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AIBU?

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Original poster

who was the idiot who said that size12/14 was 'chubby'?

328 replies

mrsfuzzy · 25/10/2012 08:13

spitting feathers over an article i read yesterday in the newspaper about this subject. it's common knowledge that the average size is 16 and over in this country so how would that make a lot of women feel? does it really matter what your size? also why the emphasis on women why not men? many of them carry weight, noone seems to say anything about it. we all come in various shapes, sizes and colours and everyone is unique and beautiful in their own way be it inside or out. media should stop giving us these so called ideals and let us decide for ourselves how we wish to look.

OP posts:
Nuttyprofessor · 25/10/2012 10:35

I am a size 8 and a bit chubby. I am 5ft 2 inches. When I was 21 I was a size 8 and it was much smaller then than it is now.

When I was a size 14 I weighed five stone more than now which is more than chubby.

EuroShagmore · 25/10/2012 10:36

Why autumn? Does being female mean that you shouldn't work to stay at a weight where you look and feel your best?

I'm 5'6 and have been a 10-12 for most of my adult life. When I can't fit into any of my 10s anymore, I do feel chubby. So I do some more sport, calorie count for a couple of months (although I don't bore on about in real life) and drop the excess pounds.

Ephiny · 25/10/2012 10:37

There's nothing wrong with wanting to look good though. I've never claimed to be particularly attractive or super-skinny - I'm not.
But I do think I look better when I'm not carrying excess rolls of fat, and it probably is better for my health as well. That means I usually wear a size 8-10 and if I found myself unable to fit into my clothes and needing to buy bigger sizes it would be a sign that I was getting a bit chubby.

WorraLiberty · 25/10/2012 10:37

Apart from a couple of judgemental posters, I can't see at all how 'this thread is vile' Confused

Read the posts properly and you'll see that the majority of people are talking about their own personal weight.

The majority are certainly not being vile or casting any kind of aspersions on anyone else.

autumnlights12 · 25/10/2012 10:38

can you imagine a thread like this written by men?
No. Neither can I.

TheAccidentalExhibitionist · 25/10/2012 10:38

Agree with you AutumnLights, fucking awful thread.
More reminiscent of NetHuns than of Mumsnet Sad

autumnlights12 · 25/10/2012 10:40

Ephiny, if you feel fat when you can't get into your size 8-10's, it might have more to do with your poor self image problems and issues you have with self esteem than what you actually look like.

Lizzylou · 25/10/2012 10:41

Agree with Perrycombover entirely.
Just stating random dress sizes and heights and "I feel fat at a size10" or whatever is not really helpful.

Being fit and healthy and able to enjoy your lifestyle is what it is all about surely?

Ephiny · 25/10/2012 10:41

To be fair, I can't imagine half the threads on MN being written by men. That doesn't mean we shouldn't write them.

And it would be no bad thing for many men to take a bit more care over their weight and health, and indeed their appearance.

The average man is chubby or fat as well, no one is denying that.

TheBigJessie · 25/10/2012 10:42

Actually, I think it's unfair to say that your appearance is necessarily affected that much by your lifestyle. My weight has been pretty much the same over the last ten years. During that time, I've gone through various stages. There was once a point where I did 50 push-up and 50 stomach-curl-things before bed, and did fitness training 2 hours a day. Never bothered about my weight at the time, as that wasn't the object, but I never turned into a size 10, I don't think. Size 12. I'm always size 12, and have been since I was 16, however much I eat. If I am chubby, then maybe that's a good thing. Otherwise I'd have been lynched by now!

Life is not fair to us.

Conflugenglugen · 25/10/2012 10:42

Maybe we need to tackle the stigma of the word "chubby" more than its being equated with a dress size.

Why can so many of us not be happy being chubby? And I count myself among those.

geegee888 · 25/10/2012 10:42

CotedAzur geegee - I'm a runner, too, and I know where you are coming from re pride in your body and all that, but you might like to slightly mellow that harsh judgemental view on your man before old age starts kicking in.

Sorry, I'm part Dutch. We say what we think and we don't do the suppression of our thoughts thing to please men. Apologies if this is not what you meant, and I may have got the wrong end of the stick. We share the same interests in sport and keeping active and staying fit and he shares my views, if that reassures you. I wouldn't have married him otherwise.

By the way, the 3 kgs you lost are highly unlikely to have affected your knee injury. That was probably correlation rather than causation.*

Hmmn, I have raced the last 6 weekends on the trot plus full track training and started out with a knee injury. As I lost weight, the knee injury eased off. It might be because I'm able to run with a longer stride now. Certainly losing a little bit of weight has helped the injury clear up.

Bunbaker · 25/10/2012 10:42

"Most of us have lost sight of what 'normal' should look like. Most of us are fat. Average does not equal healthy/normal.
We in an obesity epidemic, it is a health crisis. We are killing ourselves and our children with too much food.
I would suggest a size 16 is not healthy on any women shorter than 6'2".
But you have to divide the 'health' issue from the 'beauty' issue. Yes, there is too much focus on what people look like."

I totally agree. Ten years ago a size 16 now would have been a size 18. Retailers have a lot to answer for women kidding themselves over their weight. Just because a 16 is average doesn't make it right. The same goes for alcohol consumption - just because most people drink more than I do doesn't mean that it is healthy.

I struggle to find clothes for 12 year old DD because she is very slim. At a recent doctor's appointment I was discussing her weight and said I was worried that she was underweight. The doctor looked at her and said she was the right weight and that most children carry too much weight. As a result clothes manufacturers cater for larger children these days.

And, like geegee I don't find overweight men attractive - sorry.

"those of you who feel fat over a size 10, are you for fucking real?"

It depends on how tall you are and your frame. Don't forget sizes are larger now. When I was a teenager the smallest clothes size was a 10, which is probably the equivalent of today's 6.

BTW I am 5'7" and a size 10/12 depending on where I shop and look skinny.

autumnlights12 · 25/10/2012 10:43

'Being fit and healthy and able to enjoy your lifestyle is what it is all about surely? '

Oh, you'd hope so really, wouldn't you?
But looking at this thread, it's all about how attractive women look on the outside and if you're over a size 10, most posters here think you're too fat to be attractive.

WorraLiberty · 25/10/2012 10:44

Ephiny, if you feel fat when you can't get into your size 8-10's, it might have more to do with your poor self image problems and issues you have with self esteem than what you actually look like.

Or she might have dangerously high visceral fat clinging to her organs - this making her clothes uncomfortably tight?

It's not always about self esteem...sometimes it's about health.

fuckadoodlepoopoo · 25/10/2012 10:44

autumnlights those of you who feel fat over a size 10, are you for fucking real? I bet you are the sort of women who pick over salad leaves at lunch, count calories out loud and talk about your diet to everyone all day longboring us all to death

fucking hideous thread, full of snotty judgmental comments

Wow its amazing that one person can say both comments! You do realise that you are one of the judgmental ones right?

Oh and i eat salad leaves . . . because i love salad!

autumnlights12 · 25/10/2012 10:45

I reserve the right to judge silly shallow people!

LittleFriendSusan · 25/10/2012 10:45

In all honesty, I don't find this thread particularly vile? There's the odd nasty comment, yeah, but most of it is just common sense?!

And I can actually imagine a thread like this written by men. DP is very weight conscious and ever so slightly judgemental about overweight people... Most men I know worry about and talk about their weight. Nothing wrong with being health-conscious...

PedanticPanda · 25/10/2012 10:46

I've put on quite a bit of weight recently and am now a 10 - 12, I'm about 5"3 and I'm chubby. If I was a 14 I'd be very big. I don't believe that the average size is 16, I'd say it was about a 12.

autumnlights12 · 25/10/2012 10:46

somehow Worral, I don't think she's as bothered about visceral fat in her organs as getting her bum into those size 10 skinny jeans.

MaureenCognito · 25/10/2012 10:46

im a 12

i have chub

SoulTrain · 25/10/2012 10:47

5'4" size 14...just fat, not even chubby. hangs head

Iodine · 25/10/2012 10:47

Autumn- what is your problem? People on here are saying that at certain sizes they feel fat. Not everyone who is that size is fat.

I feel the same as people on this thread. I know when I have hit a weight that for me feels unhealthy. Having sat in bariatric clinics for work I applaud people taking reaponsibilty for their weight before it becomes a life threatening issue.

Something needs to be done about this obesity epidemic and I cannot understand why you have come on here telling people that they are vile for wanting to be a healthy size.

WorraLiberty · 25/10/2012 10:48

"But looking at this thread, it's all about how attractive women look on the outside and if you're over a size 10, most posters here think you're too fat to be attractive"

Most posters?

Now you're making it up as you go along.

Why can you not accept that some people feel happier and healthier at certain weights/sizes Autumn?

I assume from your posts that you'd be perfectly willing to accept anyone over a size 12/14 etc feel happy with their weight, health and size?

So why can you not accept the same thing with people less than size 12/14 etc?

PerryCombover · 25/10/2012 10:48

worra

you've heard about humblebragging?

agree with whomever said bet there aren't many threads where men say ...oo I'm a 34 in jeans at 5 "2 and positively tubby....

women supporting women, not secretly thumping them.

Ditto anyone who talks about simply not over eating
Lots of people never heard about portion size growing up
Have never considered that you finish eating when you start to feel full rather than when you can't move
Think they must finish everything that is on their plate
Equate food with happiness on a very deep level

Food and size is complicated.
Please lets leave it to the individual