So I'm going to write an article about people being a size 0, but from my point of view that its not always a bad thing. Thing is, I'm going to need to mention people of a larger proportion, but I only have a short list of words I can use which I think won't be offensive, and want to avoid re-using them over and over. Any ideas? & incidentally, what are peoples views on size 0? Which is a 4 in the UK. Thanks guys! Rachel xxx
Here in the US, sizes can vary from one manufacturer to another. In some brands I take a zero, in others I have to get a 2 or a 4, and in one I even need a size 6. I wouldn't mind not being a zero, but more to avoid people looking at me like I'm anorexic or a meth addict. Someone even asked me once if I was getting chemotherapy. NO! I'm just skinny as a stick, okay.
It really depends on the circumstances. If you're size 0 because you're starving yourself or are on meth, that's bad. If you're a size 0 because that's how you naturally are, then no worries. Beauty comes in all different shapes and sizes.
Eating disorders are a serious health problem today. Glamorizing emaciated models is something various cultures need to distance themselves from. That is not to say that all size zero women are at death's door. Eva Longoria Parker is a famous size zero, yet seems to be physically healthy enough, albeit on the thin side. However, unless obsessions with "ideal" body images are turned around, eating disorders will continue to be a tragic epidemic.
Eating disorders aren't an epidemic. I have had relatively few patients with eating disorders come through my ward. Then again, I am in rural wales. If I worked in a hospital in the middle of some metropolitan city, the percentage would probably be more. And of course, eating disorder isn't just about eating too much or eating too little. It can be about severely limiting the types of food you eat due to phobias too. And regarding your article - if someone is fat then say fat. Never, ever be afraid of offending anyone. If you are reasonably intelligent then you will naturally not step over any boundaries, although some very intelligent people I know are of the 'politically correct brigade' and being around them is like stepping on egg shells. If someone is fat, they are fat. If someone is short they are short. If someone is black they are black. And so on...
This is just my opinion (coming from someone who is not really anywhere near a size 0), but I think you have to be careful with using terms like fat for people who aren't size 0's or whatever. There are plenty of larger people who view themselves as beautiful and not fat, obese, or overweight even if they are a size 10, 12, or 14. Then again, some of those people are fat. Some are even obese. But, along those lines, categorizing people who are size 10, 12, or 14 (or something along those lines) as fat or obese is similar to categorizing someone who is a size 0 as being anorexic - or something along those lines. In both cases, you need to be careful how you describe people; you need to make sure what you say is really what you mean. So, if you're talking about how a size 0 isn't a bad size to be, that's great! Go for it! Just be sure that the words you are using to describe people of all sizes convey the message you want. For example, if you are going to use the word obese, it's not just weighing over a certain amount; in has to do with height, weight, percentage of body fat, amount of muscle, etc. But if you are talking about someone truly is obese, don't be afraid to say it. One last thing, which has very little to do with the article, but more to do with the words. Be careful with words like 'fat' or 'skinny' or 'big' or 'small'. Those words are ambiguous; not every person is going to have the same image of what 'fat' or 'skinny' is. What's skinny to one person can be average to another. Or what's fat to one person can be skinny to another. Try to use words with a more defined meaning that everyone reading can have a clear understanding of. Good luck on your article! I hope my ramblings helped!
Er...hang on a minute. Let's look at your first paragraph again. You seem to be making a distinction between people who are fat and people who are beautiful. Your last couple of sentences seem to imply that the two are incompatible with each other. Why on earth can't you be fat and beautiful?
If that was directed at me, I may have been misunderstood (or I may not have written what I was thinking clearly enough). I was more talking about how fat, in today's society, has a relatively negative connotation; if people are called fat, they usually take offense to it. There are many people who don't view themselves as fat who aren't size 0s that would take offense to being called fat. To them, and maybe to others, they aren't fat. And I'm not as much saying that people can't be fat and beautiful, but there are people who are of average or larger than average sizes who think that they are beautiful but they aren't fat. Maybe beautiful wasn't the right word - I had trouble finding the word when I was writing it initially - which may have added to the confusion. I'm not saying you can't be fat and beautiful. Because you can, although fat is a relative term. But I'm also saying there are people who might be of larger sizes that aren't fat, despite their size. Which may be an odd distinction to make, and I may not be proving my point well, but it makes sense in my head. I guess what I really meant to say was what I articulated in my last paragraph about 'fat' being a relative term with no defined meaning. To begin with, 'fat' has a negative connotation in today's society - at least in Western society. When somebody is called fat, very rarely are they going to take it as a compliment. But what one person thinks is 'fat' another person thinks is perfect or beautiful. That was the distinction I was trying to make under the assumption that 'fat' has a negative connotation. I don't know if that made things any better. If it didn't, I guess the distinctions are much firmer in my head. Sorry if I offended anyone by saying anything because I really didn't mean to. I was really just trying to articulate distinctions which are part of today's society and which I have tried to compartmentalize in my head in a way that makes sense to me. But then again, what makes sense to me rarely makes sense to others and is often taken differently than I meant it.
Word or phrases. Plus sized. Or name the size. overweight. What are other words or phrases for lips? I was racking my brain the other day and all I thought of was mouth.
I think a lot of the controversy over this size zero thing is the way small is presented as good and large as bad. If you want to avoid antagonising people you'll need to steer clear of this in your article. It's fine you want to take the view that size zero is not necessarily bad. As people have said, it can be a natural body weight. I'm a size 10 British, and my daughter is 8 or smaller (when she can find something to fit which isn't often) Neither of us are ill, have low energy, addictions, or bad eating habits. I'm rather tired of people assuming that we diet. Anyway, look at some top athletes, e.g. the marathon runners are often downright skinny with their bones showing (and I was 46kg when I was in training for Cross at age 17). The problem is, zero is always presented as THE desirable shape--that's the issue, since this size isn't usually normal but maintained by dieting.
It just winds me up, because I'm a size 4/6 where I can find them, or an 8 if I cant. And I am so so sooo sick of reading in magazines that beautiful women have curves, and that nobody wants to be with someone whos just stick and bones. I know they have good intentions at heart and are trying to discourage people from eating disorders, but these articles just make people who are naturally thin feel really ugly! It makes me feel that because I dont have curves, I'm not beautiful, and that nobody would want to be with me because I'm slim! Rargh it angers me. Just to get it off my chest. Or lack of. haha xxx
I hear you and feel your pain. Here in the states it can almost get ugly. Some larger women can get openly hostile to those who are less endowed. My husband were out celebrating over a hot-fudge banana split (extra whipped cream). A woman, I would guess around a size 14 or 16, but who looked healthy and toned, came to our table and said, "You make me sick. Wasting that when you know you're just going to go throw it up." I was stunned to the point of spechlessness. My husband told her she had no idea what she was talking about and that she should probably go on her way. Some larger/plus-sized/overweight women act as if I (and others my size) are this way on purpose just to make them feel bad. I realize it's not fair that I can eat anything I want and not gain weight. But it's not my fault if someone else has a different metabolism.
Which magazines are you reading? And who do they have modelling for them? I doubt it's any of the women you would find on a quick google image search for "supermodel".
Lots! Theres so many which slag skinny girls off, on the assumption that they are either anorexic, bulimic, or live on celery. Nobody believes people like Keira Knightley when they say they simply have a high metabolism.
So true. At most of the jobs I've had, my coworkers always harrassed me about making sure that I eat because they all assumed that I was anorexic. Nope, not anorexic. Just skinny. Sorry. And it's true about the magazines. Every time there's a celebrity who is thinner than other celebrities, suddenly everyone is speculating about them having an eating disorder. Why does it always have to be an eating disorder? Maybe they just started eating more healthy and hitting the gym. I don't think you should necessarily use the word fat to describe bigger people. Yes, if people are fat, they are fat. However, there are women who wear bigger sizes who are by no means "fat". A person wearing a size 14 doesn't automatically mean they are obese.
I wasn't going to comment on this thread because it can be a sensitive issue but then I read the post about how skinny people get picked on for being anorexic. I had a friend in high school who was tiny...I think she was a size zero...and nearly everyone picked on her for it and asked her if she was anorexic, etc. I don't think I ever asked her that, because she didn't look unhealthy. There's a big difference between someone who is anorexic and someone who is just naturally skinny--someone who has an eating disorder will have paler skin and just look sickly. She didn't, so I knew everything was fine. It probably helped that I saw how much she ate, too...we did joke around with her about her high metabolism. But I think the reason I didn't get all worried about it is because my best friend growing up, who was a guy, was the same way. His metabolism was so fast that if he didn't eat every two hours he would physically get sick because his body would think he was starving. I guess it really depends on the people you grow up with when it comes to how you look at skinny people. ~Lynn
