Point Of Veiw

[Katana]

Look at these following examples.




That's me. Average by all counts. I am size 11, I weigh 149 pounds, I'm 5'4", I am average. Not fat, not skinny, not tall, not short.

But, to think, that by media images, I'm considered fat?

Yeah, right.

I've found in polls and such that men perfer women that couldn't hold a ham in between their upper thights without having to bend. It's true, and to think, even when I was 19 pounds lighter with a flat tummy, I considered myself fat.

As an aspiring fashion designer, you watch a lot of fashion shows. The latest one I was looking at was Prada. And then I wanted to gag. Look at this:




Excuse me, can you say A-N-O-R-E-X-I-A?

Dosen't look so glamorous dressed down? Does it?

Models are supposed to look good, not unhealthy.

If you want an example of the good side of this paradox, examine Gisele



She's very well preportioned, she's lean, not starving.


But that's a look so many women aspire to. And I'm damn right tired of it. I'm tired of being looked at and laughed every time I go to fit a damn dress. I'm not big, and neither are millions of women on the face of this earth that think they are, and as far as I can say, I like it better that way, and so do most men I've asked.

I call this dead and done. I'm gonna kill and eat the next anorexic-small chick I see.

[Shandriz]

*eaten?* Honestly? I don't think you're fat either. I think a lot of people (not just women, men too, believe me) worry about their weight a lot more than they should.

Really, unless your doctor says something....your DOCTOR not self-conscious... you're probably fine. I know I have a weight problem, but it's not big. My doctor just casually mentioned that it wouldn't hurt me to gain weight (especially now that strep throat has taken off a good three and a half pounds at the least). I wouldn't worry about my weight at all if it weren't for that.

[underpants]

Katana, I totally agree with you. Last year I had to do a study on body images of women, and they had to chose a shiloette that they thought represented the media's "perfect body" EVERYONE chose the skinniest body, which was also the anorexic one. I found our results of the study to be very disturbing.
I just think it's so sad to see that women and men think of themselves in such an awful way. More people should be happy with their bodies and embrace them. I've never liked a guy who didn't have some meat on him, that's just gross, and I think it's the same for women!!
GO EATING!!

PS. That link with those pictures was sooo disturbing!!

[Tobias]

from the guys side, i agree whole-heartidly. I like girls that look good, and HEALTHY! Too many girls i knew from highschool were anorexic-looking, and practically complained all the time about gettin fat. I say...give em a couple of pounds! it would look good on em!

And from the guys side...look at me! im a pretty heavy guy, but it fits on me fine. I look good at 225, and i dont have a problem with it.

That, and i remember a study i did on obesity...and that many obese people are actualy obese due to muscle mass. It could be that you gained too much mass muscular-wise, which is good, and it pushed you into the overweight category. Thats explainable, obviously.

Anywho, i think you look good katana. Just keep on truckin along. I get my exercise from work and walking around campus...you can look good while just keeping active around your community.

Adios!

That is all

[K-chan]

What drives me nuts is all this stupid diet hype. Some of these fad diets are so unhealthy for your body. Those diet metabolism pills are the worst. My roomate last year did serious damage to her thyroids because she over did it on diet pills.

[Akanari]

I agree completly with all of you.

Hollywood's image of "beautiful" is exactly what most women are not. And all women are beautiful. I have never considered myself fat or overweight, and neither has my doctor. If a doctor only knew my weight, height, and sizes, then that doctor might think me a little over what a girl my age is supposed to be. However, I actually look almost exactly the same as a girl 10-15 pounds lighter than me. I just have muscle in places where there is usually just flesh. However, I do not fit hollywood's image because my ribcage isn't visible and my thighs touch when I stand straight

What is beauty coming to?

[Silver Adept]

This is why weight alone is generally an insufficient determiner of whether one is healthy or not. Even the BMI thing, when taken alone, is only a guide at best as to whether you are healthy.

By not buying into the image that's being shouted at you from all sides, you're ahead of the game, especially in a world of fashion design. While some cater to Hollywood, if you cater toward the sort of people who will be watching Martha Stewart, you'll probably end up making a bigger splash than anyone else.

And if you don't think you're fat, and your doctor says you're not overweight, fly the bird at anyone who says otherwise.

[Ming]

I guess I'll have to jump on the bandwagon and say that I agree with what everyone has said so far. It's a shame how we have gotten as a society. The BMI is total crap...you know why? Because it doesn't take into account that people have different body types on top of everything else. I don't consider myself "fat". I know that it would be healthy for me to lose some weight and maybe start eating better, but that's a completely different story. The point is, the BMI says that I should probably weigh something like 160 pounds, due to my height. What that does not take into account that I have a big build. If I weighed 160, I would probably have no body fat, and that's not good. It's crap like this that you would think science would have figured out already.

Anyway...my, sort of, tirade will take a break at this point. The fact of the matter is, I think girls look better when they have some substance to them. The perfect example, Rene Zellwenger (sp?) from Bridget Jones' Diary. She looked better having put on a little weight for the role. The anorexic/supermodel look really doesn't so anything for me. Any guy that doesn't like you just because you don't look like the anorexic supermodel isn't worth your time anyway...he's just a scumbag.

~Ming

[Ultrawolf]

[Kiyomi]

I think measuing the amount of body fat you have should be more important than measuring your waist size. A lot of people are just built without the curves or built more heavily, yet they don't have a lot of extra body fat on them. Having extra actual body fat is what makes it unhealthy. As long as you are at a HEALTHY weight, then you are just fine, even if your waist size is not perfect according to the media.

I'm naturally built very thin and with curves. I have had people tell me I need to eat more, but that was during the time that I ate almost constantly (teenager). I was not anorexic, I was just built slender. When I was younger, I was like a stick and got teased for being so skinny. People just like to make fun of people no matter what they look like. Heck, my body fits the media standards fairly well (not perfect, but no one is), and I still get teased. My hair is too dark, or it's too light. I'm too fair skinned. I am too short. People will always find a reason to make fun of other people. Even if everyone looked exactly the same, they would find something. People are just mean, period.

I don't think you look fat. You look like you are just built heavier, but you don't look like you have a lot of extra body fat or anything. You have a pretty, refined face (and very pretty eyes, by the way...I *love* nice eyes), and if you were packing extra fat, your face and arms would show that.

I'm bi, and I like girls who are balance. A girl who is a bit larger in built can still be attractive to me if her overall body balances. Not that I'm hitting on you or anything...I'm happily married to Excel. I'm just saying that beauty is literally in the eye of the beholder. Sure I think some of the thin stars are beautiful (like Gisele), but not when they look like they are actually in need of a serious feast just to catch up on weight. Seeing ribs is a majour turn off for me. ( For example http://www.sd-models.com/stephanierane/images/photo3.jpg ...uck! I feel like I should send in a donation to feed the starving after looking at that). On the other hand, while I like the lean type, I also like girls who might actually be carrying some extra weight on them, but are still proportioned. Some people would prefer the bust be bigger than the hips. Not me, man. If the bust is much bigger than the hips (when looking straight on), especially on a thinnly built girl, I think it's gross. However, fashion says super skinny with large breasts. Keep it in proportion, I say! So really, just because some people make fun of you, don't let it get you down. Despite media, a lot of people think beautiful is something other than what the media portrays. Some people actually prefer heavier built and even truly overweight girls. I had a friend who would not date anyone who fit the media steryotype because he just was not attracted to them. Hmm, I should get you and him hooked up. You're just his type. LOL. Seriously, though, not everyone thinks that what the fashion industry pumps out is beautiful. Every woman and mad is beautiful in their own right. The only way to ruin your natural beauty is to just not take care of yourself, because sorry, but tangle hair, rotten teeth, and dirt are just not attractive.


By the way, the pictures of the models (I think that is what they were supposed to be) are not showing up.