Harry's rules...

[fajrdrako]

My friend Lynne brought me this list of ways to live well and healthily, from a book called Younger Next Year for Women by Chris Crowley and Henry S. Lodge. A better list than most, and doable:

Harry's Rules

1
Exercise six days a week for the rest of your life.

2
Do serious aerobic exercises four days a week for the rest of your life.

3
Do serious strength training, with weights, two days a week for the rest of your life.

4
Spend less than you make.

5
Quit eating crap!

6
Care.

7
Connect and commit.

Comments

[cleverthylacine]

yeah, no, I love how exercise 6 days a week is at the top and 'care' is next to last.

[fajrdrako]

I wonder if they were supposed to be listed in order of important - first to last, or last to first? But it was written by a doctor, so he probably thought exercise should be the first thing. I take them as being all equally important.

[ceruleancat]

Yeah, I love how the book is "for women", and the list is by a male doctor.
Now wait it gets better, i just clicked the link.
a. Book by two males (white middle-aged, to boot) advising women; book cover is PINK.
b. They have another book: How to live young. Cover yellow. I assume this one is not directed at women. Is that for the living in general or does underspecification mean its for men?

Sorry. This sort of thing really annoys me. The information on the list itself is good, though nothing earth-shatteringly new either.

[fajrdrako]

I don't know if the information in the book is new, or if the other book is just for men; I haven't read it yet. But I don't particularly mind male doctors writing books aimed at women - for one thing, that's the big market; for another, the health rules are (somewhat) different; for another, I'm just as happy to read books from women doctors.

The pink cover annoyed me, too, but that kind of cover design always does: black and red for horror, pink or red for women, grey or brown for mysteries... Books really don't need to be colour-coded that way.

[ceruleancat]

I got annoyed because of the combination. I don't have a particular problem with the list, and I don't have a problem with doctors, of any sex or gender, advising on health issues for women, which are different to some extent. It's the authority male advising women in a didactic tone on how to look young. And that's amplified by the choice of colour coding, which marks the type of marketing intended.
Yes, this type of thing is big business, and the colours are standard. That's just it. It's the trend and its implications, and the stereotypes that are continually reinforced through it. With all the progress, in some ways our culture is no better than it was 50 years ago.
The info itself has merit, and I'm sorry to rant at you like this. I probably wouldn't have had this reaction if I hadn't seen the book title and clicked the link. I just can't not see the politics.

[fajrdrako]

I can relate to the problem; it happens too often. I liked this list, so it doesn't bother me in this case, but the trend bothers me a lot.

And in way too many ways, I think our culture is worse than it was 50 years ago.

[ceruleancat]

I hear you. At least in some ways it is better.

Wanna chat?

[fajrdrako]

I didn't get this message till this morning... went to bed early, for a change, as I so often intend to do.