"Fat" Monica in Friends isn't even fat

[TallGirl24]

As per title. Rewatching all the old Friends episodes. How in the name of the wee donkey was this a recurring joke? She's basically normal sized but beside some very slim costars. I know it was a different time but it is so jarring to watch now.

"Size 16" is utterly meaningless these days when clothes sizes are non standard and there's elastane or Lycra in virtually everything...

Comparing dress sizes since the 1950s is meaningless though because of vanity sizing. Does it really matter if it's 16 or 18? 65% of us are overweight so the average is fat whether they are a 16 or an 18.

The book is written in Bridget's voice though? It's just her thinking she is fat - the point is that she isn't.

The only ref I can think of in the film is the naked American woman who says "I thought you said she was thin?". Don't recall any other character calling her fat (but happy to be corrected if you have an example, I haven't seen the film in some years).

In the 1950's the average women's size was 12 so it's gone up 2 sizes in 70 years and you "certainly" think it's gone up another dress size in just 10 - 15 years? Hone
Lstly, do some basic research

I have a vintage coat. It is a size 12.
I am a size 8.

The vintage size 12 is tight around my back, tighter than many size 8 outfits today.

Todays sizes are much bigger.

Not the same, but people comment on weight all the time big or small.

I also never understand why people focus on dress sizes in the 50’s. We all know as a population we have got bigger. Yes people were smaller 70 odd years ago, post war etc. so what. Other than an interesting point, so what,

the majority of the population is overweight today. It is unhealthy, and fatal for many, as obesity is the leading cause of cancer. And that’s before we take into account heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and all the other life limiting or fatal issues that can beset us.

I don’t understand why folks are so interested in dress sizes 70 or 80 years ago. Or why the op started this thread proclaiming a clearly and visibly fat character wasn’t fat.

I think fat Monica looks morbidly obese now and then!! I find today’s “body positivity” scary.

I found myself thinking this re Monica when I last watched it. I remember as a teenager watching it thinking that they made fat Monica look enormous. Comically huge. And now when I watch it I think “she must be not much different in size to me” and I don’t consider myself to be hugely overweight, maybe a stone or so

it is strange to watch

Just because most people are that size now doesn’t mean that it isn’t fat. It absolutely 100% is, she is massive in it.

I’m sorry and I mean this gently fat Monica is likely to be clinically obese and certainly a lot more than a stone overweight,

I was the exact same weight as Bridget Jones at the exact same time. The 'joke' was NOT that she thought she was fat and wasn't. She would most certainly have been considered to be fatter than desirable for her time, I know this from experience. At 9 stone 5 I was considered 'chubby' and, like BJ, constantly feeling I needed to lose a stone to get closer to what was attractive at the time. The character resonated by reflecting the 'imperfect' woman back at us and showing us you didnt need to be slim to be loved. The 'joke' was that BJ was never getting it right, in any way, weight included, but -yay- luckily a man loved her despite it. A kind of nearly but not quite right forerunner of body positivity.

16 is average so not far off

She's not supposed to be massive but definitely podgy, there are quite a few references...the woman in the dress shop forcing her into shapewear, Daniel Cleaver telling the story of the man who falls in love with a 'very slightly overweight' princess, Mark Darcy saying he loves her wobbly bits

She was far, but there was a scene where she struggled to get up from a bean bag, she wasn't THAT fat.

Not the human race - some humans, mostly in western countries.

France for example has a fraction of obese adults compared to UK (about 1/3).

Japan and other Asian countries have half of what France does.

No, the Govt should ban the production of ultra processed foods - they're highly addictive and terrible for our health. They're making us fat and putting huge strain on the NHS having to deal with weight-related diseases like type 2 diabetes. People in the food industry are getting rich off our backs whilst killing us.
Ozempic can have very unpleasant side effects and as soon as most people come off it they put the weight back on - it's not a long-term healthy solution.

Maybe people would find it easier to remain slim if we didn't normalise and in some cases actually glorify being fat.

Yep. I'm a size 8 in shops like M&S or supermarket clothing today.

I'm lucky to squeeze into an 80s or older size 12.

I'm a bit flabby and certainly not skinny.

Where actually thin people buy their clothes I don't know!

I watched it yesterday, her dad calls her Chunk which I assumed meant chunky, but is could be something else

100% this! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Not really. Her face is full, but she isn't 'chubby'.

That's not how it works.

Fair enough, thanks!

If it was in the water you wouldn't be able to come off it. But I think the poster was joking.

I live in a city popular for its nightlife. With lots of students. I’m honestly shocked now when I see the young women in their early 20s out and about on a weekend night out compared to when I was doing the same in the 90s. Apart from having FAR more flesh on display than was ever cool in the 90s, the average weight on that age group has clearly increased a LOT. I worry for what they’ll be like in their 40s and 50s as they go through menopause. No wonder type 2 diabetes is on the increase

I just don’t think it was that deep. I think the author was just going for a fairly typical young woman of the time, worrying about her weight, smoking, love life, drinking, cooking etc. it wasn’t some evangelical body positive message fielding was building in.