determine if our modern day society, while highly advanced and convenient, will prove to be beneficial when all is said and done.  We have to think to ourselves if innovation at this pace will be overwhelmingly positive, or have adverse effects.  From the very beginning of the human race, the human brain has developed new ways to make survival more and more attainable.  This started over 2 million years ago with the development of the earliest stone tools.  There was a continuous growth for survival even down to the human brain itself.  Even going from homo erectus to homo habilis there was an increase in brain capacity.  This went on to later have crucial creations such as the wheel.  This made life so much easier by taking a lot of labor out of the equation.  Crafting carts with wheels meant less walking, more trade, even cattle drawn carts to take on a lot of the agricultural needs.  Humans naturally kept advancing and soon enough in the early 1700’s the industrial revolution was upon us.  This redefined transportation and increased the profit ratio for entrepreneurs as they didn’t need as much labor in order to produce the same product.  This led all the way up to the technological era during the latter portion of the 20th century which skyrocketed items that would be accessible to the public to make household chores and communication much easier.  However, the daily tasks of life such as preparing a full meal for your family or physically working on your house or for a career have all been replaced by technology and machines.  Instant communication such as the internet and smartphones have distracted us from other forms of entertainment and have trapped us on the couch or in bed.  This is horrible for the body as we can sit and have the world at our fingertips without moving a muscle.  This has led to a lack of activity and physical exercise as we have cut out anything strenuous.  The article, The Evolution of Technology and Physcial Activity, explains that obesity and heart problems have skyrocketed; those classified as obese or overweight increasing by 30% since the 1960’s.  Even though many are living longer, the last years of life are often ruined by health concerns caused by inactivity.  We have improved life so much that it is starting to destroy us.

As problem solvers, we humans now find the cause, effect and solution of these blaring statistics.  It is evident that the lack of physical activity has made us physically inadequate.  “Only 1 in 4 US adults and 1 in 5 high school students meet the recommended physical activity guidelines,” says the article Lack of Physical Activity from the CDC.  This tells us that the majority of people in the US are not physically active enough to meet the standard amount of activity.  It is shown that medical complications due to this lack of activity have built up over $100 billion in medical bills annually.  The article from the CDC goes on to say cancer, diabetes and heart disease, three of the most deadly conditions, are directly linked to the lack of exercise.  Not only are we missing out on avoiding these horrible diseases, but we are also losing out on the extra benefits of physical activity.  This includes better sleep, physical and cognitive stamina increases and bone density/skeletal health.  The combination of eating right and exercising regularly takes stress off of your body in more ways than one.  Eating cleaner takes stress off digestion, exercising increases blood flow which takes stress off of your heart, and the combination of the two will reduce body mass which takes stress off bones and joints.  Our world has strirpped us of everything physical so in response, taking care of our body is absolutely necessary.  If we do not, our way of life is not set up for us to regularly get activity in.  Humans at one time needed to use every waking moment for survival, for food, water, and shelter. However, now we do not even need to leave the house.

While physical activity has outstanding health benefits, it is crucial to the well being and longevity of the human body. Due to technology, many of us succumb to a sedentary lifestyle.  The aim of this analysis in the article, Sedentary time in adults and the association with diabetes, cardiovascular disease and death,

was to take a closer look at the interconnection of sedentary time with health issues, specifically diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cardiovascular.  Research has been focused on seeking the links between the intensity of physical activity and overall health. The article goes on to say that most of this research overlooks the potential importance of the distinction between “sedentary activity and light-intensity physical activity.” Examples of sedentary behavior include sitting in a car, sitting at a computer, watching TV, etc.  Researchers featured in this article note that objective measures have demonstrated that the average adult spends 50-60% of their day in sedentary positions/activities. In addition, research showed that diabetes and death both have a strong association with a sedentary lifestyle.  Most human beings are practicing sedentary behavior for 50-60 percent of our days. Driving, TV time, desk time, etc.. People are either purely lazy or they are busy working at a desk all day long or traveling to work. Our lives are almost centered around technology in the workplace. It has honestly become such a habit and necessity in order to complete the most important tasks that even little things  like getting up to move or going to the gym seem so taxing and people either have a lot of trouble doing it or they skip out on it completely.  

With rising obesity and weight related medical conditions, there is a correlation of areas of the workforce decreasing in physical labor.  The decomposition of our once labor intensive and industrial work could be the cause of the utter lack of physical activity whatsoever.  A survey was taken among over 25,000 members of the British workforce, that took down their activity in all facets of their life.  As physical labor decreased, the trend was most likely the same across the board. This goes beyond simply the correlation of occupation and activity level.  “In Europe more than 65% of the adult population is insufficiently active, and this has been related to increasing levels of obesity and related diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and several forms of cancer,” according to the world health organization.  The amount of miles a person walks per year has gone down over 25% and is currently about less than a mile a day.  These effects were about the same in men and women, however the variation in results changed with regard to time period and region of the world. Our jobs are no longer taxing on the body and labor has been so divided up across industry that everything is easily accessible.  We’ve gone from spread out forms of manual labor to extremely specific areas of the workforce.  This specialized labor is done using the help of machines to pick up the slack of manpower.  Humans used to have to spend their days working for survival, but now they have everything in the palm of their hands.  This is obviously so much more efficient, but there is no way to get any of that hard work back into our quick pace, mass produced lifestyle.  On the flip side of this, the improvement overall has made our food supply suffer as a result.  It was a crazy train reaction of improving agriculture, which made food more accessible, which made people live longer, which meant more people to feed, which finally led to a need for more output, which hurt the quality of our food.  This means that we live in a world where food quality has gone down and on top of it there is no need to exert energy on physical activity on a daily basis.  While we will live longer we are more likely to suffer from a deadly disease later in life.  We’ve ironically decreased our quality of life as a result of continuously trying to perfect our quality of life.

Humans are completely consumed with the technological advances of today.  Whether it comes to communication, news outlets, agriculture, transportation, and so on; we are surrounded by it from the moment we wake up.  As humans we often take advantage of technological advances without any long term knowledge of the consequences.  For example, when canned food products came out in the early 1900’s.  People marveled at the convenience and accessibility of canned foods and they skyrocketed across the board.  Everything imaginable was canned with tons of preservatives and other ingredients to make it nonperishable.  Here, we saw an immediate short term benefit, but no one even thought that there could be anything wrong with consuming these products in such a high volume.  Looking back on this we see that there are so many health problems associated with this change in diet such as diabetes, high cholesterol and heart health in general.  Another example of this instant hit products that no one thought twice about were cigarettes.  People went from enjoying a smoke on airplanes and in hospitals, to now realizing the destruction that was caused by them. This is the scary part about very new ways of living and products we are exposed to.  Human nature has proved that if we like a product, we absolutely abuse it until we realize the hidden long term side effects.

The same can be said about human activity in today’s society.  To get a bit more specific, the comparison between physical exertion we once knew and physical exertion we now know is light years away from each other.  Picture a railroad being constructed  in order to successfully transport goods during the industrial revolution.  Let’s put ourselves in the position of a worker on this railroad assembling team.  You grab your shovel and start digging and evening the soil over endless yards of hard dirt and gravel.  When that is done you carry heavy pieces of steel and begin to line up and hammer in each piece one by one.  Driving heavy metal stakes into the ground with an even heavier sledge hammer.  You do this all day for your livelihood and it is the norm for your lifestyle.  Now, let’s take a look at what we have to do to get this same physical exertion.  Now, our role is an everyday person in today’s world going to the gym.  You pick up two dumbbells and press them over your shoulders and your heart rate starts going.  You do this for four sets of ten repetitions each.  You finish up and put the dumbbells back on the rack where you got them. You then move to the bench press where you load up heavy plates on both sides of a metal bar.  You begin pressing the weight to your chest over and over again.  You stretch your muscles with each repetition to trigger growth in the pectorals.  You then carry the weights back and place them back on the rack as you did before.  You do this over and over with each exercise for 45 minutes to get some form of activity in your.  However, there’s a huge difference when comparing both scenarios.  Digging into the ground with shovel and dumbbell pressing both work the muscles in your shoulders and upper back, but digging into the ground with a shovel was done out of productivity.  There is no byproduct of working out at a gym besides achieving physical fitness.  The point being made is that physical activity and laboring over a job or for survival used to go hand and hand.  We did not need to even think about finding ways to physically challenge ourselves because that was already included in the day’s work.  Industrialization, while convenient, has taken once necessary human labor out of the equation.  We now have cranes, jack hammers, and other industrial tools to assemble railroads.  The irony is that the man or woman working these machines could very possibly be an inactive and overall unhealthy person.   We continue to try and find the quickest and most effortless way to complete tasks and it is killing our chances of living a healthy and extended life.  

We’ve seen obesity explode in the U.S.  In the paper, “The Growth of Obesity and Technological Change,” there is a correlation between the price of physical activity in relation to the food we purchase.  “In a post-industrial and redistributive society, such as the United States, most work entails little exercise and not working may not cause a large reduction in weight, because food stamps and other welfare benefits are available to people who do not work.”  This quotation from the paper dives into the fact that after becoming so advanced we are not required to do much manual labor at all.  The authors go on to say that this has in a sense made physical activity more expensive in an abstract sense.  We now need to set aside time and money to get our physical activity outside of our occupation/daily life.  When this has become too “expensive” we have seen our health as a society deteriorate and our body weight to increase dramatically across the board.  Along with this lack of physical activity, the food that is being sold to us has been decreasing in quality year over year.  This is due to the ongoing growth of the population where agriculture is left to find the fastest ways to get food out.  Corners are cut in order to produce food at this volume and this inevitably hurts the quality of the products.  Also, cheaper foods are higher in calories, sugars and preservatives.  This economically looks appealing, but is often horrible for our bodies if consumed on a regular basis.  The higher the quality, the higher the price.  This obviously makes sense, as something that is overall healthier or better for your body would be more costly, but it is a sad reality that the majority of the foods found in a grocery store have been mass produced and as filling as possible.  It’s no wonder that we see amazing deals on huge bottles of sodas and family sized bags of chips.  These companies have products that are loaded with horrible ingredients, but they have us hooked on the addictive taste.  They have perfected their manufacturing to have unbelievable margins, and the public eats it up, no pun intended.  We buy these items in bulk and households go right to them, eating and drinking morning to night. As a society, we need to take a step back and slow down this mass produced influx of technology and unhealthy consumption.  Everything is so fast paced that we do not even realize we are jeopardizing our health in ways that haven’t even been discovered as of yet.We need to turn around our relationship with food and active lifestyles and find a way to “cheapen” the price of getting ourselves moving during the day.  Without it we are going to regress quickly and that should be motivation to spend our days with our bodies in mind.

With this need for the gym and the overwhelming growth in popularity of the fitness industry, you could make a case there are underlying motivators other than just health.  While going to the gym offers many health benefits, we see that there are also other unwanted factors such as compulsive exercise or severe critique of one’s body image.  The physiological advantages of working out can often take over a person’s life as they are addicted to these results.  This is relatable to anorexia nervosa where a person associates the act of starving themselves with the result of looking “better”.  At the start these two mindsets have positive goals such as losing some weight toning up the body, however those who struggle with excessive exercise can run their bodies into the ground from always chasing this look of lean muscle.

However, it is tough to distinguish what determines an exercise addiction.  According to Compulsive Exercise: links, risks and challenges faced, “The amount of weekly exercise is not an indicator of compulsive patterns, as the definition states that it is the physical, psychological, and social harm resulting from the exercise that is important.”  Therefore,  simply working out extremely often does not automatically categorize you as someone with compulsive exercise addiction.  There needs to be a correlation between the amount you are working out and the reason or motivation behind it.  For many, working out is a hobby and something that is apart of their routine.  However, it becomes a problem when someone is working out because they feel if they fail to workout they , in their eyes, will look physically unattractive.  This is where energy can be depleted, increased stress on the heart, chronic injury and many others occur.  In the case of repeated exercise, your body is not able to recover which can be detrimental long term.  A study was conducted on marathon runners to compare their blood samples against an average person’s.  Heart Risk Associated With Extreme Exercise found that biomarkers associated with heart damage were in the samples of the long distance runners.  These are able to be naturally repaired after some time, but if continued you can permanently scar your heart.  Research related to these studies also suggest that sudden cases of cardiac arrest were associated with over exercising.  Exercise can also be very counterintuitive.  Many seek the benefits of exercise which are increased energy and blood flow throughout the day, which can help to be more productive and to feel better.  However, when over exercising a common occurrence is completely burning yourself out which in turn stops you from exercising.  What a lot of people who struggle with this addiction will then do is when they get back they try to go even harder to make up for lost time, but then find themselves in a vicious cycle of trying to stay healthy.

Moreover, just as we see people trying to slim down through cardiovascular exercise we also see the opposite in muscle dysmorphia.  Bodybuilding is something that has become increasingly popular since the golden age somewhere between the 50’s and 70’s.  This has inspired many young adults to become infatuated with sculpting their bodies.  This however, can be taken much too far.  In a state of what many call “reverse anorexia” an individual will try to get their muscles as big and toned as possible.  In the article Is Bodybuilding a Disorder, they refer to this issue saying, “People who suffer from anorexia believe they are too big, while bodybuilders believe they are too small… both of which affect their perception of their body image.”  Both of these are just as dangerous, because if not treated they could do serious damage to internal organs.  This dysmorphia through exercise is also mentally taxing as many cases show that individuals will cut out their family, careers and other interests in order to satisfy their desire to be physically appealing.  Looking at this through a very blunt lens, we could make the case that these types of disorders wouldn’t have existed if we did not eliminate physical activity as a society.  If everyone was getting enough exercise from their daily routine, then there wouldn’t be such a fixation on trying to starve ourselves and workout profusely to make up for this lack of activity.  Many try to solve the problem of inactive lifestyles for horrible habits such as these and take drastic measures in order to achieve the physique of someone who is active daily.  We learn from these types of conditions that the body needs both rest and activity to maintain health.

In conclusion, the health benefits of physical activity are evident and should be taken into account by our society in its entirety.  Human labor and effort is what this amazing infrastructure we live in was created from.  We are meant to move around and be productive and use our energy that has sustained us as a species for thousands of years to keep our bodies from breaking down.  It may seem counterintuitive to go to the gym and use weights and machines to physically exert ourselves, only to have physical health alone as the result.  However, this is a necessary sacrifice we have to make as we’ve done so well as a society to rid ourselves of inconvenient and difficult labor.  It is a bittersweet reality, but one we as individuals have to come to terms with as we live our lives.  

References

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