"Is it just me, or is it pretty typical and normal for people who celebrate the holidays to stress out, and even overindulge a bit? Is holiday stress really a “condition� and simple holiday celebration really a “coping mechanism�?"

No, you're exactly right. Quite frankly, even when we're not stressing out at holiday time, it's pretty normal to indulge a little bit. You've got cookies, candies, large family meals, the office party, etc etc, all encouraging you to indulge at least a little bit. And that's women and men. It's patently ridiculous to suggest that it's some kind of disorder or that it only effects women. You've got Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years all right in a row, and all three have indulgence and consumption as major pieces of the cultural marketing. The fact that people indulge in relatively unhealthy eating habits during these months isn't a "condition", it should really be the expected outcome of the rather concentrated marketing of the holidays.

i would say women get far more stressed out about family related issues that really come to the forefront around the holidays. i think you are looking into it a bit much. they didnt say women were the only ones who overindulged, they said that they coped with stress by eating. i think everyone knows thats generally pretty true when it comes to women. when we are stressed we eat. esp since the burden of preparing and then excuting huge holiday dinners falls mostly on the women, this really makes perfect sense.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't temporary increases in eating need to be at Supersize Me levels to make you gain weight?

is simple holiday weight gain being diagnosed as just another woman’s “condition� that needs to be cured?

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, but I've always wondered a similar thing in regards to IBS in women. When a man has problems with his bowels and, e.g., ends up sitting on the toilet for a half an hour cause of diarhea or constipation, he's just being a man and men sit on the can for a long time. But when a women does that, there must be something wrong with her. I wouldn't be surprised if this factor of sexism as well as the obvious fact that GI issues and menstral cramping can't go well together account for 100% of the differing rates of IBS between men and women?

Still, I do agree with katie. Thanks to the continued presence of traditional gender roles, women are often made to feel responsible (more so than men) for the holiday meal preparation as well as the general ability of family members to get along during said meal, before and after -- and that can be a lot of stress. Also, I might add that the one preparing and serving the meal often has less of a chance to actually sit down and eat the meal in peace: which results in more noshing and ultimately in eating more, rather than less food.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't temporary increases in eating need to be at Supersize Me levels to make you gain weight? - Alon Levy

It depends on the person. I think if you have a normal metabolism, this might be somewhat the case, but if you have a low metabolism, you might gain weight more easily ...

... and if you have a high metabolism, all bets are off. My dad can eat tons of food, and thanks to his high metabolism, he doesn't gain much weight. If my brother and I eat too much (relative to our normal diets: we both are heavy eaters even normally), we gain weight readily ... but if we even slightly decrease our food intake from our normal healthy diets, our high metabolism kicks in and we loose weight very, in fact too quickly.

"i think everyone knows thats generally pretty true when it comes to women. when we are stressed we eat. esp since the burden of preparing and then excuting huge holiday dinners falls mostly on the women, this really makes perfect sense."

Ehh... while I agree that a disproportionate amount of stress may fall to women because of enforced gender roles (which become that much stricter when you're back home with the family), stress affects everyone differently. Some of my friends (male AND female) overeat to deal with stress. On the other hand, when I'm stressed out, it's all I can do to force down 1000 calories a day. For instance, I've been VERY stressed out at work lately and I've lost about five pounds in the last week and a half. That's just how I respond to stress -- I think it's a very individual thing.

I agree with DAS, too, that the amount you have to eat to gain weight is extremely variable. Particularly for women, since we have a harder time losing weight (thanks water retention). Sometimes I can eat like a pig and not gain an ounce. Other times an extra helping of potatoes will make me balloon three pounds the next day.

I certainly don't need to eat a supersized meal to gain temporary weight. Just a little more than normal might do it some days.

i also personally think women stress out about things that men dont BECAUSE of these gender roles. its not just around the holidays either, i think there is just more ffod preparation going on and whatnot at this time.

it seems to me that there are really 2 different stories here.
1) half of all women are stressed around the holidays
2) holiday stress leads to weight gain.

issue #2 is not sex-dependent. pretty much anyone who eats too much around the holidays is likely to gain weight. in fact, a few years ago, i believe the AMA or similar group found the average weight gain during the holidays was around 2 lbs.

issue #1, however, well that's interesting from a gender-specific perspective. why are women more likely to be stressed around the holidays? more obligations, more pressure, more loneliness, less time? the gender issues around food and eating have been well established, so i'm not surprised that women turn to comfort foods around the holidays. but why the increased stress?

because like i said before,, much of the planning and execution for holiday gatherings fall on the shoulders of women. also, it is usually the women, in my experience, who get stressed out more about family stuff that is really magnified during the holidays since you are sorta obligated to hang out with them. they worry about people getting along, or not getting along. who to invite, their mothers nagging them. its just alot more stressful for alot of women. i truly believe that.

I think another key here is that women are supposed to care more about issue #2. We are supposed to stay thin and hawt throughout life to "get" and "keep" a man; you know the sex class thing. So while all genders may gain weight, for women - it's a problem - and, thus, a disease.

Does anyone ever see a normal men's magazine come Spring say "Lose your winter pounds and get your abs ready for those sexy swimming trunks!" I can't say I have (aside from those weightlifting mags). Women, from all sides of the spectrum, are expected to be slim no matter what. Look at Heidi Klum who was picture perfect just a few weeks (I think it was probably 6) after having her 3rd child. She strutted her stuff down the catwalk without blinking an eye and without looking like she just had a baby.

During the holidays women do get more stressed out because men lay on extra responsibilities on us. Make sure that the house is decorated, make sure that the Christmas cards are sent, make cookies, do this, do that, get ready for this party, that party, pack my stuff for traveling...the list goes on and on and on. Not to mention all of their normal every day stuff we have to do!

For me, I love to eat and sometimes it shows, sometimes it doesn't. I was blessed with an insane metabolism that let me lose all of my baby weight and then some just weeks after having my son. I admit I felt pressure to be "thin again", but that isn't fair. Why should society put the pressure on women to be skinny? In areas around the world, the more voluptuous you are, the mor desirable you are. Why are we so afraid to have a little meat on our bones?

Back to the issue at hand. Holiday stress is just that, stress. It's not a disease, it's a fact of life.

Well, being a normal weight (medically normal, not as in socially normal) or even lower does increase life span and generally increases quality of life (energy, illness, etc.). This may be one case where society's expectations make people healthier.

Also, from a guy's perspective, there is a decent amount of pressure on men to be fit (though probably not quite as much as for women). I am a very skinny guy (think French models on a male body), and there is definitely a social stigma against men who are not burly. It's seen as "unmanly" to be skinny, and slovenly to be fat.

i think everyone knows thats generally pretty true when it comes to women. when we are stressed we eat.

Actually, I respond to stress with a decreased appetite and an increased tendency to skip meals or substitute snacks for whole meals. Which is why I've lost like five pounds (that really didn't need losing) as a result of first semester of college. While there definitely are women (and men) who respond to stress by eating, it's certainly not a universal truth.

That said, I do think you may have a point about holiday stress disproportionately affecting women because they might feel more burdened by household/family obligations (this is something I don't quite understand, but I'm a little clueless about household expectations--I'm also the only feminist I know who believes men who claim they don't clean up because they don't notice the mess because that's what I always tell my mom because IT'S TRUE).

Isn't the holiday season also the biggest time of the year for suicides? Or is that a myth?

April is the suicide month (because of taxes?) and holiday season is depression month (family stress, pressure to be happy and normal).

I think it is just another REMINDER to us wimmin that WE BETTER NOT GET FAT! Make us cook all day and then not eat any of it because WE NEED TO KNOW OUR PLACE IN SOCIETY and NOT GET FAT!

Just a gentle reminder

What a silly article. I'm turning into Marlon Brando right now because of stress-related eating, but I'm guessing I'll lose my extra weight after the first of the year. Certainly before I'll want to be seen in public without a shirt on. Not that there's anything wrong with carrying around a few extra pounds, but I'm vain like that.

In anny case, nobody who would see me between now and then, and not have any interest in me as a potential significant other because I've got a spare tire, is worth bothering with anyway.

It bothers me that there are women out there further stressing themselves out over a 15-pound weight difference because they think it might make them undesirable to men. I mean, it very well might, but who needs those kinds of men? I can't stand them, and I can't even imagine being hitched to one.

Cheers,

TH

That last paragraph sounded very privileged, I just realized, but I still think it's a valid point. I know it got a bad rap as "man-hating," but is there something to be said for the fish-and-bicycle variety of feminism that says that it's simply not worth it to try and appeal to men as a group? Because I really think that's one of the more insidious forms of gender oppression--turns women into marketable commodities right out of the gate.

Cheers,

TH

"When a man has problems with his bowels and, e.g., ends up sitting on the toilet for a half an hour cause of diarhea or constipation, he's just being a man and men sit on the can for a long time."

This is soooo true! It is never anything that men are doing or EATING that causes their digestive problems. I keep trying to tell the man in my life this but he doesn't seem to see a connection between what he eats and whether his stomach hurts or he is constipated.

As for the weight gain - if you pig out at Christmas and don't stick to your workouts, you will put on weight,man or woman. Women may suffer from more stress because this time of year it seems we are responsible for EVERYTHING!

And FYI: I have been LOSING weight this holiday season with Weight Watchers. Just because you go to a million holiday parties and the food is free, doesn't mean you have to eat it!My boyfriend, however, has put on about 10 pounds in the last couple of months from pigging out.

Maybe someone needs to write an article about this "Mysterious" weight-gaining condition in men...

"When a man has problems with his bowels and, e.g., ends up sitting on the toilet for a half an hour cause of diarhea or constipation, he's just being a man and men sit on the can for a long time."

This is soooo true! It is never anything that men are doing or EATING that causes their digestive problems. I keep trying to tell the man in my life this but he doesn't seem to see a connection between what he eats and whether his stomach hurts or he is constipated.

As for the weight gain - if you pig out at Christmas and don't stick to your workouts, you will put on weight,man or woman. Women may suffer from more stress because this time of year it seems we are responsible for EVERYTHING!

And FYI: I have been LOSING weight this holiday season with Weight Watchers. Just because you go to a million holiday parties and the food is free, doesn't mean you have to eat it!My boyfriend, however, has put on about 10 pounds in the last couple of months from pigging out.

Maybe someone needs to write an article about this "Mysterious" weight-gaining condition in men...

at the same time, i am not sure why its a bad thing to be like "dont overindulged during the holidays bc of stress". i mean, i often see feminists defending what is being unhealthily overweight bc we are feminists and dont like the idea of how society pressures women to be thin. while i entirely agree that the media ideal of thinness is NOT healthy, at the same time, telling a 400 pound woman to love her body isnt healthy either. i mean, its healthy to love your body, but its not healthy to be 400 pounds and think you are a big strong feminist bc you are not the stereotype and not letting societal pressure get to you. its really not even healthy to be 250 pounds at most heights for a woman. i think the emphasis should be on "healthy" and not on attacking things that say you should watch yourself so you dont binge. what i dont agree with is how its directed at women.

as an aside, in maxim magazines and whatnot, they often do talk about losing weight, although it is not as much as an emphasis.

Katie, we are constantly being told that we just shouldn't indulge in ANYTHING AT ALL all year long. Personally, I am quite careful about my eating habits, but Christmas is the one time of the year when I remorselessly indulge myself.
Nobody becomes overweight over a couple of weeks, even if they binge at Christmas. It's just one more way to guilt-trip women who might have helped themselves to (the horrors!) a second serving of Christmas cake.