Walking toothpicks

This thread is kind of like a question merged with a statement that would mainly apply to women, allthough I am sure that it applies to alot of men too.


The reason I posted it in here is because women/teenaged girls are more prone to this sort of thing.

Of late, there have been in my opinion, too many magazines contain alot of young women who are suffering from eating disorders. They always talk about eating lots of the right foods, eating healthy, but all evidence points to the contrary.

I seriously cannot see how women like that can see that as attractive. Protuding ribbs, stick arms and concave stomach? No thanks!

People like that really do need to seek help. (Or in most cases other need to find it for them) but instead society is putting their photo's stuck on magazine covers.

'Fat' is one of the most common insults I hear people calling teenage girls when they want to hurt them and to me its like calling someone very smart a 'thicko' or something.

Is being called 'fat' really worse than being called something like 'vain', 'cruel', 'shallow', or 'boring'?

Certainly not to me.

What is the pressure to be thin?

Being brought up in an Italian family, they judge love by how much food they can force feed you and I must say I LOVE my food! (Italian bread, being in my top ten). The idea of someone starving themselves to get thinner seems daunting.

I do remember one time, a relitive from my fathers side (the Italian side) of whom I hadnt met for years came up to me and said that I looked like I had lost a little weight. I shrugged off the comment and went about my own business.
What I did feel like saying was 'Since I saw you last I have gotten my drivers log book, I've gained alot of skills in doing work experience at four different places. In less than a couple of months I'll be graduating year 12 and hopefully heading to Uni...Arent any of those things more important, interesting than my size?'

Maybe all of this seems funny, or trivial but it isnt. It is about what girls want to be, what they are told they should be, what they think they should be, what they percieve that they should be to get societies approval. (Oh, society. When will you learn!?)

I've got a sister and little cousins that have to grow up in this skinny-obsessed world, and it concerns me because I dont want them to be empty-headed clones of Paris Hilton. I'd rather them to be idealistic, individuals, kind, opinionated, funny or interesting - anything before thin.

What are your opinions/views?

Rant over.

 

Whats interesting is that right now in our society we have two weight issues - girls that have eating disorders to look like the models with eating disorders and obesity. It could be a combination of girls wanting to look like the models and fearing being obese maybe..? I think about this issue often and just now really put the two together hmm..

But yeah its horrible. I think looking healthy is the most beautiful and attractive thing for a woman. Its sad that girls as young as elementary school think they're fat, and its not likely that they are. I've read a few things about it and have heard that they may repeat this behavior from their mothers or caretakers. There are even mothers who tell their children to lose weight if they don't really need to. I think even if they need to, that is pretty hurtful.

So yeah I understand. Our society is so obsessed about weight or very careless (obesity). All in all I think most of the society just doesn't care about whats good and healthy for their bodies and thats really important.

 

i struggle to stay over 100 lbs BUT i eat like grown man...heh. im skinny but i love my body. im not stupid or obsessed with myself though and i don't think its fair to insinuate that all thin girls are those things. i think that full figured women are beautiful, skinny women are beautiful...women should simply let go of trying to look like anyone but themselves. im skinny and i don't care. im not starving myself or sticking my fingers down my throat to be this way. and at the same time, im not trying to gain weight either. i am who i am and as long as a person is happy with who they are i think it doesn't matter weather you are skinny or "fat" or any shape. health is what really matters. women looking at smaller figured women and saying that they all starve themselves or whatever is just as hurtful as calling someone fat.saying "id rather them be anything but thin" is not fair either,would you love them less if they were thin? its a two way street.regardless, a girls mind is way more important then the size of her pants. mostly its men that make a young girl want to look like pairs or whatever but at the same time, its paris herself. girls need a better role model. someone with a brain and a healthy look and a non trashy wardrobe...but that doesn't sell and sex does. these woman in the spotlight are going to continue to use sex appeal over intelligence because its all about image. its never going to change. the best way to help things is to be someone who they can look up to. you be your little sisters or cousins role model. help them understand what really is important you know? i may be a walking toothpick but i do have a brain and morals and an appitite.

 

I have to say nowadays i see more ppl complaining about girls being too thin then seeing girls too thin, I know only one person who i feel doesn't eat enough and she still weighs more than me and is not incredibly skinny! One person i know eats tons!! and yet shes so bony so really you can't judge on looks alone.
Alot of guys i know prefer girls that are bigger and for me it jus doesn't seem an issue.

Obesity seems like more of a prob - our school says there're doing a healthy eating iniative so they won't sell crisps but they sell cookies and cakes so sugary its horrid!!

 

The only place I've seen issues with being too skinny is the magazine model.

In real life, I know a LOT more girls who struggle with obesity, and you know what? Un-PC or not, that's not good either. It's not good to starve yourself, but it's also not good to be obese. Sorry if that steps on toes.
I'm not talking about being "chunky" or "curvy;" I'm talking about being seriously overweight. A shocking number of girls at my old school were overweight. They couldn't function in gym class, they had health problems at 16 years old because of their weight. I don't think that coddling them and telling them that it's okay is the answer, because when you're that heavy, it ISN'T okay. At least not for your health. I haven't known a single girl with serious eating problems on the other end of the scale, so hey, maybe I'm wrong and starving yourself is an even bigger epidemic than obesity, but I really don't think so, not from what I've seen.
I've also been told that I'm "anorexic" and that people "hate" me because of how skinny I am. What's disturbing is that I'm not really that thin - I'm 105 pounds, but I'm also VERY short. I definitely have big ole' hips and full breasts, yet I still get grumbled at because I wear a size 1 or 2. I've been judged for being thin out of jealousy, not because I actually have an eating disorder, and that's not right, either.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that there just needs to be more help in general: Help for those who are overweight, and help for those who are anorexic, but first it must be clearly identified that they ARE, in fact, obese or anorexic.

 

What really pisses me off is that we're supposed to pity those who struggle with anorexia and bulimia, but people on the other end of the spectrum- compulsive overeaters- are treated like absolute dirt. I've struggled with that my whole life and am a horrid binge eater- I just can't bring myself to throw it up afterwards- that's the only difference I have from bulimia. Compounded with other health issues (PCOS and thyroid problems), I've been overweight or obese my entire life. It's taken almost 3 months of a strict diet and exercise regime for me to lose even 10 pounds because I'll binge on anything- even broccoli or spinach.

Most people don't understand the problem of obsessive overeaters and I've even struggled to find a therapist dealing with eating disorders who will even help or have the slightest understanding.

If we're going to recognize one as a disease, why not the other?

 

double post! computer stuck. oops

 

celebs can afford nice expensive food and a body trainer. they need to eat a fucking sandwich! They make everyone think that if you look like you can be snapped in half, then you are sexy and beautiful. girls with curves are sexy and beautiful. not ones with their bones showing, thats just gross.

OR the intense drug use! they actually had the tabloids say that going to rehab is the new celeb trend. WTF????

 

Dunno. I like skinny girls.

I also tend to have little sympathy for the obese, but that probably stems from my weight fluctuating so much; I usually lose about 3- pounds over the summer from work (12 hour days running saw for six or seven days a week) and bulk up over the winter.

I also tend to find that fat girls have a constant hate-on for skinny girls, as if it is somehow their fault.

 

Not all celebs are stick thin and while I agree with the point you cant blame celebs for women or girls being stick thin - no one made them so you might as well blame rappers for the violence in society today.

i hav a mate whos overweight and shes not like that b/c she binges but b/c she doesnt eat healthy enough - sweets, cakes etc - i don't think ppl take it very seriously.

 

you know, it was no problem at all for me to stay at 118 when i was doing coke and crank. dont' believe everything you hear about their diets and exercise regimes. most of those wealthy model types are hard partiers, and they're being given all sorts of stuff to look like they do. living where i did, i got to know SCADS of models and actresses. there wasn't a single one of them not doing free drugs. that's when i turned my back on the entire fashion industry and media models of femaleness.

when i look back at the pictures of myself at 118, i'm horrified. how anyone didn't know i was killing myself is beyond me. i'm 5'5", and i only look fit, healthy and beautiful at about 140. but i see these models and such who claim to have my exact same measurements and many inches in height, yet weigh less than i do. i don't think so. it's a LIE.

 

yeah, i know what you mean! They tell you all thier health secrets and how to lose 40 lbs in 2 weeks or whatever, and its just a cover up.

 

I find my neighbor kids (15 year olds)whenever they get pms or something they always start to call me an anorexic bitch-for no reason. I have always been thin, but never anorexic, and its not like I call them fat cows or anything, so why the hate?

 

I got made fun of so much in jr. high because i was so skinny. It hurt so bad all the time. I think all women should love their bodys no matter what size they come in. Overeating, and undereating are a shame. Being obsessed with food on either side of the spectrum is a sad way to live. And its scary how many women do both.

I love you all,
Gin

 

most of my friends in school were so thin as to be frail. i understand the plight of those who can't gain weight, no matter how much they try. my ex-boyfriend was one of them. however, that doesn't discount what i've seen with my own two eyes. an inability to gain weight is far less common than people going to extraordinary means to stay as thin as they can and still support their own cranium.

 

Yes, I'm a small girl... maybe even model-skinny (I've been told). I'm 5'3" and stay around 95-100lbs. (and can NOT seem to gain weight..) but I eat healthy and everything.

So, what bothers me the most is when people go "Wow, you're so tiny/skinny" and everything... I've had women come up to me in clothing stores and ask what size I wear, because they're "shopping for their daughter, but she's probably about 3 sizes bigger..." and they say it as if, had their daughter been standing right there, they would have shot her a dirty look when they said it. I walk away hoping they realize that it's HARD to find things in my size, short of shopping in the kids' section, and I've found so many things that I wanted to buy but couldn't because an XS was baggy on me.

I think it's awful, how many magazine covers I see now with "Stars with Eating Disorders!" and an unhealthy Nicole Richie, Mary-Kate, or Angelina Jolie on the cover. They talk shit about them, but they're still glamourizing the subject for young girls.

 

just don't buy them. you know you. the trouble with those eating disorder famous is that we have photographic evidence of them actually being healthy, once upon a time.

 

My step sisters have a very small framed body. They have no eating disorders, 2 just had babies


and the 2 that just had babies are size -1 and size 2 my other step sister is a size 3 . They eat like men and have a very fast metabalism.

 

how many women do you know who have that same build and metabolism, percentage wise?

 

I'm naturally 6 1/2 stone and have been for a year and a half. i never lose weight and i can't seem to put it on, yet i eat loads and loads. yet i get told to eat more! now where's my peanut cookies?