Have people's concepts of normal become too fat?

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  • FitCanuckChick
    FitCanuckChick Posts: 240 Member
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    Re the real women ad. Would everyone be happier if they said the "obese, distgusting" women?" Or perhaps as the women referred to in this add went around wearing tents with holes in the top? Seriously - it is about making women of larger sizes feel better about themselves. I don't see why everyone is simply so upset about this. I don't knwo why everything is taken so personally. Be happy you don't wear those clothes or sizes. I have people very close to me that do and I used to be one of them - maybe its the big girl in the smaller body in me talking but the reactions here regarding this add are hitting a nerve.
  • Therealobi1
    Therealobi1 Posts: 3,261 Member
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    Re the real women ad. Would everyone be happier if they said the "obese, distgusting" women?" Or perhaps as the women referred to in this add went around wearing tents with holes in the top? Seriously - it is about making women of larger sizes feel better about themselves. I don't see why everyone is simply so upset about this. I don't knwo why everything is taken so personally. Be happy you don't wear those clothes or sizes. I have people very close to me that do and I used to be one of them - maybe its the big girl in the smaller body in me talking but the reactions here regarding this add are hitting a nerve.

    i agree with this.
    its just advertising. you need a line to grab the audience attention.
  • slim_photographer
    slim_photographer Posts: 310 Member
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    Yes, I agree with you. It's not only a challenge for a normal weight person but for someone who has been overweight.
    I call it unintentional sabotage.
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
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    Got this in an email today. Real women? Since when is FAT a real woman now? Does that mean because I'm not the size they state I am NOT a real woman? Talk about warped. People need to wake up to this crap.

    realwomen_zps99596aaf.jpg

    Can we talk about how ugly those clothes are? Women sizes 16-36 deserve pretty close too!! WTF?
  • Katbaran
    Katbaran Posts: 605 Member
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    I've just got to throw my 2 cents in here: First of all, the ad for the "win the wardrobe" doesn't make me feel one way or another. Sure, I'm in that size range right now. I really don't feel like a "Real Woman" or any other platitudes. I'm fat. I don't want to be any more, so I've joined mfp and am working on it. A nice wardrobe whilst I'm losing would be nice.

    I went to some websites about fat acceptance when I was 317 and thought I was hopeless. Those are the very places that convinced me I was NOT hopeless and I could lose weight and be normal. Most of them take all this much too far and like many posters said, do not address the consequences of being VERY over weight. I AM embarrassed when I don't fit into a chair comfortably and I don't think the chairs should be bigger to accommodate me. I think I should work on getting my *kitten* smaller to fit into the NORMAL chairs. I recently went with a friend to have her knee replaced--she is an average weight--and the waiting room chairs were HUGE! Like a chair and a half huge. Nice, but it didn't make me a little uncomfortable and reinforce the idea that I need to lose more weight. It makes one lazy and complacent when one is catered to.

    Enough of a rant. Just MHO.
  • NearlyJen
    NearlyJen Posts: 104 Member
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    If you are quite muscular, your bf might be in the essential range, which might look too thin for some people. I'm 5'7, and pretty muscular, and people start telling me I look too thin around 126. Just because the bottom range of the BMI is considered "healthy" doesn't mean every person within that range is in optimal health. Personally, I like to cruise around with my body fat at suboptimal levels, but I won't argue with anyone who tells me that I'd actually be healthier a little fatter.

    Same here - I'm a size 4 at 133lbs and people start to worry about me if I get down to 125. It's definitely a matter of muscle mass and BMI charts aren't meant for people like us. I was just seeing that for my age range I'm not "supposed" to go below 23% bf...but that's a tad too high for my liking.
  • Therealobi1
    Therealobi1 Posts: 3,261 Member
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    Got this in an email today. Real women? Since when is FAT a real woman now? Does that mean because I'm not the size they state I am NOT a real woman? Talk about warped. People need to wake up to this crap.

    realwomen_zps99596aaf.jpg

    Can we talk about how ugly those clothes are? Women sizes 16-36 deserve pretty close too!! WTF?

    lol i agree. they are not nice.
  • portpaw
    portpaw Posts: 19
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    I love your attitude, Katbaran! And what an accomplishment - 61 lbs. Thanks for inspiring me today.
  • ItsCasey
    ItsCasey Posts: 4,022 Member
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    To be fair, regarding the "real woman" stuff, I think that ad is making a distinction between size 00 fashion models and "everyday" women, most of whom (at least in the U.S.) are a size 12 or larger. I don't think they're saying you're not a "real woman" if you are smaller than a size 16. It is just a fact that there are a lot of overweight people out there, and they need clothes just like everyone else. I don't think the availability of plus-sized clothing is the reason people get or stay fat.

    But the "real women have curves" crap ... I take issue with that.

    My personal take on the question posed is that it's not that our concept of "normal" has changed, in terms of weight/size. The problem is that it is now okay, in all facets of life, to be mediocre and to look externally for something or someone to blame for your lack of success. We no longer hold people responsible for their lives or accountable for their decisions, and we're so worried about someone being offended that everyone in the world now qualifies as a bully, merely for expressing an opinion. People are weak and getting weaker, and no one seems to have a problem with it.
  • wordpainter09
    wordpainter09 Posts: 472 Member
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    On a serious note, I think regardless of where you live, it *can* cost more to eat an all fresh 'clean' diet. Its the poorest communities, partly through misconceptions and lack of understanding how the human biology works but also partly fact - that suffer from obesity and poor health because they feel they have no choice but shop at discount stores where most food is poor quality processed junk not fit for a dog to eat. But also poverty is self perpetuating, so because they grew up poor its the only food they have ever known.

    This is a good point. Concepts of healthy living vary greatly depending on how you were raised. Gym memberships/access to healthy foods/habits aren't always taught and they're not a priority if people are struggling to meet basic needs.
  • wordpainter09
    wordpainter09 Posts: 472 Member
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    My personal take on the question posed is that it's not that our concept of "normal" has changed, in terms of weight/size. The problem is that it is now okay, in all facets of life, to be mediocre and to look externally for something or someone to blame for your lack of success. We no longer hold people responsible for their lives or accountable for their decisions, and we're so worried about someone being offended that everyone in the world now qualifies as a bully, merely for expressing an opinion. People are weak and getting weaker, and no one seems to have a problem with it.

    This. Love this.
  • Mistizoom
    Mistizoom Posts: 578 Member
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    Re the real women ad. Would everyone be happier if they said the "obese, distgusting" women?" Or perhaps as the women referred to in this add went around wearing tents with holes in the top? Seriously - it is about making women of larger sizes feel better about themselves. I don't see why everyone is simply so upset about this. I don't knwo why everything is taken so personally. Be happy you don't wear those clothes or sizes. I have people very close to me that do and I used to be one of them - maybe its the big girl in the smaller body in me talking but the reactions here regarding this add are hitting a nerve.

    ITA. Chill out, skinny people. Fat people need to wear clothes too. I am grateful that I was able to find clothes that fit me when I weighed 327 lbs. Fat people have enough other problems to deal with than worrying about making a thin person feel bad because of a clothing advertisement.
  • NearlyJen
    NearlyJen Posts: 104 Member
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    My personal take on the question posed is that it's not that our concept of "normal" has changed, in terms of weight/size. The problem is that it is now okay, in all facets of life, to be mediocre and to look externally for something or someone to blame for your lack of success. We no longer hold people responsible for their lives or accountable for their decisions, and we're so worried about someone being offended that everyone in the world now qualifies as a bully, merely for expressing an opinion. People are weak and getting weaker, and no one seems to have a problem with it.

    This. Love this.

    Great post.
  • micheleld73
    micheleld73 Posts: 914 Member
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    I personally say, who cares? Just be happy with your body. Nobody ever has a body that EVERYBODY around him/her was happy with. So why try to fit into what others think is good looking, eh? :)

    Love THIS!!
  • laurenmanderson1
    laurenmanderson1 Posts: 113 Member
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    bump
  • Iwishyouwell
    Iwishyouwell Posts: 1,888 Member
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    Re the real women ad. Would everyone be happier if they said the "obese, distgusting" women?" Or perhaps as the women referred to in this add went around wearing tents with holes in the top? Seriously - it is about making women of larger sizes feel better about themselves. I don't see why everyone is simply so upset about this. I don't knwo why everything is taken so personally. Be happy you don't wear those clothes or sizes. I have people very close to me that do and I used to be one of them - maybe its the big girl in the smaller body in me talking but the reactions here regarding this add are hitting a nerve.

    Nope, I totally sympathize with the women who find this type of ad annoying, at best, and offensive at worst. The whole "real women have curves" was created to capitalize off making overweight and obese women feel better, but it's at the expensive of suggesting smaller women, or those without curves, are somehow less.

    To me it's no different than somebody telling saying to me "You're not REALLY Black unless you watch/think/believe...". And trust me, I've heard that from ignorant people who believe drawing strict behavioral lines around skin color somehow gives them a stronger sense of identity, while penalizing those who don't' fit neatly into their boundaries.


    There is a way to help larger women celebrate their bodies without tying it so strongly to gender. The whole "real women have curves" deal just reads, to me at least, as not being much different than "real Blacks love hip hop", "real Asians love rice", or "real Latina's have booty".
  • CollieFit
    CollieFit Posts: 1,683 Member
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    Ultimately those companies don't give a toss whether you die of diabetes or heart disease as long as they can trick you into feeling all warm and fuzzy and a "real woman" who can look down onto the somehow not real women and have a right ole good *****ing session, so you go buy their stuff and bring them lots of profit... :huh:
  • pinkraynedropjacki
    pinkraynedropjacki Posts: 3,027 Member
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    Re the real women ad. Would everyone be happier if they said the "obese, distgusting" women?" Or perhaps as the women referred to in this add went around wearing tents with holes in the top? Seriously - it is about making women of larger sizes feel better about themselves. I don't see why everyone is simply so upset about this. I don't knwo why everything is taken so personally. Be happy you don't wear those clothes or sizes. I have people very close to me that do and I used to be one of them - maybe its the big girl in the smaller body in me talking but the reactions here regarding this add are hitting a nerve.

    It's not about that at all. Why do they have to say 'real women' at all? Who gives a **** what anyone wears,in the ad or not. I just don't appreciate the fact that according to that ad (in an email I got) that I am not a 'real woman' because I don't fit into that size category. Does that mean cause I decide to take care of myself & keep my weight off that I am any less of a 'real woman' than those who do not? BTW making fat people feel good is one thing...making non-fat or ex-fat people feel bad for not being a 'real woman' is another.

    I used to be one of those women almost 2 years ago.... I would still find it offensive.
  • fionarama
    fionarama Posts: 788 Member
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    I can't stand those "fat" adds. The last thing I want to look at is fat women in magazines. And it doesn't help to encourage society to accept obesity as normal just to make people who don't want to do something about themselves feel better.
    There's an awful lot of very good points being made on this thread so I'm not going to elaborate .
  • BinaryPulsar
    BinaryPulsar Posts: 8,927 Member
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    Getting into the whole curve topic can get pretty overboard, so probably I shouldn't even go there. I just find it annoying when people say that I am slim and they have curves. I have a 22 inch waist and 34 inch hips/booty. Yes, I am slim and slender, but I do have a 12 inch difference between my waist and hips/booty. That's curvy. No one ever said that it stops being curvy if you are overall a small person. I am referring to when people are talking about jeans to purchase. Anyway, it's really just a minor annoyance. It's not a big deal to me at all. Nothing I'd get bent out of shape over. I just find it annoying.

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