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The Frenc h Regim e American an d French pattern s of weight control share a combination o f consistenc y an d change . Bot h establishe d certai n theme s early on, some of them quit e similar, some rather different . A t the same time , both shifte d considerabl y ove r what i s now a full cen tury o f modern weigh t contro l history . Both, amon g othe r things , worked towar d greate r rigor . Bot h incorporate d ne w medica l knowledge an d ne w fashions , a s wel l a s a variet y o f change s i n specific strategies. French weight-contro l history , a s w e hav e seen , wen t throug h three fairl y well-define d stages , from a definite bu t conteste d first phase, through th e intensificatio n perio d betwee n th e wars, to the establishment o f a fairly definit e rhyth m alon g wit h greate r rigo r after Worl d War II . Yet a numbe r o f persistent feature s accompa nied thes e shifts . Som e emerg e fro m th e Frenc h material s them selves , fo r example , th e opennes s t o nondietar y solution s — or hopes — that runs from the first commercial products offered t o the recent passion for reducin g creams . Other consistencie s requir e at least an informal comparativ e context, like the tendency to emphasize standard s an d word s derive d fro m aesthetic s ove r moralisti c impulses. Befor e turnin g t o a final comparativ e explanatio n tha t embraces bot h Franc e an d th e Unite d States , we nee d t o isolat e some of the chief French features for their own sake, including the striking relationship between culture and reality. As it emerged afte r 1900 , and certainl y b y the interwa r period , the Frenc h approac h t o obesit y harbore d a distinctiv e interna l tension, eve n beyon d th e nee d t o confron t a traditio n o f fine 187 8 188 | The French Regime cuisine. The Frenc h strain s differe d fro m characteristi c American ambivalence betwee n a n explici t focu s o n weigh t and a consider able interest in using fat as a symbolic surrogate for moral degeneracy . The French , a s we will see , largely avoided thi s pairing . Bu t they did dance between strong insistence on personal responsibilit y for fa t (plu s th e aestheticall y disgracefu l consequence s o f failure ) and a desire to argue that keeping trim pose d n o great difficulties . One o f th e reason s doctor s lon g debate d th e rol e o f inheren t problems cause d b y rea l bodil y infirmities , a s oppose d t o simpl e overeating, apart from a Gallic delight in labeling, was to clear the way fo r a simpl e statemen t o f responsibilit y combine d wit h a n equally simple indicatio n o f how the responsibilit y coul d b e exer cised . Thus Michel Perin i n 1954 still worried about separating the overeaters fro m thos e "les s responsible " fo r thei r condition . Bu t while th e obes e perso n wa s usuall y "mos t responsible, " anothe r colleague ha d stipulate d i n th e 1930 s that "n o on e remain s obes e who has the willpower to slim down."] Whil e there was no logical contradiction involve d betwee n pinnin g dow n causatio n an d reas suring about remediation, there was a practical one. If it was up to the individual to live up to the standards of weight control, but the task was not too arduous, why then mak e muc h fus s a t all? To be sure, onc e the y settle d int o th e ne w cultur e b y th e 1950s , th e French di d discuss the matter less than Americans. Reminders, not monthly reinvention s o f the wheel, ofte n sufficed . Still , there was a choic e t o be mad e...

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