Lara: Natalia, I really enjoyed your new book, Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of America’s Exercise Obsession. I recognized so much from my own experiences – Jane Fonda and her high-cut leotards that inspired dance fashion during my teen years; dreading the Presidential Fitness test in high school; watching the yoga craze flow through the dance… Read more →
Tag: Exercise
The Freshman Fifteen: A Stigmatized Phenomenon
Seventeen magazine popularized the phrase “freshman fifteen” in 1989 and the phrase remains ubiquitous in U.S. culture today.1 Seventeen’s cover story “Fighting the Freshman 15” depicted the inevitable weight gain as an uphill, hopeless battle. The so-called “freshman fifteen” fostered a legendary nervous epidemic amongst students, especially women, entering their first year of college. How… Read more →
The Gendered Politics of Sweat
The topic of sweat always comes to my mind as I get ready for summer. I am and always have been an avid exerciser, and I sweat a lot. As a teenager and into my early 20s, I was very self-conscious about this, in part due to the comments I received from other people. Instead… Read more →