To think if being "body positive" was promoting anorexia...

[Piglatin]

...everyone would be up in arms? Yet I see the phrase being used more and more on social media by obese women. I don't understand why being "thick", "curvy", "plus size", "voluptuous" are just other ways to avoid saying fat, yet if skeletal women were posting things about being "body positive" most people would see how damaging it is. Are we all meant to pretend that being unhealthily overweight is OK now?!

Thats not necessarily true though. Sometimes people are classified (like me) as being underweight but actually i am a very healthy weight with no weight related illnesses. Of my overweight friends theres diabetes and breathing problems as well as skin issues with infections between chapped skin. Of course people can be a bit overweight ans not obvious. Thats not the issue. The issue is hugely obese models being hailed as role models and claims that they are healthy and have good diet and excercise when obviously thats a lie.

I have not noticed being underweight as being socially acceptable outside of catwalks tbh. I agree that shaming overweight/obese people doesn't help though so I'm not necessarily against the whole Body Positive/Fat Acceptance thing.

As an obese person I can tell you that in no way is being fat ' celebrated'. There is a massive social stigma in being fat, people aren't afraid to tell you how vile fatness is and fashion and the music industry are still dominated by thin images. So the odd you tuber and blogger says they are fat and happy, well so what? Should we have to hide away in black tents ashamed? No it's not healthy to be obese or anorexic, but I'm not identifying with your point that society is saying it's ok to be obese.

OP I agree to a certain point but It depends on what you class as plus size models

The way I see it is that there is a whole world of difference between Iskra Lawrence & Ashely Graham who are plus size models and promote body positive stuff and Tess Holiday who also promotes the same idea .

All three are plus size models but they are not comparable to each other in terms of there sizes

They are all classed as being overweight / obese but the first two look pretty healthy and due to the height they can carry off the weight pretty well

If I had to chose which one I aspired to be it would be Iskra & Ashely not Tess

Mumble I'm not sure I agree either. Let's just assume we are talking significantly under or over weight. Both are demonised. Remember the furore over the heroin chic models? The comments people made? It's no difference to the obese models to use them. Yet the obese models are applauded.

If someone is significantly under weight they get as many negative comments but it's seen as socially acceptable to make those comments. She looks sick, god what's wrong with her, she must have an eating disorder, kind of comment. It's not seen as socially acceptable to comment on someone significantly overweight though. It's seen as very rude.

Significantly over weight models are applauded. From iskra to tess. Significantly under weight models are not accepted by society and any company that uses them are crucified in the press, with speculation about the model herself, from drug addict to taking laxatives to an eating disorder. No one speculates that the obese models have eating disorders or anything else.

However people now don't know what a healthy weight looks like. One memorable thread a woman had written to Boden a model was too underweight and not ok to use. The model was in fact a healthy bmi from her appearance. That's how warped that posters view was. There was also another thread with a woman complaining jack wills was using underweight models for their underwear. They were clearly not. Again she could no longer recognise a healthy bmi.

Neither are ok, over or under, health wise, your appearance also screams something is wrong. That you have a problem with food. And that if you're not already ill you will likely be soon. But as a society we think it's ok to speculate on the very thin woman. We think it's not ok to speculate about the very fat one.

Thats not necessarily true though. Sometimes people are classified (like me) as being underweight but actually i am a very healthy weight with no weight related illnesses. Of my overweight friends theres diabetes and breathing problems as well as skin issues with infections between chapped skin. Of course people can be a bit overweight ans not obvious. Thats not the issue. The issue is hugely obese models being hailed as role models and claims that they are healthy and have good diet and excercise when obviously thats a lie. true but i would add technically having a bmi underweight or overweight does not necessarily mean they are unhealthy anorexia is not the same as having a underweight bmi

the difference is 62 percent of adults are overweight 25 percent of adults are obese.
' One-fifth of year 6 children (aged 10-11) are obese, the same as in 2015-16. The statistics for more than 1 million pupils across England show 32.4% of girls and 36.1% of boys in the final primary school year are overweight or obese, while the figures for reception are 22.1% and 23.1% '
yet people argue being obese is not accepted societal.only 2 percent are classed as underweight. .

I for one am really enjoying the different body shapes and sizes that are on, for example, the Asos website.

I have endured years of comments on my weight and I've only ever been slightly underweight or in the healthy category. Needless to say, this is not great, and did contribute to my eating disorder, far more than media imagery etc.

No-one can seriously be arguing here that as many people die from obesity as die from anorexia. Obesity is not a psychiatric illness, in itself it does not directly cause death, though obviously it may be a factor in other diseases.

Agree with that bluntness. And omg opionated thats really scary statistic wise for children but sadly i see it everyday. Probably 7 out of 10 customers i see in a day are very very large and its seen as normal. One of my collegues is large and he always rants at me if i put heating on in winter as he gets very hot. (Even in snow he wont let me put heating on and hes in a thin shirt).

I think different size clothing models is a good and only logical thing as everyone wants to know how clothes fit different sizes. I am against the posts and memes praising obese women and pretending its good. Just to clarify my stance.

Significantly over weight models are applauded. From iskra to tess

Iskra Lawrence isn’t significantly overweight. I agree with your general point, but that’s just untrue.

Plus size models are not the norm and therefore get a lot of attention. Almost all models are extremely thin; the fact that we can name pretty much all the plus size ones makes them the exception that proves the rule.

We are a very, very, very long way from young girls keenly stuffing cake and chocolate so that they can get fat and be thought of as beautiful and desirable. Nobody with half an eye or a third of a brain could honestly believe that.

No-one can seriously be arguing here that as many people die from obesity as die from anorexia. Obesity is not a psychiatric illness, in itself it does not directly cause death, though obviously it may be a factor in other diseases.

I dont know the statistics but I defintately belive much more people are dying from obesity related illnesses (so from being obese) than they are from anorexia.
Anorexia does have a high death rate, but a small minority of the population are anorexic, a very large percentage of the population are obese causing heart disease, cancer...

Almost all models are extremely thin thats not true most models in 2018 are a healthy weight people seem to not realise a healthy weight can be skinny.
No-one can seriously be arguing here that as many people die from obesity as die from anorexia. Obesity is not a psychiatric illness, in itself it does not directly cause death, though obviously it may be a factor in other diseases. www.drivenbyhealth.co.uk/other-news/7738/ ive times more susceptible to have type 2 diabetes
Three times more prone to develop colon cancer
Two and a half time more likely to develop high blood pressure which would result in stroke or cancer.
Among other facts that are related to obesity and overweight are that people with BMI of 30-35 have a reduced life expectancy by an average of three years, while BMI over 40 can decrease longevity up to 10 years. Obesity has claims of over 30,000 deaths a year with 9000 of those deaths are recorded by people before their retirement age. i understand that you argue they dont die of obesity but the associated illnesses and i cant find statistic for people dying of anorexia but id be shocked if it is anywhere close to 30 thousand

Because I'm a bit bored tonight I did some googling 😂.
Iskra Lawrence is 13.8 at 5.9 according to her bio. Pretty much the same for Ashely Graham
On the BMI chart she is 28 so overweight but not obese and both Iskra and Ashley weight is concentrated on the hips bum boobs and not the stomach which is probably why they don't look particularly overweight

They would both only need to drop 8-10killos to be at the top end of the BMI for their height and be the ideal weight

Tess holiday is according to her Bio is 20stone and 5ft 3 her BMI is 49 and obese on the BMI scale her ideal would be 18-25 at her height

She would need to lose at least 10stone to be at the top end of her BMI
all of them are oveweight and not fat of from being obese on the BMI scale

I had to look up Iskra - she looks amazing! She’s a fair bit heavier than me and about the same height, but I am soooooo much fatter. Bmi isn’t all that accurate when someone’s quite muscular and toned as she looks to me. Weren’t Johnny Wilkinson and Brian O’Driscoll morbidly obese or something? Or is that another ‘Marilyn Monroe was a size 16 myth’ only for men ?

Don't think anyone should be shamed for whatever size they are. But too skinny (anorexic) and too fat (obese) are both unhealthy. There's no getting around that really. If your weight is causing issues with your body, there is a problem.

I'm not obese, but I am a size 14/16, have big calves and big thighs. Why anyone would want legs like mine I don't know, or consider them just 'curvy'. Have you ever tried to find boots for legs that are 18" wide that don't look ugly as hell? It's a nightmare. They don't exist! I can't wear boots and that sucks, I love boots. Hence why I am walking a lot and trying to lose weight. I'm not overly unhealthy, but can't deny I am not healthy or fit. I am always very envious of women who have slim legs.

thats not true most models in 2018 are a healthy weight people seem to not realise a healthy weight can be skinny.

They are not a healthy size for most people. And they are overwhelmingly in the majority of modelling work. Yes there are niche and alternative and plus size models, but overwhelmingly the work is for women who are thinner than both the average, and than most women could be.

I can't get worked up over some excitement over a handful of plus size models. They are a drop in a very tiny ocean. When we have a multimillion industry in how to gain weight, when every glossy magazine promises women how to get fat, when young girls are flocking in droves for steroids and padded clothing to make themselves fat, I'll worry about the impact of plus size models.

I can't wear boots and that sucks, I love boots.

Plus size boots will definitely cover an 18 inch calf. Also try pull-on ones, you'll get them over your calves.

People who post this shit are just kidding themselves. No one can be obese and happy, well 100 percent happy. It's not healthy and shouldn't be promoted as healthy.

I think it just makes people feel better about themselves, they need to face facts though. Same with the skinny Minnie's I think someone with a normal healthy weight is a great role model. A size 10 is good.

Why on this thread do people think a) fat people are fat because they are constantly eating pies b) other people's weights are anyone's business but theirs and possibly their doctor's?

Firstly no one said fat people are fat because they constantly eat pies. That's ludicrous. You've totally imagined that.

Secondly, the thread is about a general trend to normalising obesity within society, it's not about a given individual. Obesity is a major problem that costs the nhs billions, and gives the wrong message if normalised or glamourised. So discussing it in general terms of societies view of it is fine. It's no different to talking about smoking, excessive drinking, or drug taking.

This one does the rounds a lot.