HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT "SKINNY"?

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  • Gwen_B
    Gwen_B Posts: 1,018 Member
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    People refer to me as skinny and it is insulting to me. I want to be slim yet thick. So I have been lifting weights and doing a lot of squats!
  • TheEffort
    TheEffort Posts: 1,028 Member
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    I have no problem being called "skinny" whether a compliment or a derogative...after being called "big d" and "heavy d", it's a nice change. :happy:

    If you're being called "skinny" because you're getting healthy then it's a good thing because people are noticing.

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  • strawberriekt24
    strawberriekt24 Posts: 61 Member
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    My thoughts on this are taken from one of L.M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables books: "It sounds quite romantic to be `slender,' but `skinny' has a very different tang."
  • katealbright
    katealbright Posts: 135 Member
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    From Google:

    skin·ny
    /ˈskinē/
    Adjective
    (of a person or part of their body) Unattractively thin.


    I think being skinny is associated with being concerned with "cooler" things than health like drugged-out rockstars or carefree teenagers, and therefore is a negative thing from an adult viewpoint that values responsibility and routine. That being said, I think everyone has wanted to be or loved being skinny at some point in their lives because of that image. And for all that, I there are definitely different levels of "skinny" outside of the definition above (low body fat, smallness, etc) and I think everyone wants to be at least one kind of skinny. We can admit it. I do. I have dated a lot of guys who "loved" the fact that I was "thick" and now that I'm thin they "love" that too.
  • Bel0602
    Bel0602 Posts: 135 Member
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    When I hear "skinny" I think of someone who is sickly thin. If someone ever called me skinny I wouldn't be offended. Especially since its considered a compliment in the US :P
  • CoffeeNBooze
    CoffeeNBooze Posts: 966 Member
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    I like skinny. I don't like slim, or fit. Edited to say the other words just don't have the same connotation for me. For example I was a distance runner at 175lbs...
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
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    When I first started to lose weight a few people told me I was getting too skinny, after lifting for 8 months and putting on some muscle I've had a few people (even meeting for the first time) say, wow you look fit. I know which one I prefer.

    For me skinny as a body type isn't at all functional. Some people aim for that but I play full contact sport so that's not going to work for me. For me skinny equates to weak
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
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    Whenever anyone has said that I was skinny, they only meant that I have a small, slim waist without belly fat. That is what they were focused on and talking about.

    But, like I said. It's not a word I use or identify with. I prefer slender and fit.
  • marcimlarson
    marcimlarson Posts: 54
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    i have had my yrs of 'fat girl' so the term 'skinny' applied also means 'sexy' to me. i am embarrassed of my 'fat' phase, but im extremely proud of my 'skinny' phase.
  • michellemybelll
    michellemybelll Posts: 2,228 Member
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    ... I like sexy--or ravishing. Intoxicating even.

    ravishing. i like that one!
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
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    That first girl belongs on an anorexia poster. She does not look well at all. If someone called me thick I'd be pissed and they would not like me much when I was finished telling them off. They might as well call you fat or stupid. Because if someone called you thick when I was a kid it meant you were stupid. It is funny seeing all the different thoughts on the same words. But tone does account of a lot in the comment. Its like the comment you have such a pretty face. When that is all that is said it is a definite insult. I think most of the time when people say you look skinny they mean it as a compliment especially if they know you have lost weight.

    Just because a person has very long bones, is very slender, and has not been body building to add mass, does not make her anorexic. If you define skinny as having low body fat, then some of the skinniest people you will see are bodybuilders at their competitive weight. They may not be as long and narrow as fashion models.
  • fannyfrost
    fannyfrost Posts: 756 Member
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    I didn't mind the word too much until I met my husband and now have a teen daughter. My husband when we met was 6' tall and weighed 138lbs. He was skinny. Well he hated it, he would lie about his weight, bought shirts that were wide just to cover it.

    My daughter got her genes mostly from daddy. So she was always thin. Well other kids told her she was skinny. One mom even said to her daughter and 2 other girls her daughter is fat, third girl is fine and my daughter is too skinny. She also at age the10 started being asked how she stayed skinny. She became so conscious of it that when she was a teen and lost 2lbs, she cried for an hour. I told her that my diets were never about just weight, they were about eating and being healthy. Meanwhile other people would be like "she can eat whatever she wants" and I am like not if she is going to be healthy.

    So skinny does not just have bad connotations, people need to be conscious of how they use it. Thin, lean, healthy are so much better.

    I also think our societies obsession with weight has gone too far and caused more damage. I think in general it is time to change how we talk about weight and size. Being thin does not equate to healthy and being overweight does not always equate to unhealthy. It shouldn't be a war against obesity, it should be a war against being unhealthy.
  • mank32
    mank32 Posts: 1,323 Member
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    Slender sounds better than skinny.

    my choice, this. but i seem to be the only one around me that uses it.

    i've been called skinny my whole life, and it never really bothered me. mostly i would get comments from ppl who were impressed or confused by how i could be/stay so thin. it was like, "Wow, you're so skinny!" kind of on the order of a compliment, like "how do you do it??" i grew up in a culture of white mid-west americans who value a slender woman more than a plump one. at times i would get a little frown and an implication of being "too skinny" but i've never had an ED or looked like it so that didn't bother me either.

    these days when i hear "skinny" directed at me it's usually in a friendly and complimentary tone, like "Hey, skinny girl!' as a warm greeting.

    if anyone wants to curl their lip and look down their nose at me while calling me "skinny" they can do it. idngaf. low body fat and good muscle tone are not for everyone... :huh:
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
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    What if someone says, "You have big beautiful eyes and a joyful smile"? Should we take that as an insult?
  • kalieah
    kalieah Posts: 143 Member
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    iS ANYONE INTERESTED IN DOING A WEIGHT LOSS BET?! message meeee!
  • CLFrancois
    CLFrancois Posts: 472 Member
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    I usually don't like being called skinny when it comes out in an insulting tone. It sounds like skin and bones. I work out and have muscle.
    To me it is like the difference of "fat" and "big".
  • PepperWorm
    PepperWorm Posts: 1,206
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    iS ANYONE INTERESTED IN DOING A WEIGHT LOSS BET?! message meeee!

    Stop. I've seen you in like 4 threads today. Post your own thread.
  • toridehaven
    toridehaven Posts: 95
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    My deep dark secret: I would LOVE to be called skinny. I have never been thin and skinny would just be awesome!

    The reality: I need to strive to be "healthy" not skinny.

    Reality bites!
  • juliegrey1
    juliegrey1 Posts: 202 Member
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    well I wouldnt like to be skinny I would like to be fit! I also wouldnt like to be called thick because in Ireland if you are called thick its nothing to do with your weight it means stupid! So I dont want to be thick!
  • dp1228
    dp1228 Posts: 439 Member
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    you know what's so funny about this is that I take being called skinny differently depending on who says it. I hope this doesnt offend anyone but if a white coworker or friend calls me skinny, I know they are saying it as a compliment. When a family member or a black/minority friend calls me skinny, mre often then not it's followed by "when are you going to stop losing weight." that's the kind of stuff I hate hearing. i dont even tell them that I want to lose another 15-20 pounds anymore because they start telling me i'm crazy LOL. it means different thigns to different people but overall I don't think anyone means any real kind of insult by it.

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