Recently, I read that a 1960’s singer, Bobby Rydell passed away. One of the roles he was most known for however, was in the 1963 movie “Bye Bye Birdie”. This very dated musical also starred a very young Ann-Margret and Paul Lynde, one of the original guys in the old Hollywood Squares television game show. One of the musical numbers in the show was Ann-Margret singing a song called “How Lovely To Be a Woman”. Back in the 1960’s, when this movie was made, there certainly were different “roles” and opportunities available to women than in the present day. As archaic as it sounds, most women were “stay at home” spouses/mothers, relegated to roles that did not allow for growth, subjected to incredible sexism/abuse at the workplace and in many other ways, were made to feel that it was not so “lovely to be a woman”.
Fast forward to the present day: My opinion is that there is now MUCH more pressure on females than decades ago. The reasons? I believe the major reason involves the necessity of females to not only handle all of the “traditional” roles that women have been tasked with in the past (the nurturing parent to the children, ensuring the household is clean/stays intact, managing pretty much everything involving the family) BUT also, being responsible for driving income for the family. In many cases, females are generating far more income than their spouses.
Unlike in the 1960’s when June Cleaver was cleaning the house wearing pearls/high heels, and making dinner for Ward and the boys, nowadays, “Mom” is working a 8-10 hour day AND doing everything else that June did. The pressure? Incredibly high.
To the weight control arena and how this impacts weight control: To successfully lose weight people must be able to focus and spend time on their efforts:
- Planning meals
- Shopping for the “right” foods
- Carving out exercise time
- Ensuring time is allotted for three meals a day and snacks
- Drinking plenty of water
No offense to us males, but females will often spend so much time prioritizing everyone else’s issues that they find themselves not spending any time on “me”. This translates into much difficulty in controlling weight.
The obesity rate now compared to 1963: 3.5 X more. One of the major reasons: Added pressure on females. Men reading this: Please pitch in more at home to help and allow your spouse to free up more time to focus on her/his weight control efforts. Women reading this: Please do not feel guilty spending time on “me”.
And here is a very dated song from a very dated musical;
