Monday, December 27, 2010

Did Rap & Tejano help to encourage weight gain, even obesity?



I can't confirm that Michelle Obama is now looking into the influence that even music can have on the health of the nation's youth. In a way, I can see how she could make some sort of connection. If you're like me, you might  remember seeing lots of movies or TV shows featuring teen idols of the 50s and 60s. These included Elvis Presly, Ricky Nelson, Fabian, Bobby Darin and a bunch others. Crossing over from the 60s to the 70s, groups became big on the music scene. The Beatles, Rolling Stones, The Who, The Doors were but a few who enjoyed success during those decades. The late 70s had the Disco craze with the Bee Gees leading the charts.  From the Late 70s through the 80s, came the Cars, Blondie, Joan Jett, The Ramones, The Clash as the New Wave Punk movement picked up steam.

In looking back at all of these types of musical artists, one thing that stands out was that for the most part, they were all........skinny, or at least a vast majority of them were. It appears that there was quite a change that came about around the 90s with Rap and Tejano. Are you getting the drift? Rappers and Tejano artists were probably the first uh ....how can I say it....portly musicians to enjoy success to a large extent (pardon the pun).

With rap, it was ok to let yourself go. You could still identify with the image of a rapper. Afterall,there were always more of those oversized clothes you could slip into. As a result, some wardrobes just got baggier and saggier. And for the guys, the baldness and "piochitas" came into full bloom to complimnent the new Big Look.

In Tejano, it was fashinonable and expected that your wranglers fit two sizes too tight and it was even ok if you wore 34 inch waist jeans waaaay below the belt line. Of course no one would belive that 34 was your actual size if you were to properly wear them.  So, the question is : have these two musical genres helped in any way to promote the acceptance of substantial weight gain and/or obesity? Or was the obese trend already in full swing and it just happend to concide with these types of music?  Is there any connection at all? What do you sociologist out there say?

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