The article is about new words that have entered the language, and celebrities (yawn) who embody them, but the last pic is of a "Size Zero" in a bikini. (Size 4 in Britain).

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/liv...n_page_id=1770

Now, if that's the way God made you, that's all fine and dandy. But for this to be held up as the "ideal" that the rest of us have to "punish" ourselves to attain is just sickening. Dieting/eating right for health reasons is cool, that's why we're all here at 3fc. But this is too much!

When I saw that picture I wanted to call the Red Cross...

Good Lord! She looks like she'd clank when she moves!

Oh good lord I NEVER want to be that thin. I want to be healthy. I do not want to be scared of wind as she may blow away.

That to me is totally sad. Nothing pretty about it. Totally looks like a starved person from a concentration camp.

Wow that is freaky....

So sad. I would like to see her gain 40 pounds (20 of muscle and 20 of fat!).

Does anyone else notice how the disparaging terms in relation to size/being "fat" are wacky?

The "cankles" picture is stupid ( she has large calves but a nicely defined ankle, IMO! She is SHORT! What do ya want ) and the "muffin top" one lacks what the term proclaims (a "roll of flesh spilling over"!!!).

Geez, America hates everyone, but especially those who aren't super thin!

Soulbliss, I totally agree. That cankles picture just showed wide ankles. Not Cankles . My SIL has real cankles. Her lower ankle drapes completely over the top of her feet. My MIL has the same problem but hers has lessened greatly since losing weight.

The picture of "muffin top" didn't strike me as being that drastic either. Heck, I would look worse than that if my jeans were low cut and I was showing any of my belly. (Which BTW, will never happen), LOL.

I believe that's a British article ....
Well, I've got sturdy ankles, a muffin top that hangs ove my size one skirt and I'm no celebutante ... nor do I look like any of those pictures

Here's what I think about whenever I see articles like that ... did some sneaky man put Kirstie Ally on a scale when she wasn't watching? Who sneaked up behind Nicole Ritchie and read the tag on her bikini? Remember Gloria Loring? Did someone measure her hips without her knowing?

I'm impressed! Those reporters should be in airport security.

It is, but the terms used that I referenced and the mean-spiritedness are decidedly American

yep its a british article but they're not "british" words. Obviously we use them now, but only after we watched them on American programmes... lol we love american programmes over here!

I didn't intend to say that the spirit of the article was British. Just that the magazine was.

I believe that mean-spiritedness is global ... Americans just publish a lot of it.

Is there a phrase or term that means picking away at anything with which we are unfamiliar, find scary, can't have, can't achieve, is so alien that it makes us feel normal??

if a US 0 is a british 4, wth? Are they even more weight conscious than us in North America? It must not start at a sz4 in Britain so what the heck does a size 0 or 2 look over there? And who is wearing them???

And personally I believe Nicole Ritchie to be a double zero..most of her clothes still seem to be falling right off..and if she;s a 0, I'd shudder to see a double 0 in a bikini! yuk!! She needs a "feed me" t-shirt!!

Natalia,
From what I understand, just as size 0 and size 00 are new inventions in the US, so is a size 4 in the UK. I thought I had read up until a few years ago, something like a size 8 was their smallest size. I could be wrong though.

I wish I had a "muffin top" like that! I thought she had a nice figure!

And Nicole Ritchie's breastbone looks really creepy!

Ye, it's a British article, from one of the daily tabloids. The meanspiritedness is, as others said, global, but i am specially familiar with the british variety having grown up there and seen all the ways in which an overweight, overtall (till I hit my teens) girls can be treated.

In adulthood I limit my exposure to the media, especially TV, and meanspirited people - they just get evicted from my life with no regrets. I work from home and can pick and choose who I deal with. For that i am profoundly grateful.

When I lived in England I remember 8 being the smallest adult size, then maybe a 6. I don;t know if that was something new or I just heard of it later on. I was wearing "adult sized clothes" from age 10 or so b/c no kids' clothes fit any more. Mainstream fashion has been a no-g- area for me for a long time. At least it saves time when shopping, as I know 90% of stores are a waste of time for me.

"concentration camp" or "famine victim" are the words that came to my mind too. I still want to call the Red Cross!