After
reading the first few pages of Fat Shame by Amy Erdman Farrell, in which
she discusses the different aims Americans have taken at weight loss, a thought
struck me: The Shake Weight. This thought occurred to me in the way of, “wow,
this product should be included in this book”. In the long line of ridiculous
fitness ideas, from crash diets to pills to tape worms, the Shake Weight brings
a different approach.
When
the Shake Weight was first introduced as a fitness product to the world, it was
aimed at females inclusively. At first glance, and perhaps most glances, it
appears as hilarious because it almost looks like it is preparing a woman to be
better at ‘showing a man a good time’. The way it works is that you get it to
shake back and forth as fast as you can for up to six minutes. The idea is to
work muscles in a faster and more accurate fashion than lifting standard
weights at the gym, or at home. According to Ellen DeGeneres, it works.
Ellen
was so impressed with the product that she bought one for her guests and
everyone in her audience. Although she also thought the product was hilarious,
the main reason it appears on her show, she decided to try it and found another
ridiculous fitness idea. However, this isn’t the first ‘fitness’ product that
Ellen has tried, there is also “3-Minute Legs”, an Ab Machine and others. After
Ellen aired her episode on the Shake Weight she declared that there should also
be a male version, instead of the one that is “for females”. Apparently the creators
thought the same, as a Shake Weight for Men was soon on the market.
Not
only is there a Shake Weight for Men, but there is also a website dedicated
especially to cater to the product: www.shakeweightformen.com.
The video on this website is slightly different from the one shown above (the
second video in this blog), because it advertises for the updated version:
Shake Weight for Men Pro. The Pro version allows for adjustable resistance,
where you can decide how tough you want your work out to be. “You can change
the intensity of your workout from Moderate, to Intense, to Insane.”
The
need for products to help a person obtain an ‘ideal body’ relates back to the
text (Fat Shame). Throughout history humans, mainly in America, have
needed this reassurance that they weren’t overweight, heavy, curvy, big-boned,
or any other word that may cover for fat. This ‘ideal body’ is the one the
media shows us to try and state that the way we look isn’t alright. However, it
is possible to be both healthy and fat at the same time. This isn’t something
that many see as true, because visibility is such an important factor to how we
perceive a situation, such as what is fat.
Fat is
more than a word, but a movement, a study, a culture. When you deem someone
fat, they go out and try obscene products such as the Shake Weight. This
product is just one in the long line of failed attempts on making themselves
into the ‘ideal body’. When will the obsession end?
I do agree that the shake weight is just another product in the long line of failed and forgotten products in the diet and exercise industry, but how long through history has it really been this big of a deal? It seems as though only within the last century Americans have become much more self aware of how big our bodies are. Before that it was much more along the lines of fat meant that you could afford the food and the leisure time required to gain the extra weight that got you the desired wealthy status. I like that you made the point that the shake weight was first aimed exclusively at females, because usually we're the ones who have our bodies examined with a higher standard. I just want to point out that the shake weight for women tells you that you'll "be proud of the way you look" implying that without perfectly sculpted arms, back, and chest you should be ashamed of yourself.
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