Thursday, January 06, 2005

Weight and what people make of it

Ann Althouse(who told me I ought to start this) had some posts a while back about women and weight and body image. It's been a big subject for a long time and hit from various points of view.

Some blame the fashion industry, some blame men, some blame (fill in here). You can make a case for all of it, but I've got a gripe with blaming men.

I've met a couple of ladies who modeled, and one thing struck me: they were skinny. Not slim, skinny. Now, I realize that there are all kinds of tastes, but I don't like skinny from dieting and heavy exercise. Knew a couple of girls in college who would qualify as skinny, but it was simply their natural build, and they looked good. There's a difference between slim, or lean, and skinny: to me, ribs showing and bony limbs is not sexy, and I don't know anyone who thinks so. Maybe it's true that a camera adds ten pounds; if so, many models who look skinny on camera must be approaching skeletal in person and without all the makeup.
(I can't remember who said that the reason for skinny models and weird clothes is that most fashion designers are gays who want their models to look like 14-year-old boys, but it would explain some things)

I mentioned once before a friend who messed herself up on dieting. She was very pretty, and very nicely built. But she was always on a diet. She'd see some model or actress with skinny body and big boobs and tell me she hated them for being so skinny. Never mind the boobs were implants to compensate for skinny. And she'd complain that she needed to lose that last ten pounds; always, that last ten pounds. Nothing could convince her that she looked good, nothing convinced her that that she did not need to lose "ten more pounds". She had decided that that was needed before she'd look good, and that was that.

If you've ever tried to convince a woman that a: she didn't need to lose any, or b: just get some exercise to tone up and you're fine, you know what happened. She would not believe me(or anyone else I know of) and started taking diet pills. Lots of diet pills. That messed with her body and health, and combining some drinking with that damn near killed her, health problems and an accident.

Aftermath meant, among other things, gaining a lot of weight, I suspect partly because of a messed-up metabolism from the pills. And she's practically given up now, so she won't exercise. At least she's not taking those damn pills anymore.

Heavy or slim, large boobs or small, looking good can include any of them. Good health and attitude makes up a big part of it. And for the most part, the individual has to decide for themselves. You cannot 'save' someone or 'convince' someone without them wanting to be saved or convinced. A lady who's large or small and happy with the way they are, that's an attraction. Helps make for something special.

Oh, ladies? Just because you've starved yourself into skinny doesn't mean you look good in a miniskirt or low-rise jeans and a halter; you may just look undernourished.


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