after graduating from high school, i received one of the most influential gifts ever given to me: vegan cupcakes take over the world. yes, i can thank my lovely sister lori for changing my life. for a solid year, i made vegan cupcakes like i owned a bakery. several batches a week! it taught me that when you give people cupcakes, it makes them happy, then they love you. {as illustrated by the diagram below.} by the way, this is just background information - i'm getting to my point in a moment. anyway, this is a natural cycle, process of life. give people delicious things to eat and they will love you.
cupcake-love diagram
HOWEVER.
in my experience, this apparently universal truth is subject to a complete phenomena when the female brain hits age twenty. see, when i moved into my first apartment, one of the first things i said to my new roommate was, "hey. i'm going to make you cupcakes and you're going to love me." {okay, not literally, but you get the idea. i did in fact tell her i was going to make her cupcakes.} she replied with, "no, don't! i don't want to eat that. i'll throw them away!"
that was the beginning of the decline in my delectable pastry baking. since that time, i have always had at least one roommate who protested the making of sweet-things in the apartment. {with several small-period exceptions.} therefore, i should not have been surprised when not one, but two of my roommates this summer protest the making of only-slightly-unhealthy delishishness.
here's the kicker:
i've recently learned that it isn't just my roommates. oh, sure, give cupcakes to the male interns and they'd have a party! but, to the gals? think again.
one is abstaining from all desserts for the entire summer {believe me, sugar's in more than desserts, ladies.} one will eat desserts, but only if it doesn't make her calorie-count for the day spike too much. another, zero carbohydrates for the summer. yet another will only eat bread on the weekends, and her roommate is supporting the goal by joining in the obsessive restriction of all things bread.
are we stressed, ladies?
don't get me wrong, i've had my share of sugar-free days, weeks, months... my sister has been upset more than once by my restriction of sweets. i've had my share of eating obsessions, but from them i've learned that over restriction and dieting only leads to binging, out-of-whack hormones, and still more obsession.
it's time we reconsider the pressure we're putting on ourselves, don't you think?
because after all, with the demands we're placing on our bodies and minds, eventually something's going snap.
i've started reading the triple bind, and it speaks to me. it talks about the pressures of being female in today's society, and yaknow... they have a point.
more to follow.
