Will the work eschew body positivism? Studies prove it. there is a correlation between leanness, higher earnings, and promotion. A social indicator and symbol of a controlled life, weight becomes another dictate in women’s careers.
Emily Charlton is an ambitious young woman. She worked for months to land a much-coveted assignment at her paper, accompanying the editor-in-chief to the Paris Fashion Week shows. She’s also starved herself to fit the body image her magazine sells…and fit into cute size 34 outfits. A last-minute accident took him down, his partner (size 38) briefly replaced him. notification. “You don’t deserve it,” he whispers, “you’re eating carbs. »
The highly caricatured scene comes from David Frankel’s film, The Devil Wears Prada (2006). But according to Elizabeth, a business manager in the luxury sector, it paints a very realistic portrait of a “violent” world that is also her own. A cosmopolitan and elitist world where women must control their weight in order to have any hope of breaking through and succeeding. Moreover, the fifty-year-old young man, who lives between Paris, London, Los Angeles and New York, bluntly says: The idea is to avoid double meals because of the time difference, and above all, avoid the ones on the plane.
Significant effect
A fan of alternative fasting, which allowed him to lose 8 kg, he explains that maintaining this rhythm and controlling the foods he eats (always fresh and healthy, unprocessed) allows him to maintain the energy required for life between four time zones. “Thinness is a code, a social marker,” she adds. This is a bias we never talk about because it is also unspoken; must be well dressed and presentable. Now thin means presentable. Because as soon as you gain a little weight, in the eyes of others, you quickly feel that you have become the strongest person in the meeting. Today, I would say that almost all women in my professional circle have an eating disorder or a complicated relationship with their weight. »
Elizabeth’s anxiety, which daily turns into a kind of orthorexia (a preoccupation with healthy eating), is silently shared by many employees who develop it throughout their careers and across all industries. In his review from 1990 When beauty hurts (1), the American Naomi Wolf argued that the requirement of “professional beauty” (these are her terms), which implies weight, was imposed on all workers in non-physical occupations from the moment they began to leave home together. join offices. The 1960s, according to him, “were the times of promotion of the commercial image of the presenter, model and executive secretary.”
Weight gain and loss of income
Today the codes have changed. You need to establish yourself as thin, not subservient or sick, and even less fragile. Toned muscles, a natural and toned silhouette have become the (illusory) symbol of a 100% controlled life. The work itself is an investment, note the American studies. Both figuratively and literally. As the numbers now prove it. the weight of women (more so than men) affects recruitment, their career development and thus their pay. Already in 2011, an Anglo-American study showed that very thin women earned an average of $22,000 (€20,520 today) more per year than those of average weight, and that, conversely, obese women lost $19,000 (€17,720). ) compared to the latter. In 2022, American economist David Lempert confirmed that a 10% increase in women’s body mass corresponds to a 6% loss in income…
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The circle is vicious: the more money you have, the better you can eat and take care of yourself, and vice versa. Green juicesPilates or yoga classes, sports leisure classes have costs, as well as the costs of caring for your children during this time dedicated to you… So Eurostat tells us that the social situation in France widens the gap between the very poor (19%). obese) and very wealthy women (only 8% affected). Double injustice with consequences that could not be more subtle.
I owe my position to my skills and work, not my weight. But would I beat it with 10 kg more?
Maud, worker
Criteria of belonging
In all his recent investigations Eat the rich. The class struggle takes place on a plate (2), journalist Nora Boazuni emphasizes. “We live in a society where meritocracy has a central place. We remove that which remains in the order of determinism, such as social origin or skin color. According to him, the cult of thinness in the company is as obvious as it is unspoken. “Through thinness, you prove your loyalty to the category of good people,” she explains. Our economic system overvalues productivism, and leanness has a place in this scheme; in a society of abundance, those who can limit themselves are necessarily associated with the upper class. »
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“When we wave all the photos of Jennifer Lopez without makeup under our noses, we make people believe she’s an available model, when she sleeps twelve hours a night, has a nutritionist. and a sports coach. It’s the “women can do anything” mirage that leaves many. In France, it is socially valued to be careful about what you eat. This is why anorexia and orthorexia affect women from rich and very rich social backgrounds more. thinness is an outward sign of wealth and moral virtue,” he adds.
Race for perfection
Maud works in a profession where appearance is crucial. Like Elizabeth, she has the impression that she has integrated these codes independently. “In leadership positions, you have to appear to be in control of your image, your time, and your personal life,” he analyzes. I owe my position to my skills and work, not my weight. But would I beat it with 10 kg more? The question is appropriate. His job requires him to invest in his health every day, just like an athlete. “In addition to staying fit and toned, I have to be a good manager, represent my company externally, provide for my children’s education, shop responsibly, with less meat but still enough protein to be productive… A real Tetris. My body is my ally, I help support it, but I often tell myself that I would be 3 kg stronger. Today, the race for perfection involving women has been reinvented without liberating them. Till when ?
(1) When beauty hurts, by Naomi Wolf, First Editions, 308 pages, €70. Available at amazon.com.
(2) Eat the rich. The class struggle takes place on a plate, by Nora Bouazuni, Nourriturfu Publications, 160 pages, €15. Available at leslibraires.fr.
(3) Resumption – taboo of women’s condition after childbirth, by Thi Nhu An Pham, Payot Publications, 304 pages, €18. Available at leslibraires.fr.
Source: Le Figaro
