Zabali, where did you get this “uterus bulge” info from? I really have to say that I’ve never heard of it and checking for hits on “surface anatomy” and “uterus” ain’t turning up anything useful. Also, I personally would have said without a doubt that the “bulge” down there is merely the lower section of rectus abdominis which would be extremely well developed in belly dancers/Shakira.
I dunno the techincal term for it, but that’s what the people around me called it. I did notice it was that area specifically that would be a bit swollen during my period too, but not so much that others would comment on it usually, though there was a pair or two of form fitting pants that would look just a little different on me during, and after my period. I wonder now though, if it is perhaps not so much the utereus, thinking about it, as the fact that women’s fat goes over the muscles, and men’s fat goes under it? (In general…) Perhaps it’s just that these women store a little more fat in that area than, say on their thighs or ass?
Maybe that’s it, since I know I have a uterus and I don’t see anything resembling a uterine bulge on my abdomen.
For the record, I read what I said about body fat some years ago in a medical study. It found that (not sure if it was only abdominal fat, or all fat) male fat deposited under the muscle, while female fat deposited over the muscle. It was pointing out that a pear shaped woman was still healthier in a way than an apple shaped man, because of this fact.
Well, as I implied, I think the people around you are mistaken. And you are really seem confused about fat there. “In general” men place fat under muscle? No. Male and female anatomy are not quite so different. You kind of need to glance through a basic anatomy text. No offense.
Read my followup comment. I am not stupid, mistaken, or insane. Males and females do deposit their body fat differently. Really, they do. ETA: Here is a page that hints at what I read, but what I read was a lot more in-depth, (and went into the over muscle/under muscle findings also) and I think maybe it was in Discover. I remind you, I said IN GENERAL as a qualifier. Of course there are exceptions.
Visceral fat, I’m not sure if this study has the same findings as the one I read, the one I read was older.
ETA: Yeah, and you owe me an apology CarnalK.
Yeah, well your follow up post is about some long ago study that you read that you are clearly misremembering. Men and women do indeed deposit their fat differently but the difference in locale is still on the same surface level. All “extra” fat is deposited close to the surface, for the most part. On women it does generally first go to the hips, men to the stomach but they are both still over the muscle. This is really pretty basic knowledge, I’m afraid.
What I fear some of the people around you are explaining away with uterus bulges is a “FUPA”.
Read again, and apologize.
The “apple or pear” has been in the news recently because it has been pointed out by a couple of studies that that traditional measure (the patient’s body shape, ie where his fat was deposited) was a better indicator of heart risk than the hoped for more scientific BMI measurements. If you are an Apple the weight is mostly in the centre, which seems to be riskier.
eta:
I kind of think I’m right. The placement of fat differences between men and women doesn’t involve whether it’s under or over the fat. Thigh fat is over muscles too, you know.
It is more than that. IN GENERAL, (pre-menopause) males deposit more fat viscerally, that is, in the abdominal cavity. This is not healthy. Read the article about a medical/scientific study I linked. ETA: I was speaking of the fact that of course a gut would look different, if the small amount of body fat the person had was under the muscle the muscle would show, and the “washboard abs” could better be admired. BUT if the fat was deposited OVER the muscle, it would obscure the muscle, even if it isn’t an unhealthy amount. FEMALES tend to deposit their waist fat OVER the muscle, not under it. (Dimorphism the article calls it.) So I’m right. (Even if I used the old slang term I grew up with at first, I did catch onto what it probably really is, unless the woman is on her period. 
)
No!! That “visceral fat” is a stupid misleading name as far as I can tell. "The other word they use “intra-abdominal” is better, I guess. Just think about it. Or better, grab a chunk of a boy friend’s stomach. A boy with a nice flabby bit on there. Ask him to do a crunch. You may fee a tug, but clearly the muscle is buried UNDER the fat. AArrrg! In the abdominal cavity!?! These pretzels are making me thirsty!!!
Well, I didn’t see that your article continued downwards past a couple of pictures/ads. I guess I stand corrected and I apologize. Lordy. But I will keep reading it and I still stand by my earlier comments about surface anatomy unless I read something that directly contradicts it. That bit has simply not been my experience.
I got to say in my defence, the second paragraph of one of your links reads:
“having a large midsection”? When they are supposed to mean fat surrounding the organs?
S’ok, they did point out that many do not know this. It does change things though, knowing this, doesn’t it?
Well, I guess, depending on how the fat is “differently deposited” down there. I still have a hard time thinking the uterus is to blame, especially on that belly dancer. 
Well, it looks like I had just enough beer to make an ass of myself but not so much that I couldn’t realize you were sticking to your guns for a reason. lol. Seriously, the first read through I stopped at that fat loss ad on the discover magazine link. Anyways g’night, sorry again.
Eh heh, yeah but the shape there was a good illustration of what I meant. And again, I got to thinking maybe it wasn’t so much the utereus (which I posted earlier) as it is the fact that females tend to deposit waist fat over the muscle, (subcutaneous) which would obscure the muscle and soften the lines. So, fitness freak teenage girls, wanting washboard abs would have to starve themselves to try to get them. Quite the show she puts on too, that Sadie, eh?
Can we just award one point to each of you and call it a day?
**CarnalK **is right - the bulge from the uterus on a non-pregnant woman is not visible from the outside. It’s about 3-4 inches *long *and fairly flat. It, along with the ovaries and fallopian tubes, takes up room that the male’s larger bladder takes up, so we’re all even on that score.
Zabali_Clawbane is right - the “bulge” that even most very trim (non-steroid using) women have is a thin layer of subcutaneous fat over the inferior (lower) 1/3 to 1/2 of the fascia sheath that holds the rectus abdominus muscles. This fat is thicker, on average, than the corresponding layer of fat on fit men. This area of the body is known in Eastern traditions as the Hara (it’s the part you cut for Hari-kiri suicide), and it’s a great sign for a quick check of healthy body weight. It’s so pervasive in women that if a woman is so thin as to not have it, she’s probably at a dangerously low body fat percentage, and is likely no longer menstruating. Men, of course, can often get rid of it pretty much entirely through exercise and dieting. You still have to be at a pretty low body fat percentage - but not dangerously so.
*Overweight *people are another matter - yes, in general, women tend to deposit greater subcutaneous fat and men intra-abdominal (or visceral) fat - but of course there are exceptions. There are apple shaped women and pear shaped men.
WhyNot,
Massage Therapist
Er, it was already settled, ya know? 
To sort of add to what cmyk was trying to say about the difference between food addiction/cigarette addiction. I’m not going to argue that they aren’t both choices (or not choices, depending on your stance on addiction), but in sheer terms of breaking the addiction, foodies are at a decided disadvantage. Eating is necessary for survival. Can you imagine an alcoholic being told he had to drink three times a day for the rest of his life, but not overdo it?
Like 5-4-Fighting said, it seemed more like a big shit in a thread. A really crude or insensitive comment just to get reactions.
And here’s another he just made right now.
Serious poster, my ass.