Psychology Today has a blog entry about women and food issues calling Sonya Thomas' records "obscene frenzies of consumption".

March 16, 2010 at 1:27 pm by ojrifkin · More posts about:Sonya Thomas | Permalink * Comments (6)

6 Comments »

  1. Steakbellie said (Registered August 11, 2006)

    March 16, 2010 @ 3:04 pm

    I love that phrasing “obscene frenzies of consumption”. Reading the article makes me more excited about the Authors obvious food/sex obsession calling watching food preparation a “seductive spectacle” and calling Nigella Lawson the “Queen of Food Porn”

    Dr Fong sees Porn Actor names in “Jeremiah Tower” and “Wolfgang Puck” and suggests that food shows rely on the conventions of Pornography when filming the meal being prepared.

    Most fascinating is the revelation of her acceptance that “the unconscious does not distinguish between the body’s various orifices.” I feel like she would be equally enraptured and disgusted at a Nathans Qualifier, and I’d love to have dinner with this woman. Well maybe Nigella, instead.

  2. BigRed said (Registered June 26, 2009)

    March 16, 2010 @ 6:57 pm

    This is sad and it is unfortunate Sonya has to endure this criticism. In women’s history, she should be praised for the fact that she has broken walls and is competing side by side in a sport which is male dominated. She is closer in comparison to men, then Danika Patrick in racing or Annika Sorenstam in golf. If you want to criticize the sport, that is a separate argument, but Sonya should not be told to act a certain way, or to present a certain image acceptable for women. Is that not the point of Women’s History Month (WHM)? To show women can be individuals and to empower those who have brought females side by side with men to forget this idea of gender in the first place? I look at this article and see one good thing: all the world records a female athlete holds. In celebration of WHM, I say congratulations to Sonya, and keep up the good work.

  3. Right On Big Red said

    March 17, 2010 @ 11:00 am

    Big Red is right on target. There’s another good thing about this article. The article points out that there’s not many people like Sonya who can be credited with bringing attention to CE into other areas of our culture. I mean, here she is mentioned in the world’s leading psychological journal. Sure, ESPN and Sports Illustrated are major achievements for CE. But Sonya’s rise in CE has brought in people and media who might not have given CE any notice. Sure, some people don’t like what they see when they watch a contest that Sonya participates in or read an article about her. But, many people become aware of CE for the first time because of Sonya and become life-long fans. When someone breaks down barriers and causes some to change their view of an aspect of our society, well that’s history. And, Sonya deserves a small footnote during Woman’s History Month.

  4. Rhonda Evans said (Registered March 6, 2008)

    March 18, 2010 @ 9:34 am

    Sonya is also mentioned in the Q & A section of Vanity Fair.com featuting Danica Patrick. Go to the following link and scroll down about 2/3 of the page: http://www.vanityfair.com/online/oscars/2010/02/awkward-question-time-danica-patrick.html.

    Again, the focus of the question is on HDBs and neither the most current number, nor related fact, is used.

    References to Sonya about her HDB accomplishments fail to underscore the extent of her CE talent, as there are about a half dozen eaters who can eat more HDBs than her. But that’s not the case with oysters, lobster, fried okra, or jalapeno peppers.

    At lease Danica seems to know who she is.

  5. Rhonda Evans said (Registered March 6, 2008)

    March 18, 2010 @ 9:36 am

    least … sorry.

  6. Top class said

    March 18, 2010 @ 11:12 am

    Here’s the part were Danica Patrick talks about Sonya. And, Rhonda’s right HDBs is not Sonya’s forte, but she did break the double duece last year and it’s one of her prouder accomplishments. By the way, speaking of Women’s History Month, I think it should be noted that Rhonda is definately a candidate for the “First Lady” of competitive eating fans. Here’s the section of the Vanity Fair Q&A article:

    “What about something like competitive eating? Sonya Thomas has the record for eating 37 hot dogs in 12 minutes. How many hot dogs could you eat in 12 minutes?

    I can’t even remember the last hot dog I ate. I don’t think I’d do very well in an eating competition, especially because I do all those photo shoots in swimsuits. I don’t know how Sonya stays so small and eats that many hot dogs.

    I heard she’s only 98 pounds.

    Oh my god! That is insane! I couldn’t do what she does. I’d be too worried about calories. The math wouldn’t make sense in my head. I have no doubt that, regardless of gender or anything else, she’d definitely beat me. I would probably eat four hot dogs and be done. But…. (long pause) I don’t know.

    You don’t want to admit defeat, do you?

    (Laughs.) I know I’d get to hot dog number two and be like, “Dude, this is like 150 calories! I can’t eat this!” But still… (laughs) it’s stupid, I know.”

RSS feed for comments on this post · TrackBack URI

Leave a Comment

Log in | Register | Comments by users who have not logged in will be held for approval