1983_10 Insight October 1983

              Features
jDctoJw^m^Jtasight^
Aerobic group offers physical, mental help
by an Insight reporter
Sex-role stereotyping may be a major cause for depression in women.
Aerobics may be an answer.
That is the premise of a new
aerobic program, entitled "Working
Your Way Out Of Depression," being
offered through Fresno Community
Hospital's Counseling Center. It is
designed to explore the connections between stress, depression, sex-role
stereotyping and aerobic exercise.
think about what kinds of messages
they got when they were a little girl;
what kinds when they became sexual,"
said Van Den Bergh.
"If you think of female submission
and mare dominance, women are much
more likely to be non-assertive and less
goal-oriented," Van Den Bergh said.
She explained that this plays out in the
physical self—the way society tells
women how to evolve physically.
Women are not encouraged to develop
musculature, to be involved in sports,
or to be active in general.
'In order to be attractive ... we're
told not to have muscles or
physical strength.'
The 10-week program uses aerobics
as a tool to counteract stress and
depression and is under tbe direction of
hospital psychologist Sue Kuba and
Nan Van Den Bergh, professor of Social
Work at CSUF. „
Van Den Bergh has been concerned
for some time with the idea that
women, more than men, have a propensity to be depressed. "Many studies
have suggested that one reason for this
is due to sex-role stereotyping," she
told Insight in a recent interview.
Other people in mental health fields
are looking at tbe relationship between
physical states and mental, or psychic,
states. Van Den Bergh began dealing
with this by developing a program she
could take to women who exhibit a mild
decree of depression.
The group meets on a weekly basis.
It began with two questionnaires
designed to measure stress and depression in one's life. The women keep a
record of the amounts of exercise they
do and the level of stress and depression they experience.
i '.'Hopefully, what people will be
able to see is a steady improvement."
said Van Den Bergh. After 10 weeks,
the original questionnaires will be reintroduced and they can compare the
results.
There is a fee of $20 per week;
however, the hospital can adjust the fee
according to one's income, making the
program available to all.
The series will take a group of
women and, through a process of
aerobic exercise, jointed with group
dialogue, will focus on areas that would
lead them to resocialize themselves, to
unlearn what society has taught them,
and replace it with a healthier
awareness of themselves.
The first series began Oct. 3 at 1551
E. Shaw, Room 105. Each session lasts
two hours. The first hour is devoted to
exercise; the second consists of
dialogue. "Women will be asked to
"So the kinds of messages women
are getting are not only quite a bit different from men, but they may be a factor in stress and depression," she
noted. Men develop stress and depression from sex-role messages as men;
they only express it differently.
"The reason why we are centering
on women," said Van Den Bergh, "is
because women are in a social situation
that is considerably more stressful."
Statistics show that three out of Ave
women who go to someone for mental
help talk about depression.
Van Den Bergh said one body
message that women get is that they
have to be attractive at all costs, even
beyond health considerations: "In
order to be attractive, in some regard
we have to be unhealthy; we're told not
to have muscles or physical strength."
Women are told from the start that
they need to alter themselves, via
make-up, shaving, weight, hourglass
figure, and weakness in order to be accepted. "This is all unhealthy," she
said. "It keeps women far removed
from their physical selves."
The dialogue in the program is also
designed to provide information oy
answering such questions as what are
stress and depression, and what goes on
physiologically when one "becomes"
aerobic.
(Being aerobic means that one is
involved in a serious and regular
system of exercise that increases one's
oxygen intake.) -
Van Den Bergh noted that some
studies suggest that when people
become aerobic the body gives off
chemicals that cut down on
physiological and psychological stress.
Some analysts say that a hormone,
beta-endorphyn, is produced and the individual experiences an elevation in
mood. Another chemical, ACTH,.is alsoV
produced, which cuts down on
muscular tension. "It's obvious that
An important area of feminist
theory is tbe creation of a new vision of
health care by eliminating the concept
that mind is in some way separate from
the body. Van Den Bergh said.
Sbe explained that this'holistic approach calls on people to begin to
realize that health is an ongoing process. People need to become active participant* in their health, rather than being administered to, she said.
"Feminist ideology is primarily
concerned with the process of now we
arrive at a certain goal. Western society has been concerned with just the end
result," the said.
The theory is not without its moral
base.
"The gender gap is real." said Van
. Den Bergh. "It points out to us that
there are two different value systems at
play." Historically, women tend to be
concerned with the collective well-
being, for social welfare: men,
historically, tend to be concerned with
individual goals, she said.
Capitalizing on these different
value systems, feminist theory trys to
mobilize that "concern for tbe planet"
as a force to change the world.
"Maybe women will be able to do
this if they have a better sense of self
and maybe they'll get a better sense of
self by getting in touch with their
physical selves. It's important to feel
that you do have instrumentality," she
said.
Tbe two-fold process of the aerobics
series reflects these priorities.
"It would be healthier, in the long
run, if women would stop being subservient and if men     would stop being dominant. We have to get into a
mode where we realize that both sexes
have these capabilities. We all have to
be expressive and instrumental," Van
Den Bergh said. She maintains that
society has put all its energies into the
instrumental — business success,
welfare — while the feminine — the expressive — is without significance. 'If
we are expected to fit into just one role,
one function for society, men and
women will not grow." she said.
Describing herself as a
metafeminist. Van Den Bergh said. "In
my professional work, it is very clear
that I operate as a feminist and use the
feminist process — which to me is not
just articulating feminist issues — by
looking for new forms, feminine forms,
and by not breaking phenomenon up into categories, but rather looking at
things as a continuum."
Van Den Bergh. who teaches
research methods, statistics, and computerized data analysis, said that
research studies will be conducted after
the completion of the second or third
10-week program. The studies will be
submitted to psychology and social
work journals, as well as other journals
related to women.
(The second program is tentatively
scheduled to begin in the first week of
February 1984. A date for the third program has not yet been set.)
But what means most to Van Den
Bergh. however, is the popularization
of the whole concept.
"People need to understand that
they can really help themselves out by
getting regular aerobic exercise," she
said.
For more information on the programs, contact Prof. Van Den Bergh at
294-2718 or at 294-3992.
4 *The gender gap is real. It points*^
out to us that there are two
different value systems at play.
both   are   important   in   alleviating
stress," Van Den Bergh said.
According to Van Den Bergh,
western medicine, including -mental
health, treats the head as divorced
from the body and the body as divorced
from the head. "Feminist theory says,
let us be clear that health is a
multivariant situation by combining
the nature of our spiritual selves, our
psychic selves and our material
selves," said Van Den Bergh.
"Tbe purpose of this aerobics
series is to help women bring about a
synthesis within themselves between
the psychic and the physical. We're not
looking at these as separate entities,"
she said.
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Peanut butter rival
to hit shelves soon
By Jody Head
Insight Reporter
With almonds being California's number one tree crop, producing 260 million pounds annually
and expected to double within
three years, almond growers are
looking for new ways to sell
almonds. The California Almond
Growers Exchange, the largest
U.S. almond packer, has found
one—almond butter.
Though it has been around for
many years, almond butter never
really caught on in the U.S.
because of crop sire and low profits. So it has quietly sat on the
shelves of health food stores at $4
to SS a jar, selling under labels
such as Haines and Westbrae.
But now, almonds are in
greater abundance in California
than ever—the result of mass almond plantings in the late 1970s
To help make use of the crop, the
Exchange has developed a program in which a portion of the an- '
nual almond crop is set aside for
the production of almond butter.
John Wagaman, the
exchange's regional sales
manager, says that this program
has led the almond farmers, as an
industry, to agree to "take less today for their crop to provide for
tomorrow," thereby eliminating
much of tbe price factor between
peanuts and almonds.
An estimated 6.8 million
pounds were used for the production of almond butter in the program last year.
Wagaman said that the first to
take advantage of the program
were those already producing almond butter. ■ "We have had a
surge of health food store
manufacturers approaching us.
But it will be years before the big
corporations take advantage of the
idea."
Many of tbe almonds are used
in the production of almond butter,
though the durable little nut is used In various other ways such as
candy, cereal (Honeynut,
Checrio's), ice cream, and other
foods.
Tbe Industry plans to begin
limited test marketing on tbe west
coast very soon, though the exact
cities have not been chosen yet.
Because the Exchange is a coop, a non-profit organization owned by the almond farmers,
finances are extremely limited,
allowing no funds for advertising
thus far. Wagaman said tbe Exchange is relying mostly on word
of mouth to sell its product. He
estimates that almond butter will
settle out at $1.99 to $2. 09 per
12-ounce-jar.
In a food energy comparison,
almonds are extremely similar to
peanuts in protein, calcium, carbohydrates and calories. Almonds,
however, are easier to grind into
butter because they contain a
higher level of natural oil than
peanuts.
Because the almond's taste is
so subtle. Wagaman said that the
industry has experimented with
different flavors. Of the 75
developed thus far, only three
have been introduced to the public.
They are blanched, unblanched,
and honey cinnamon. The latter
remains the favorite to dale. All
three flavors come in creamy and
crunchy varieties.
Cheryl Young, the Exchange's
manager of food technology, has
tasted everything from tomato and
green onion to chocolate almond
butter and admits that some are
"pretty bad."
Wagaman said that the only
additives included in the product
are salt and a stabilizer that keeps
the almond butter from
separating.
"Almond butter is 98 percent
almonds," he said, "with only two
percent consisting of salt and
stabilizer Any other additives that
might end up in the butter are up to
the companies that make it. We
don't make the actual product," he
said.
Is there a future for almond
butter in the U.S.? Tbe California
Almond Growers Exchange thinks
there is. Although there appears to
be little chance it will overtake tbe
annual U.S. peanut butter consumption—nearly three pounds
per person—anytime soon,
Wagaman thinks that given the opportunity, people will really like it.