[QUOTE=Antigen]
Damn good attitude, olives. I alternate between days like that and days I feel like a cow, but I’m working on it.
What contributes most to the bad days? Not the TV, not the magazines. It’s size labeling in clothing stores. I’m a size 10-12, depending on the cut, and usually fall into size “large” because I’m busty. But there are some stores whose sizing seems to be way off, and I can’t button up a blouse or zip up a pair of pants till I get to a size 14, and even their XLs are a little snug. Then something sort of snaps inside me, because size 14 is supposed to be the start of the “plus sizes”. I start thinking - plus size? They’re telling me I’m a plus size? How’s that possible? Look at me, fercryingoutloud!
I know the number shouldn’t bother me. But the fact that I’m sometimes a 10 and sometimes a 14, in the same day, really messes with my self-esteem. It shouldn’t, but it does. I envy guys, whose shopping consists of reading size labels and picking stuff up without having to try on, because the designers/manufacturers aren’t all working with their own ideas of what “medium” should mean.
I’m hot, dammit. You don’t think so? Well, no sex for you!
Seems to me, though, that these “no fat chicks” men that nashiitashii mentioned, are definitely in the minority. Sure, men will lust after this or that swimsuit model, but when it comes down to actually gettin’ some, they prefer someone they can hang onto and not worry about snapping in half. The media is screwy, but I don’t think too many real men really subscribe to the underweight-is-sexy view. Unfortunately, it’s easy for a woman to see the attitude of the tabloids and entertainment shows and assume that everyone thinks the same way.
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I hate shopping for the exact reason mentioned above. I’ll never be a 10 in any range that’s deemed “normal,” and the smallest size I’ve been thus far in my adult life is a size 12. (Somehow I managed to fit into juniors’ size 11 pants at that time, but I think it was when I had slightly less prominent hips.) Right now, I can wear a 14-16, depending on the manufacturer, but find that I am an 18 or a 20 in some clothing lines (well, I would be if they actually sold clothes above a 12/14 size). I don’t shop in many stores because nothing really ever fits properly anymore, as, well, I’m never the body type that clothes are marketed for. (My range of issues are as follows: long torso, long legs, large hips, large bust, wide shoulders, different hip-to-waist ratio, different thigh circumference/waist-hips ratio. In essence, I’m an hourglass figure built on a different scale.) I’m not too fond of what I look like now in the mirror, but that’s mostly because I want to achieve a look closer to, say, a fitness model than a fashion model. (Part of it is that I want to be in shape, but not look super thin and waify. It’s never going to look healthy on me.) I am not completely dissatisfied with my figure, but rather that there are a few areas I’d like to tweak and get more toned.
I don’t often see the “no fat chicks” guys outside of television and radio. It’s exceedingly rare. But to have them dominate certain areas of the media in the same way that those trashy tabloid commentors do, it’s a bit disheartening because of the message they’re putting forth.