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10 Conclusion: The Fat' s i n th e Fir e Keeping to a diet is a serious component of modern cultur e an d a major innovatio n in the panoply of personal concerns and commitments . The standard s carr y deep socia l root s as well a s individual constraints, a s weight contro l add s t o bu t als o reflect s majo r fea tures o f modern life . The meaning s o f modern hostilit y t o fat ar e particularly comple x i n th e Unite d States , bu t the y ru n wel l be neath th e surfac e i n Franc e a s well. I n bot h countries , anxietie s about weight provide an essential balance to other modern trends ; simply holding the line amid growing affluence, aging , and declin ing physica l exertio n require s a decisiv e ne w cultura l statement . But dietin g i s fascinatin g beyon d it s rol e a s a dail y constrain t because o f wha t i t ma y sa y abou t othe r mora l uncertaintie s i n modern life , becaus e o f it s redefinitio n an d standardizatio n o f physical beauty , an d becaus e o f it s symboli c testimon y t o goo d character and personal discipline. The religiou s analogy risks overuse for a secular age , but i n thi s cas e i t is real: a commitment t o dieting (eve n withou t ful l success ) ca n b e a moral statemen t a t a time when more conventional statements have less meaning. In previous chapters, we have traced the formation o f a pervasive new Western code, albeit with variant statements in the two nations we have examined. The code is still tentative, though i t is invested not onl y wit h rationa l argument s bu t wit h th e feeling s o f disgus t for deviation tha t provide emotional underpinning s fo r fundamen tal social regulations. Many people have yet to live up to the code, and some of them ma y yet reject i t — even in France. The tensio n between widely accepted standards and incomplete achievement is 247 248 I Conclusion: The Fat's in the Fire very real . I t i s conceivable tha t th e cod e wil l b e increasingl y dismissed , replace d b y a ne w toleranc e an d a n admissio n tha t fat , too, ca n b e beautiful . Recen t America n weigh t trend s hav e bee n accompanied b y plea s t o dro p th e whol e campaign . Eve n i n France, reports of greater leniency i n the feeding o f children rais e the prospec t tha t othe r value s (i n thi s case , a desire t o build ne w bonds wit h children , give n th e erosio n o f traditiona l parenting ) could begi n t o undermin e wha t see m otherwis e t o b e widel y accepted aesthetic standards. History, in this area, remains in process. As a ne w code , whethe r primaril y mora l o r mor e purel y aes thetic , the modern culture of slenderness, perhaps by the 1920s and certainly sinc e Worl d Wa r II , ha s definitel y produce d on e o f th e inevitable by-product s o f intense standards : the creatio n o f a new group o f stigmatized , almos t devian t peopl e wh o fo r whateve r reason fail to live up to the code. This is as true in France as in the United States , though the numbers are different. Shame , isolation, avoidance of public attention an d even of mirrors — these developments , tragic for the people involved, mark the success of the new culture i n creatin g a new dividin g line i n moder n society . I n thi s sense, th e moder n cultur e o f slenderness , althoug h no t ye t full y accepted, bids fair to join other standards that we internalize mor e automatically an d tha t teac h u s tha t som...

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