To wonder why we hate our curves?

[malificent7]

Ive been reading the beauty myth by Naomi Wolf and she makes some very intetesting points about the diet industry.

In the 1950s etc when women weren't in the workplace, curves were celebrated. Monroe was a size 16.

Since the 1960s when Twiggy was a role model, women were more succesful at work so the patriarchy had to make women slaves to being thin to keep them in check.

So do men prefer curvy women? Isn't fat on females healthy? Ive read on here that men stop fancying their partners when they put on weight?

So are thinner women more attractive or is that just what society wants?

From experience and after reading threads on here, dieting makes us miserable and we have a bad relationship with food..so why hate our natural curves (not obesity rolls of fat.)?

[WonderLime]

I just wonder if it's healthy to aim for a size 10 if it means being on a permant diet/ exercise regime.

Again, there is a huge difference between 'being in a permenant diet' and just not overeating. People that maintain a healthy size generally know the difference.

[FilledSoda]

I remember being blown away by ' The Beauty Myth' as a teenager , it made a huge impression on me.
Back then I probably did hate my curves , meaning i was a healthy shape and size but thought I was a fat mess.
Ironically that was the start of a disordered relationship with food and I've yoyo dieted ever since.
I do not and will never kid myself that my size 16 body is anything to be proud of however, I do hate it, it isn't curvy is fat , plain and simple.

[HoHoHoHo]

My mum has put on a stone since she was 20 (not bad considering she's 63) and was a size 10 then and is now a size 8.
Clothes (and people) are much bigger now.

[Bugjune]

I admire curves on other women but if I could slice 2" from either side of my hips I would feel a hell of a lot more comfortable in my body. My ideal, for me, would be that athletic rangy Elle McPherson type body - broad shoulders, decent sized tits, narrow hips and legs for days.

[FlyingMonkeys]

I'd also point out that many women worked in the 1950's. During and after WW2 a lot of the workforce was made up of women. Some went back to a 'home maker' role afterwards. However many didn't, and younger women certainly didn't.

Fashions also changed significantly around that time. It became normal for women to wear trousers, and tailoring changed a lot too.

[typo55]

a US size 14 in 1958 would be a US size 6/8 today (Marilyn averaged a US 12 but had a smaller waist than the average 1950's woman)

That's the equivalent of a UK size 10/12, which is not plus sized

Marilyn Monroe would no way be considered a 'plus-size' icon today, but she was someone who was genuinely curvy (big boobs, small waist etc), rather than fat.

[bustoschool]

Monroe is a lot bigger in that second photo though than the first.

Ursula Andress pic shows what I would call curves rather than fat.

Agree that no female actor now would be that untoned. I bet they all go to the gym.

[expatinscotland]

Yes, people are bigger and taller now. Lots of people are now much taller. Was at the people's museum in Glasgow a month or so back. Interested to note how much poor nutrition was about then, with rickets often contributing to childbirth complications and this was in the mid-20th century. But hey, they were thin.

[typo55]

It's also worth saying compared to the average waist size of today, Marilyn's waist was 12 inches less.

[Jaygee61]

My mum was saying that my sil is far too skinny the other day. I pointed out that at 5"5, a size 8/10 and 9,7stone she's actually just right and that we're both too fat.

The healthy weight range for her height goes up to 10st 11lb, so she may or may not be "just right" depending on her frame size, body type and shape.

[squoosh]

I love museum exhibits of antique clothing. Victorian dresses for example, made for really short women with the teeniest tiniest (corseted) waists.

[kaytee87]

@Jaygee61 I know, and it goes down to 7,13. She has a fantastic figure, certainly not too skinny. We're just too used to seeing fat people and thinking it's normal.

[NoSwsForYou]

I’m a size 16 and definitely don’t look like MM.

I’ve always been curvy, even when I weighed eight stone and could wear a size six dress but because I was a teenager with low self esteem I still thought I was fat, purely because I was the only tall brunette with big boobs and hips in a circle of friends who were no bigger than 5’4 and straight up and down blondes

It sparked a horrific sense of disordered eating that I still employ now I’m 30 and actually fat. No one finds me attractive, not even DP and certainly not myself! But I am fat, not curvy, even though head on I still have an hour glass figure.

[LinoleumBlownapart]

I think lack of curves or disliking curves is cultural. I live in South America, shop models have curves, boobs and bums. My DS was only 4 when on a trip to the uk he asked me why the shop manequins looked like skeletons, they were freaking him out. I didn't notice it before, when I paid attention I really noticed it's very different and the uk manequins are quite ill looking compared to Brazilian ones, which by contrast sometimes have bums are unrealistic in other direction

[BagelGoesWalking]

Jaygee I'm 10 1/2 stone and 5' 8" and don't think I'm particularly thin. I cant believe that the range for a height of 5' 5" goes up as high as 10 stone 11lb! Really?

[NoSwsForYou]

In fact - here is a photo for illustration!

[Lovemusic33]

I think a lot of people call others ‘too skinny’ because they themselves are overweight. We are all on diets but some of us choose a healthy diet when others choose a poor diet. You are what you eat and if you don’t exercise you are likely to become overweight and unhealthy.

I try and eat a balanced diet, stay away from large amounts of chocolate and I go to the gym 5 times a week, I still have curves but I am not overweight. For me I feel a size 10/12 is a healthy size, I don’t look skinny and I’m not overweight.

I’m sure some men love curves and obese women, some because they are overweight themselves. If you have a healthy life style your more likely to find someone slimmer atractive.

[Jaygee61]

I think 7st 13 is too thin for a 5ft 5in person unless of an extreme tiny birdlike frame. The minimum healthy weight for my height is 6st 13 but people started looking concerned when I went down to 8.5st! I could not have afforded to lose another 1.5st.

[Mookatron]

As a fat person I don't usually post on these threads but can I point out that you never get a thread discussing men's body shapes/sizes. Individual men maybe, men in general, never.

Meanwhile over on the 'I feel sorry for Ant Mc Wotsit' thread my disorderly eating has never put a three year old in hospital but you never hear any 'issues to work through' apologies for a bit of fat that doesn't hurt anyone except the bearer.

[squoosh]

No one finds me attractive, not even DP

Has he said this or do you think this might be something your low self esteem is telling you?

[NoSwsForYou]

Me at 16 in a size 8 dress at 5’7. I was curvy then, I’m fat in the picture in size 16 jeans.

[NoSwsForYou]

...forgot to add the picture

[NoSwsForYou]

He’s told me that squoosh I’m still pretty but he doesn’t fancy me.

[FlyingMonkeys]

BMI is also a load of tosh anyway. We use it because it's considered the best formula we have. But there are so many variants. Plus most women realise that the model industry uses underweight women as they state the clothing hangs better/uses less material.

Saying that I don't necessarily agree with promoting plus sizing either. Not due to women's sizing/shape, but the fact that obesity related illnesses shouldn't really be celebrated.

[UnsuspectedItem]

YABU if you are trying to describe fat as curves.

A healthy body is an attractive body.
A healthy body comes in many different forms, clothing sizes are not a good reflection on a healthy size.

A size 8 can be a healthy figure on one woman, where a size 14 can be a healthy figure on another.

People should focus more on being healthy than being sexy to the opposite sex.

In my experience confidence is the sexiest attribute anyway