Dress Size

[Chiaki]

Okay, I know this is quite a womanly topic but I'd also like to know what some guys think.

 

The media promotes this body image of a skinny woman, one who has no excess fat on her whatsoever, and while many agree that the "size 0" models are unattractive and unhealthy the models they do use are still a far cry from the "average woman". This skewed body images can and has led to some girls and boys to develop eating disorders such as bulimia or anorexia. A friend of mine was in the hospital a little while back due to anorexia.

 

So many have now turned to the "big is beautiful" side. Where larger plus size women are more attractive and more healthy and those skinny models are not "real women."

 

But what about the people who are naturally that skinny? Are they not "real women" just because they don't/can't gain weight?

 

I guess I'd just like to know the opinion of the forum on this matter. What do you consider beautiful? What's your ideal size?

[Evangeline]

Beauty is what is underneath.

 

I am one of those girls that just can't gain a whole lot of weight...

 

If I wanna look modest, a size 7.

I can wear smaller though.

[Rosedamai]

I can't gain weight. I just can't. Tried everything. I'm just naturally skinny, there's nothing I can do about that.

 

 

I think beauty is in the eye of the beholder. For real.

[nelena]

I'm naturally skinny, wearing clothes of size 32 to 36(EU, it's probably 2-6 in US, I don't know). People are talking about "big is beautiful" etc., but rarely know that somebody could not gain weight. Calling me anorectic isn't the best thing I could hear. I'm a real woman, not a skeleton

As somebody said before, beauty isn't a physical thing. I have some "big" friends and I don't think about them as a disgusting tones of fat. On the other hand, being slim would be probably healthier to them.

[WereJace]

Nobody should be shamed because of their body size or shape.

 

My tastes vary across the board. I don't tend to favor extremes, but I find different things lovely about different people.

[Alpha1]

But what about the people who are naturally that skinny? Are they not "real women" just because they don't/can't gain weight?

 

I guess I'd just like to know the opinion of the forum on this matter. What do you consider beautiful? What's your ideal size?

 

What do you think the men said during the Irish Potato Famine?

[diannethegeek]

At my heaviest I weighed 224 pounds. I've been dieting and exercising since July and I'm now down to 172, with a goal weight of 150. I'm 5'8" and a size 12 (US) right now, I've been up to a size 20. I'm never going to be a size 0, not just because of my body style but because I really don't want to. A size 10 is much healthier for me than a size 0 or a size 20.

 

Yes, I recognize that I'm losing weight partially to conform to society's standards of beauty (also so I can walk up a flight of stairs without getting winded) but I don't think I'm any prettier at a size 12 than I was at a size 20. That's not me being down on myself but me recognizing that nothing has really changed, there's just less of me to love. No one should be shamed for their body size, whether they're overweight, underweight, or average weight. Unless you're her doctor it's absolutely none of your business, in my opinion.

[Princess Artemis]

Since my aesthetic tastes don't run to women, I can't really say I have an ideal of feminine beauty. I suppose for female bodies I find ~size 12-16 dress to be what I find most aesthetically pleasing when I sculpt female forms. About the right size to see the muscle shape but still have average amounts of fat. Of course, that's for a sculpture, not a real person!

 

I really do think humans are beautiful in a variety of shapes and sizes, though. Beauty standards in my culture are warped beyond human recognition for women and I do not like that. It is warped for men too and I don't like that either. Women and men are beautiful in their natural weights, their natural skin color, their natural wrinkles, their natural human shape.

 

For myself, my mental image of me is about the same no matter what size I am, so I don't know if it matters that much. My ideal for me would be 160-170 lb; any less than that and I'd look too thin. I don't think I look bad weighing more though, and the dystonia curling up my left side and making me grimace and make faces and stick my tongue out sometimes, doesn't, appearance-wise, bother me that much, for which I am very grateful.

Edited February 1, 2012 by Princess Artemis

[Wookieinmashoo]

As long as you take care of yourself inside and out, it really shouldn't matter.

[NobleOwl]

I don't think it should impact. I'm a size 12-14, my wife varies from a size 2-6. At her thinnest she was a 1 and 6 was while pregnant.

[Syaoransbear]

Dress size isn't important at all. I'm a size 0-2 and my body looks like crap because I have a thin skeletal frame, very little muscle mass, and a lot of fat.

 

I think all this 'real women' stuff is still saying that the most important feature for a woman is their looks, except the target is going the opposite way. Now thin women are supposed to feel bad about themselves. With the media and fashion industry still trying to pressure women to be thin, and the general public trying to pressure women into being overweight, the only thing it has accomplished is that now all women hate their bodies. It would be nice if all body shapes, weights, and heights were represented equally in the media.

[babybluefire]

I personally have a little more weight to loose until I am back to a healthy fitness. Kids will do that to you. I exercise and work out for an hour or more every. single. day. I will never have a normal BMI on paper because I am built like a tiny draft horse. BMI itself does not take muscle mass into affect at all. I weigh in at 190 pounds right now. My waist is a size 12, my chest and hips vary between a 12 and a 14 pending on the cut. I often have to buy one size larger (14) and take the waist in for clothing to look nice. At my perfect goal shape....note I said shape not weight, I will look like a muscular hourglass.

 

 

Body shape wise a fit muscular 12 can look just the same as a kind of flabby 8. I wish health was judged upon physical fitness, not how small of pants you can cram your rear end into. It will be physical impossible for me to get under a size 8 without ceasing exercise and pushing myself into starvation. Its just not wroth it.

[Kestra15]

 

Pretty much sums up my opinion.

 

I find size 12 beautiful. I have had a crush on girls who are size 8 and a size 16.

 

I'm now 100kg (220lb). I have always been overweight and never been fully happy with my body. But hey, I still cycle 2hrs a day for work, do a very physically demanding job for 12hrs a day, and can still play Capoeira and, while I may not be doing somersaults, I still look like a ninja. I am about as happy with my body as I can be.

[Lythiaren]

Dress size isn't important at all. I'm a size 0-2 and my body looks like crap because I have a thin skeletal frame, very little muscle mass, and a lot of fat.

 

I think all this 'real women' stuff is still saying that the most important feature for a woman is their looks, except the target is going the opposite way. Now thin women are supposed to feel bad about themselves. With the media and fashion industry still trying to pressure women to be thin, and the general public trying to pressure women into being overweight, the only thing it has accomplished is that now all women hate their bodies. It would be nice if all body shapes, weights, and heights were represented equally in the media.

ThisthisthisthisthisTHIS.

 

I hate how the media continues to push unrealistic standards on people. It makes us hate our bodies to encourage us to buy whatever products to become "beautiful" and the end result is that we slowly poison ourselves in an effort to be accepted in society.

 

Unrealistic standards can die in a hole. I am fat and I love myself. I can and do frequently make fun of my own weight because I am comfortable with who I am, and I will make no conscious effort to change it.

 

I am beautiful. You are beautiful. We are all beautiful the way we naturally are. Media bigwigs, kindly shove it.

Edited February 1, 2012 by Lythiaren

[AngelKitty]

Media bigwigs, kindly shove it.

 

Y'know, this reminds me of Paula Fuga.

sort of thing is a sin. She has an

, and she didn't get in because she's not skinny. The "Big Girls Rock" shirt the guy's holding doesn't fool me or anyone else - Paula's reaction is a dead giveaway, too ("your voice is so sweet, but no") - if she had been skinny, she would have gotten in.

 

I'm a US size 16, and though it would be nice to be a little smaller (maybe a size 13-14, just so I can have a better selection of clothes; why is plus-sized stuff so TACKY?), I'm pretty okay with myself as I am now. Most of the men I see are larger, too. I find chubby guys attractive.

[diannethegeek]

I'm a US size 16, and though it would be nice to be a little smaller (maybe a size 13-14, just so I can have a better selection of clothes; why is plus-sized stuff so TACKY?), I'm pretty okay with myself as I am now.

This is one of the biggest problems I had with being plus size. There are a ton of cute clothes out there in the world. Why do so few of them come in anything above a size 12? I hated having to memorize who carries size 16 in stores, who carries it but only online, and who doesn't make them at all. Being dragged by friends into stores that don't carry my size at all was always a nightmare.

[amerylis]

I'm a UK 14 and have recently (last 12 months gone from a UK 12) and have been a 12 since I was around 11 years old (I was already 6 foot back then). I am happy with my size I am with in the "ideal" limits of my height and can still look sexy if I so choose to.

 

In all honesty I find the tiny skinny models unattractive and have a temption to feed them cake

[Nine]

Yeah, beauty has no limitations on build, weight, etc. If you're happy and confident with your appearance, it speaks a lot more volume than dress size. (lolol pun)

 

With that said, I'd be lying if I said I didn't have personal, aesthetic preferences. I like to see that someone can take care of themselves, medical reasons exempt, and I don't find severe underweight/obesity attractive. The fact that most media manipulate and distort their images digitally is pretty ugly, in both senses of the word.

 

Especially in those teeth whitening commercials! Dude, the actor had some pretty nice, white chompers before they used your magic product. Also she's now wearing a veneer and omg wtf that's cheating.

[EeveeSkitty]

I don't think it matters what size you are. I wouldn't think what size you are should matter. Skinny isn't better, and bigger isn't better either. Still, I have to admit I have a preference for people who look more 'healthy' (so, not overly skinny/fat, even though I know they can be healthy).

 

I'm female and average weight, btw. My ideal would be a little less than now, but more for comfort than appearance.

[Alegra]

Yess I hate all these stupid women that belittle skinny girls to make themselves feel better. All women are real women.

 

There's no overall ideal size, that depends on your genetics.

 

You should want to be fit and healthy for yourself. Not thin because that's what's fashionable

[Tiffashy]

You're beauiful just the way you are. Don't let anyone tell you any difference.

 

There is no need to judge other people with their beauty. Everyone and every creature is beauitful in their own way. It doesn't matter if you're fat. Doesn't matter if you're ugly. You are still beauitful in your own ways.

I'm like one of those 'real' women. I may have a tiny bit of weight but it doesn't mean that i'm different from others.

[Maiden]

I'm a size ten, which is average I guess. I've had issues all my life with my weight, and at my biggest I was a size eighteen and almost 200 lbs. I liked my fluffy body. I like my less fluffy one. It's just a vessel for all the awesome inside.

 

I'm not any less a woman now just because I lost a few pounds. I wouldn't be any less of a woman if I lost a few more. What's on the inside matters more than what's on the outside. It really is true. I wish I'd believed it decades ago.

[Obscure_Trash]

Yess I hate all these stupid women that belittle skinny girls to make themselves feel better. All women are real women.

I dislike it when anyone belittles anybody for anything.

It's not just women that "do it to make themselves feel better."

 

It's media. It's society. It's culture. (US, anyway.)

 

My best friend right now has been through a lot. I find her gorgeous and stunning. She's intelligent and strong. But she's been abused her whole life and she thinks she's fat and ugly. She likes looking at how celebrities are photoshopped to help her realize that nobody is stick thin with no curves (or, not everybody in media, anyway). Growing up, all her friends were guys. And she was told over and over by all of them that she was a good friend, but she was fat and ugly and nobody would want her as a girlfriend ever.

[Salicana]

As my fitness instructor said, "When wanting to lose weight, go by inches lost, not by the numbers on the scale." One, weight fluctuates all the time. Two, muscles weighs more than fat.

 

Anyway, I'm very much the average size when it comes to weight and height. For high school and most of college, I was was the same size (nearly 9 years). I have a friend back home who was always jealous of my size because I could find something in just about every store. (She's 4'11" so she's got her work cut out for her when it comes to clothes shopping.) Then, I got to college and became good friends with women who are on the plus size of the scale. All of them beautiful. Each of them would always say that I looked so pretty/cute and that I should be glad that I didn't have weight problems and wasn't pressured to look skinny. I know I shouldn't be, but I am very insecure about my appearance. When my friends said such things, I felt that I had to make sure to stay the same size so I wouldn't disappoint them. At times, it actually hurt that they thought I didn't have problems.

 

When my boyfriend noticed me complaining about my weight/size, he said probably the wisest thing ever (at the time). "You're getting older." He helped me realize that I couldn't stay the same size forever. Because of him, I'm realizing that it is perfectly fine and normal for me to go from my high school size 5 to my mid-20s size 8. I exercise regularly and eat well, and I do it because of me.

 

As for the issue of 'real women,' it's been said that there are many beautiful women in various shapes and sizes. Just because I'm attracted to a particular body type doesn't mean the rest aren't beautiful.

[Alegra]

I dislike it when anyone belittles anybody for anything.

It's not just women that "do it to make themselves feel better."

 

It's media. It's society. It's culture. (US, anyway.)

 

My best friend right now has been through a lot. I find her gorgeous and stunning. She's intelligent and strong. But she's been abused her whole life and she thinks she's fat and ugly. She likes looking at how celebrities are photoshopped to help her realize that nobody is stick thin with no curves (or, not everybody in media, anyway). Growing up, all her friends were guys. And she was told over and over by all of them that she was a good friend, but she was fat and ugly and nobody would want her as a girlfriend ever.

 

Yes, I should of said I hate when these stupid women belittle skinny girls to make themselves feel better. And I meant they're stupid because it's bullying.

 

I say stupid things.