I feel like every diet support forum group place I'm a member of has an awful lot of hate towards thin people. A lot of "why is this beautiful but this isn't?" and then people insinuating that women who don't have "curves" are unattractive.
It's weird for me because my entire life I've been very thin. The kind of person who would be told to "eat a cheeseburger". It's contributed a lot to my problems with food and overeating. I'm working slowly but surely to stop eating like I'll never see food again and as a result I'm losing, but as soon as I start losing I get panicked...when I'm thin again, I'll be gross and not womanly. Being fat means I've actually got curves. I finally need a bra! But once I'm back to being small, I will get the "eat something!" comments.
It's setting me back a lot with this whole weight loss thing. I know I'm not healthy where I am and I'm not happy and I need to lose weight, but I also know that when I get down to a healthy weight I'm still not going to be happy. My doctor will be pleased! But I'll still be looking at the comments people make about pictures of thin women saying they need to eat more.
Bah. I'm having a bad night.
Last edited by BananaMontana; 04-04-2012 at 12:10 AM.
I think it helps build the confidence of overweight people. By insulting skinny women, it makes them feel better. However, heaven forbid someone insults them for being over weight, that person is just a nasty *****! It is very two sided. I have noticed a lot of women (on these forums) will say things like people shouldn't be judged for their weight, let people be who they want to be, yet turn around and mock skinny women.
Some women hate being skinny and can't gain any weight. Having a small chest, a small butt and no curves can be very very hard on a woman's self-esteem. Then, you add in overweight people making comments like "Real women have curves" or other slogans, and its just a kicking a girl when shes down. It does put in the fear of people never accepting you at whatever weight you are.
Exactly! I have a sort of boyish figure when I'm not fat. It was always hard for me to feel comfortable with that. I always felt like i had to look super feminine to make up for it. I never made fun of anyone, so it's like bizarre to me that it's acceptable to make fun of skinny chicks. And you can't get offended about it either! If you do, people get all on your case about being too sensitive. But if someone makes fun of me for being fat, suddenly it's wrong.
Last edited by BananaMontana; 04-04-2012 at 12:18 AM.
i don't know what else to add to that. genes make you a woman, not your shape. the only comments i make about skinny chicks is "i have an inner skinny chick dying to break out... and i usually shut the b*tch up with chocolate" or "i work out like the skinny chick i want to be"
people on both of the weight loss forums i'm a part of also bash people for doing things differently than they do low carbers think it's the only way to go, etc. it's people's nature to beat down something they don't agree with to make themselves look better. *shrug*
I have noticed some of that, but nothing very extreme. That doesn't mean it's not happening, just that I haven't seen it. Some women express a preference for a curvier figure, which I think is fine.
Personally, I think a lot of different body shapes are pretty. My own is fairly curve-less. I have boobs, but an undefined waist, small hips and butt (proportionally). I have no idea what I'll look like thin - I've never been thin.
But I think you should hang in there and get to a weight that is healthy and comfortable for you. I'm sorry you've had bad experiences so far - that's never a comfortable thing. You will always be shaped like a woman because women come in all sorts of shapes. Maybe you can find a friend to confide in and get support from? I know that helps me a lot sometimes with any problems.
I've been both. In fact, my nickname when younger was "skinny" and it was as annoying as my sister's nick of "chubby" -- now I'm the overweight one and she's a slim adult!
I don't deliberately insult any woman of any age or shape -- beautiful to me is the person all the way through, not just the way they appear.
Try not to worry about it too much. Other people's weird baggage is just that -- other people's!
i don't know what else to add to that. genes make you a woman, not your shape. the only comments i make about skinny chicks is "i have an inner skinny chick dying to break out... and i usually shut the b*tch up with chocolate" or "i work out like the skinny chick i want to be"
people on both of the weight loss forums i'm a part of also bash people for doing things differently than they do low carbers think it's the only way to go, etc. it's people's nature to beat down something they don't agree with to make themselves look better. *shrug*
You made me literally laugh out loud. It scared my cat!
I agree with your last paragraph, but it does suck. I try not to be mean (sometimes I fail), but I'm always sure not to make comments about bady shapes or weight, so I guess I'm overly sensitive in that area.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LiannaKole
I have noticed some of that, but nothing very extreme. That doesn't mean it's not happening, just that I haven't seen it. Some women express a preference for a curvier figure, which I think is fine.
Personally, I think a lot of different body shapes are pretty. My own is fairly curve-less. I have boobs, but an undefined waist, small hips and butt (proportionally). I have no idea what I'll look like thin - I've never been thin.
But I think you should hang in there and get to a weight that is healthy and comfortable for you. I'm sorry you've had bad experiences so far - that's never a comfortable thing. You will always be shaped like a woman because women come in all sorts of shapes. Maybe you can find a friend to confide in and get support from? I know that helps me a lot sometimes with any problems.
Its not having a preference that bothers me....I prefer curvy figures too. Wish I had one naturally! It's the bashing that gets to me,y'know?
I do have to keep plugging along and try to lose the weight. I need to for my health. I don't have many friends i can go to about it...only person who takes my weight loss seriously is my mom. She's a good comfort but I hate to unload completely on her as she has her own weight loss to focus on.
On the plus side I said something to my husband about it and he pointed out that I had was thin when he met me and he still knew I was a girl. Then he complimented how wonderful I am for a while and now I feel a bit better. Good husband
I've been both. In fact, my nickname when younger was "skinny" and it was as annoying as my sister's nick of "chubby" -- now I'm the overweight one and she's a slim adult!
I don't deliberately insult any woman of any age or shape -- beautiful to me is the person all the way through, not just the way they appear.
Try not to worry about it too much. Other people's weird baggage is just that -- other people's!
A.
Thank you for the hugs. most days I can brush it off, but sometimes I feel like I'm in high school again and I get sensitive.
there's a whole lot more fat-bashing than there is skinny-bashing and, unfortunately, it's socially acceptable to mock someone or denigrate someone for their size. it's perfectly fine to promote the skinny co-worker who is less capable over the fat one who's got the required skills. not a problem to pay them more, too.
fat ppl are "lazy", "gluttonous", "unmotivated", etc.
it's like breastfeeding and bottle-bashing. i don't think that's necessary, either, but when one looks at the billions of dollars spent making sure that as many women as possible are using formula, it's easy to see why ppl feel they need to get extreme to combat it.
one of these generations, we'll get it right and ppl will stfu up about size, race, gender, boob or bottle, gay marriage, cesar millan, co-sleeping, and everything else that really is none of their business.
i think alot of women stick to the "real women have curves" slogan because they feel as if their body type is obsolete or is being slammed
i will admit i am one of the women who says that , i guess because i assume most women naturally widen at the hips, and have more breast than is welcome ..... fat or thin i always cursed having larger than "average" boobs and wider hips .... because i felt like evreything i wanted to wear was always geared towards women with the exact formentioned "boyish" figure ....
when i was in HS at 5'6 i was a size 6 , and in my idea the perfect size to wear a nice swimsuit .... i wore one and looked like something out of a skanky magazine the only thing the top was covering was areola my friend who was more straight than i in figure would wear the same suit and she looked "high fashion and classy" i was jealous and i blamed the designers for only designing suits for these straight figured girls , what about us the curvier girls? is there no fashionable options for us ? have we been forgotten ?
i made myself feel better by saying bah !! real women have curves and shrugged it off .... but i can see now that im older thats equally insulting to someone who is on the other side of my fence ....
but i am assuming alot of other women are equally insecure about their curves so they bring up the real women have curves thing so it is noted that their figure is acceptable too ....
Weight bashing is unfortunately one of the last acceptable forms of bullying. People are always going to insult others on the opposite end of the spectrum to make them feel just a tiny bit better about themselves. Its not right by any means, but it is what it is, and I highly doubt it'll ever change. For the most part, especially on forums, it seems unintentional
I have BIGGGG hips(not just curvy, I'm talking massive I know I'm going to have easy labor when I give birth, big hips. And even at my skinniest, I'll still be extremely curvy and I know people will call me fat because of it. But it won't prevent me from losing weight just because I'll never have that "Ideal" shape whatever that it...As along as our bodies are healthy, what people think of them shouldn't matter
I've talked about this before because now I've been on both sides. I've gotten fat hate and skinny hate. Quite frankly both are annoying and demeaning.
Heck even when I was fat I hated the phrase "real women have curves," because no, not all women have curves and making thin women feel bad about their bodies is just as bad as making larger women feel bad about their bodies too.
I always thought when I reached my goal that I wouldn't have to worry about that. I was kind of right. When I hit 140 (my original goal) I looked normalish because most people around us in America are overweight and obese. At 115 I don't look so normal to people now and I do have strangers commenting on my weight. Usually to the tone of "oh, you're so small, do you eat?" Admittedly most people guess my weight to be 15-20lbs less than what I really weigh, likely because of strength training.
I'm looking at buying a new car right now and I remember when I was test driving a car and I was talking to the salesman. I told him about my job as a special ed teacher, etc. and he commented "oh I hope you don't deal with any really bad kids, you're not a very big person they could hurt you." That turned me off completely from buying from him for a number of reasons, but for the purposes of staying on topic I'll just stick with the one about my body. Why did he assume that because I was "small" I would be weak and all that? If I can hold back my 6'3" 190lb fiance I think I can handle a lot of other things too!
I'm also tired of size 0 hate. I'm curvy, I have an hourglass figure and I wear a size 0. People need to deal with that and stop thinking that in order to get to a size 0 you need to starve yourself or something. I'm 5'3". I think size 0 is a perfectly adequate size for a person of my height.
Luckily I'm in a place mentally where I just roll my eyes at people or I talk back. Or I'll show them how wrong they are. I've done it in my weight training class! "Can you lift all of that? You're so tiny!" "Watch me " The look on their face is priceless.
If I wasn't mentally in the right place like I am now, I could seriously see myself developing some real issues. That's why as much as I sometimes wish I would have done this whole weight loss thing as a teen, there was no way I would have been in the right place mentally during the process and no way would I have been able to deal with the way society reacts to people at either ends of the spectrum. I'm glad I did it now, when I am a strong, confident woman.
Ok, that came out really long, but it's something that's been bugging me. I can deal with skinny hate and fat hate right now and be fine. What about insecure teenagers who are bombarded with this stuff on a regular basis?
I've been on the "skinny bashing" side of it too. Once upon a time, a looooong time ago, I was 5'5 and 110lbs. Overweight girls were quite rude to me, and even here on 3FC, I heard some pretty rude comments over the years. Whether I was underweight or overweight, I have never had boobs and it wasn't until having a baby that I had any hips. The truth is, that it is human nature to put other people down to make yourself feel good.
sontaikle: That I agree with you. As a mom and older, it's easy for me to brush off now. When I was in high school and under 100lbs, it was very hurtful. I used to change in the bathroom instead of the locker room because other girls had boobs and I didn't. Yet, they used to say that they wish they were "skinny". Of course, with boobs though! Sometimes people forget that underweight people get hurt feelings too.
I imagine for men, this is even more insulting - to be known as a "skinny guy" also implies pejoratively that they are weak and unmanly. Some girls can take it as a compliment but men don't. And people also forget that men do have feelings too despite culture telling us they are robots (?)
Really, you have no control over what other people do or say. You can only control how you react to it. Don't let it bother you. I know that's easier said than done though.
Skinny hatin'
I know I'm not healthy where I am and I'm not happy and I need to lose weight, but I also know that when I get down to a healthy weight I'm still not going to be happy. My doctor will be pleased! But I'll still be looking at the comments people make about pictures of thin women saying they need to eat more.
" The look on their face is priceless. 
