For the past few months all I have heard from my friends is: "Watch Game of Thrones, its so good!" So I finally caved and started watching the HBO series a few weeks ago. I've got to admit that it is pretty good, and I've been watching it almost constantly, but one thing has been bothering me: the difference in male and female body image as represented on the show. All of the older men are plump, unshaven, and often barbaric looking, which is very realistic. Back in those times the noble class was often overweight, a sign of wealth since they could afford to eat that much food. However, the women on the show are all stick skinny and beautiful. It is extremely unrealistic that they all look like this, with perfect makeup and curled hair. In doing so, the show echoes the societal makeup of our present day-society. Women are expected to be skinny and beautiful, even in old age, while less is expected of the men.
I also noted that the men are almost always constantly eating and drinking, but the women are not. In the dinner scenes the men are usually always talking with their mouths full as they wolf down food, but the women just sit there, never touching their plates. The only scene where a women drinks is when she is commanded to do so by her husband, and even then she only has one sip. It echoed the values of anorexia in the way the women are never shown consuming any food, and are all unrealistically skinny.
-Elle Callahan
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