"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.

the thing is in the 1990s young women had a ridiculous idea of what normal was. It was the heroin chic days and thinking you were massive at a size 10-12. Bridget wasn't even overweight. She was just not fashionably slim. We can complain all we like about "normalising" obesity but the 1990s were terrible.

No, she's chubby all over

A factual description of an obviously fat person as fat is not fat-bashing. That is not to excuse any comments that are actually unkind. I've not read the entire thread but have not seen any fat-bashing. That said, the OP has not been back, so read into that what you will.

Saying that someone who is fat, is in fact fat , is not fat bashing.

I'm fat. I prefer it to euphemisms like plump, chubby, chunky, curvy/curvaceous etc.

No, it's not meaningless at all - the "average" British women's clothing size is based on a British Standard chart and it's useful in identifying that women are getting bigger (as are men) and at what speed that change is taking place. The British Standard size chart designated a number against a set of bust, waist and hip measurements (a narrow range within each) and if we hadn't had that chart for 200 years we might have no reliable way of knowing how British women's sizes have changed over the years. My bust, waist and hip measurements make me a size 14 against the standard chart and that's the size I always find fits me with some occasional exceptions (the retailers that indulge in vanity sizing and the budget brands who skimp on fabric), but the number is just a short-hand guide to find your correct fit quickly (with the exception of the aforementioned outliers) and it's worked well for the majority of people for a very long time now. (Most of us are not so deluded to think that if we occasionally fit into a dress size smaller than our usual that we've miraculously become that size.)
It matters what the average size is because it's a measurement, based on data, that tells us, as a nation, we're getting fatter. The same way that "65% of us are overweight" (myself included BTW) is a measurement, based on data, that tells us that. These days we're told what's really important is our waist measurement as this can be an indicator of the likelihood of developing things like heart disease because of where we carry excess weight (around the waist isn't good). So, for a woman, the waist should ideally be less than 80 centimeters (31.5") - but don't forget, whatever your waist measurement is, it will align with a clothing size on the British Standard chart.

Yes. When I was young I considered myself to be of average height but 'big built', chubby and running to fat if I reached the 'huge weight' of 9 and a half stone. My body shape (small waist, big hips and bum) was decidedly unfashionable, and I cringe now at the memory of 'fat bottom girls' being played in a club and a guy telling me 'they're playing your song'. Now at the same sort of weight, and height (obviously!) I'm considered 'small', which takes a lot of mental adjustment.

She was fat, especially compared to teeny CC real size but I think they way they spoke about her (Hurricane Gloria didn't break the porch swing, Monica did!) made her sound like she was 400lbs+ and almost like you would see on reality shows of the time and really she looked obese but not morbidly so.

The difference back then was a 12 was a 12.

Not made with elastic, stretch lace, stretch velvet, nylons etc. No squeezing in.

I have friends who could wear at 10 though have inches between them in the difference, one outfit worn loosely, the other tight.

Both claiming that the are a size 10.

It was 30 years ago ,there are loads of things about it that wouldn't be acceptable now.

I was less than half her supposed size as a kid/teen and I still had jokes about me breaking beds/chairs... the ice that one time I went ice skating and fell, a bike, roller skates. You get the gist. Arseholes are going to arsehole.

I know Chandler called Monica fat, while she was big?

I'm not sure if the jeering references were in relation to the past and not while she was at her heaviest

My Dsis lost 4.5 stone in slimming world, years ago, she kept it down by 3.5 stone.

She doesn't ever feel the hunger she did before, we are guilty of taking the piss now over things she used to do, we never ever mentioned it while she was big.

No if there is an old photo, we do giggle, she laughs with us.

I do still love that sketch! I think Ross was my favourite character - the time he used talcum powder on his leather trousers too!

I was in my 20s in the 90s and don't remember them like this at all. I don't remember any pressure to look a certain way. There was no endless talk of diets like there is now. Noone went to the gym just walked more. Probably ate less but definitely drank more alcohol. Everyone just seemed very comfortable in their own skin and were having a fucking good time. The 90s were the glory years for me and I'm becoming more and more nostalgic for them.

And the world is a much bleaker place for it.

Indeed

Political correctness stifles debate and stops people asking questions that they genuinely want answers to. Especially about other cultures/races.

Friends was never funny along with a lot of popular comedy.
Also as a fattie, fat is fat and vanity sizing will not make anyone healthier.

Blackadder was genius :)

I was in my 20s in the 90s and don't remember them like this at all. I don't remember any pressure to look a certain way.
As a group, we were all slim in the 90's, no spare cash for takeaways, no YouTube at home, we walked everywhere all day, every day.

Yes I still love watching the spray tan episode. Makes me laugh every time. Tween dd loves friends. It's been really enjoyable rewatching it with her. Some really funny scenes with Ross especially

Far less type 2 diabetes though; which, if you’ve had a love one have it, you’ll know is an unpleasant disease to have while you age.

There’s a lot of grey space between anorexic and morbidly obese.

Being Monica Fat size isn’t good for your body, health, lifestyle or family.

David Schwimmer is such a good comic actor! I love the scene with Charlie where he's spelling out things that begin with LOVE 😂

Oh yes, blackadder! I spent my childhood switching between the two as they were firm favourites of my parents. I loved Friends (still do) but never found Blackadder laugh out loud funny. I understood the jokes but always thought they were a bit dull - it’s funny what makes different humour seem funny to us all

I feel like I need to start watching it again, it’s been at least 3 years since I did the last run of the series 😆

She really, really isn't.

Oh wow! That is so mean of them and wouldn't have been acceptable even if you had actually been large. If anything, I was teased for being skinny. At age eighteen, I was eight stone and called Skeletor. I was very happy to gain a stone between then and college, and I got more male attention than I had before, not less.

It's on channel 5 these days at lunchtime! Got me through the early days breastfeeding DC2!