Text interpretation activity, proposed for students in the eighth or ninth year of elementary school, with reading and text interpretation exercises "The weight of the stereotype”.
This Portuguese language activity is available for download in an editable Word template, ready to print in PDF and also the completed activity.
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SCHOOL: DATE:
PROF: CLASS:
NAME:
With regard to eating disorders, we can divide humanity into two large groups, those who eat too little and those who eat too much. The former comprise those who lack food – the inhabitants of the Third World – and those who, even though they have food, refuse it for emotional reasons. The abundance of food and the voracity, in turn, generated the problem of obesity, which, even in countries like Brazil, is today a public health issue.
Extreme obesity is associated with diabetes, high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, joint problems. And it results in a body image that is not the most pleasant – contrary to what happened in the past, when the greatest threat was represented by malnutrition. Chubby women were valued, as can be seen in the paintings by Rubens or Cézanne. At the time of the latter, the broad spectrum was tuberculosis, commonly associated with extreme thinness. For the same reason, in Hottentot culture women with large buttocks are valued; the fat deposited there is equivalent to a “savings” more important than any bank savings. Things have changed: "you can never be too rich or to thin” is a common saying in the United States. In other words: excess wealth or thinness does not harm. Wealth is a symbol of success, thinness is the image of elegance. The body became an object to be displayed. And this results in a conflict: on one side is the food industry, with all its gigantic propaganda; that way, no one goes to the movies without taking a container of popcorn with them (as if you couldn't go two hours without eating). On the other hand, we have the stigma represented by obesity. The result is a psychic conflict that manifests itself in various ways, most notably anorexia nervosa. Which is nothing new. Already in the Middle Ages, St. Catherine of Siena became famous for avoiding food. He ate very little, just enough not to starve. But the reason there was religious; greed was a sin, withholding food was a virtue. The emotional conflict that leads to anorexia is of a different nature, and much more recent. Until the 1950s, anorexia nervosa was little more than a medical curiosity. But in the mid-1970s a study showed that about 10% of Swedish teenagers were anorexic. In 1980, psychological eating disorders were already one of the most frequent problems among American university students. Gender, in this case, is fundamental because anorexia is much more frequent among girls. Social class is also important: the middle class is more prone to it than the poor.
Studying anorexia and other eating disorders has become a medical priority. Here it is necessary to highlight the pioneering role of the American psychiatrist Hilde Bruch, in the 70s. Based on vast experience, Bruch showed that anorexia resulted from a conflict between desire to meet the social expectations of a slender silhouette and the desire to eat, fostered by media. And why is this more common in females? Because, says Bruch, boys have other ways of expressing their conflicts, through youth revolt, for example. Among girls, the family profile is also important. The anorexic comes from a family where the father or mother, or both, are successful, ambitious people, concerned about physical appearance, and pushing their daughter to be slim and elegant. The result can be unbearable emotional overload, with devastating consequences, not least because anorexia can be accompanied by severe hormonal disturbances. And often the young woman will need specialized therapeutic follow-up.
In terms of body weight, as in terms of emotional charge, the ideal is neither lack nor excess. The ideal is balance, but for this society needs to be aware of the problems represented by the stereotypes it creates.
Taken from the magazine Bem Viver – Mente & Cérebro, year 13, n.152.
1) According to the text, how are eating disorders characterized?
2) What problem does the abundance of food and the voracity bring to human health?
3) What problems does extreme obesity cause to human health?
4) According to the text, what was the greatest threat to public health in the past? It's because?
5) Do you agree with a popular saying in the United States: “excess wealth or thinness does not harm”? Justify your answer.
6) According to the text, women who were valued in the past were “chubby” with large buttocks. That reality has changed. Today the “body has become an object to be exhibited”. Explain why?
7) Anorexia nervosa, according to the text, is an eating disorder that causes weight loss. What gender and social class is it most frequent?
8) In relation to body weight and emotional overload caused by the search for the perfect body, what is the recipe indicated by the Bem Viver Magazine?
By Rosiane Fernandes Silva – Graduated in Letters
At answers are in the link above the header.
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