VOIR COUTURE

In the May/June and July/August issues of the UTNE READER, new words and phrases are coined and used -- healthism; healthist; our body--a biological machine; ageism; the body politic; the morality of muscle tone; are we confusing health with goodness; is health a sign of moral purity. Finally, both here and in other publications, we are seeing writers questioning the total emphasis of determining our value as a person by how we look.

Self-help books are now being published that tell how to stop living in self-help groups, programs and books and start "living lite". One author, after losing weight, "overcoming addictions", says she was only a thinner average human who had lost years of her life trying to become someone else's ideal person.

Some suggest that the media is at fault, portraying the ideal in stories and ads. Common sense tells us that companies who advertise with a magazine or newspaper will have articles on their companies if they request. After all, magazines and newspapers are for profit. One recent bridal magazine I just read showed exactly that to the extreme. There wasn't one "expert" as a columnist or quoted in an article in the magazine that wasn't from a business that had an ad in that magazine.

When fashion trends are reported, whose trends are they? Most probably, they are the ones represented by merchandise carried in the stores thatpurchase advertising in the magazine or newspaper.

Among the trends now reported is menswear for women: bright men's ties, trousers, vests, etc. Have we confused the terms "equal" and "same"? I don't want to be the "same" as a man. Do you? I'm sure African American, American Indian, Asian, Hispanic or other ethnic individuals don't want to be the "same" as Caucasian.

One of my heroes is Willard Scott. He talks about his weight and hair with love. Somestimes he wears a hairpiece or a hat, sometimes not. His heroes are the "happy birthday" people 100 and over. He doesn't hide his lack but rather accepts and loves who he is. Because of this, he has love to give to everyone he meets. I would like to be more like Mr. Scott; wouldn't you?