Is there any Westernized (or, for that matter, non-Western) culture in the world where women are not shy about revealing their age or weight (the traditional “Two things you don’t ask a woman”)?
(Don’t ask why I ask this question)… 
Seeing how a woman’s age and weight are tied to her fertility, I would assume this insecurity stems from biology more than culture.
So I really don’t know the answer, but that tidbit is relevant.
one funny thing is looking at college sports websites. All the men’s teams have height and weights listed. For women they just have heights. And since these are athletes they are in good shape in most cases. The only site I found with women’s weights was WNBA.
Sure.
In the US black women seem nowhere near as fussed about their weight as white women do. Anorexia is uncommon among black women (being the lowest occurring of all eating disorders among black women…binge eating is their most prevalent eating disorder). CITE
Dunno if they approach aging any differently.
Obesity is far less common in most Western nations than in the US, so women in most European countries have less reason to fret over their weight.
Obesity is less common among white women than black women, but white women fret about it more than blacks as was mentioned.
East Asians have a very low obesity rate and women there seem very concerned about it. Didn’t evensven once say when she was in East Asia that the women were obsessed with being under 40-50 kilos?
That might help explain why I see so many books which do give people’s weights and the men are all over 200 pounds but women are either below 140 or above 300 (it’s always American writers, but then, I read a lot of American writers).
In Spain you don’t ask people how much they weigh unless the conversation warrants it for other reasons, it’s irrelevant of gender. But I also don’t think I’ve seen a lot of weight stats for athletes unless they came from another country: the Olympics newwscasts usually give height and weight on the scrolling at the bottom, for example.
I understand being self-conscious about weight, but never age. What’s going to happen, you’ll tell someone you’re 54 and people will harass you and laugh at you? That has never made sense to me.
No, but people who ask your age (specially those who do it without giving theirs) are a lot more likely to then move to other personal questions and eventually make your hands itch for a nice, heavy, fragile vase. How come you aren’t married, don’t you want to have kids… if what people want to know is if you’re a similar age and so had similar age-related experiences, they can ask indirectly: “did you use to watch Sesame Street” “nope, they started showing it when I was already in high school”. The person answering may or may not give the actual figure, but the original question is unlikely to be followed by an inquiry into your social, sexual and reproductive status.
Age is sensitive because it has some association with how good we look – I’m not saying younger = better, just that people usually are insulted if you guess they are older than they are, for example.
So, many people like to think they look younger than their true age. If you ask them their age it puts them in the uncomfortable position of either lying or giving up the “deception”.
It’s not considered masculine to have such anxiety however, so it’s still, usually, acceptable to ask men their age.
I’ve noticed that older Indian women in America that are wearing I guess the traditional Hindi or whatever it is garb, don’t seem to concerned about people seeing a few rolls if they happen to be overweight.
So, is it a GOOD thing for fat women to love their big bodies? An Unmixed blessing?
I say this as a male who’s probably 35-40 overweight. Should I look in the mirror and think “Damn, I’m hot?” Or should I be concerned? Is confidence and self-esteem always admirable, or can it be foolish and even dangerous?
I think this is mixing two separate issues. One is about self-esteem. Everyone can find things about their body that they don’t like, and in the majority of cases it’s trivial things.
IME many women have a perception that they are too fat when in very many cases they are already an attractive and healthy weight, or even underweight. And if you’re overweight, so what?
OTOH there’s obesity and the health risks related to that.
So you can “love yourself” and all that, while at the same time being aware you need to lose a few pounds for health reasons.
Sure, and that’s common sense. But at least a few posters here are saying, “Black women can be 100 pounds overweight and yet bursting with self-esteem, while white women agonize over a few extra pounds.” The implication sure SEEMS to be that black women have the right attitude.
I’m not at all sure that’s either true or healthy.
Seeing how scientific studies show most people are unable to lose large amounts of weight and keep it off permanently with modern technology (short of surgery), it is probably better to practice self acceptance.
Obesity is bad for you, but so are a million other things (castrated men live longer than non-castrated ones for example).
Its a cultural thing - for example, Hollywood -
Perhaps some of it has to do with innate biology - women are allegedly sexually attractive in their peak reproduction years (men less so), so reluctant to admit their clock is winding down. (But then, with so many childless couples, what difference should that make?) We see it in the phenomenon of trophy wives, which has even spread to the white house now. IMHO - if anything the cultural shift has gotten worse in recent years when it should have been getting better. Perhaps it’s the phenomenon of baby boomers not wanting to admit their hourglasses are emptying out.
I see a similar vanity with men, it just takes a bit longer. While women will try to pretend they are still 29, men will try to pretend they are not approaching/past 50, until it’s time to ditch the wife for a 20-year-old blonde and buy a little red sports car.
Well I’d say there is undoubtedly an instinctive aspect. I didn’t really want to “go there” in this thread, as it detracts from the main point, but there are various reasons that many guys will preferentially go with young women, and it’s common to basically all cultures.
I would go further than that. For me (a male) it was tough hitting 30, and for many of my guy friends I could see it was the same – just as a guy you’re limited in how you can express it.
And the midlife crisis thing needs updating I think. The generation of people hitting 40 and 50 now never really lost touch with the toys of their youth. I still play video games. I ride a motorcycle. I work out. So how can I express some sudden need to be youthful when I hit 40?
Why just women? Is there some widespread thing where people ask men their weight and age?
I would like to note that I don’t think anybody has ever asked my weight except when I’m getting my driver’s license (and they don’t ask my age–they know it). Once I was asked what color my hair was, and that was a real dilemma. If it’s its natural color I really don’t know what to call it. If it’s not its natural color, then I don’t know whether to give the natural color or the obvious one. I only have a ballpark guess about my weight, come to think of it.
In several Asian cultures, commenting on people’s weight is less taboo. People will tell you when you’ve gained weight, for example. “Yes, thanks for reminding me.” I always want to tell them.
For men in Japan, it can be critical know their age as the social relationship will change. Men will often speak differently to a man a year older than them and will speak differently to a man a year younger. Male university professors and doctors, for example, follow this convention among themselves.
I don’t know exactly how women handle it, but the rules can be different.
I don’t know of any culture in which people actually ask for weight and age, but generally speaking, ISTM that, universally, men are less reluctant to divulge info about their weight and age than women, if asked.