Do you think a women's size 16 is fat?

[LegencyMonsters]

Met a friend for coffee today and we got onto the topic of weight.

I mentioned that I used to be a size 16 and said I’m glad I’m not that size anymore as I was fat. She disagreed, saying a size 16 isn’t fat and pointed out that it’s actually the average size for women in the UK. I replied that while it may be the average, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not fat.

Would you consider a size 16 to be fat or not?

AIBU - YES - of course!
YANBU - NO - Not fat at all!

Thank you. This is what I was trying and apparantly failing to get across in my responses. OP has asked a question which is going to result in people answering from their own experience. Some will say its fat to them, others will say its not to them. Perfectly understandable and interesting.
Its the people heavily invested in 'proving' a size 16 is 'objectively fat', seemingly unable to give up until they've forced some other poster to 'face facts' they apparantly know about her body that I struggle with. It's always the same on these threads. And far from being conducive to the conversations these posters typically insist we should be having for the good of (other women's) health, they just end up being alienating.

Even if a person is fat and would benefit health wise from losing weight, they can still be gorgeous and great company.

Yes.

No one is talking about personality or attractiveness. I genuinely don’t think anyone would consider you can’t be gorgeous or a great person as you’re a size 16, so I don’t understand the use of the word “still” in here.

the question is simple, is a size 16 fat.

not does it make you unattractive, does it effect your personality, or was it fat 50 years ago,

and the answer is clearly predominantly yes with 80 percent of people thinking this,

the issue is the word fat has been used and it’s really upset some posters, understandably, it has very negative connotations for some and not just a descriptor, and some people think it can’t be fat if it’s the average, in addition fat means different things to different people as said up thread.

the op and hee friends views expressed in her initial post, are typical of the difference, the op feels it is fat as it was for her, her friend thinks it can’t be as it’s rhe average,

for most woman under 5 foot 11 it is overweight, but whether someone thinks overweight equals fat is subjective. Very few people are arguing it’s a health weight, most are arguing it isn’t fat.

No one is talking about personality or attractiveness.

Evidently.

As equally, slim people can be unattractive and shit company 😁

They can indeed, although people don't seem to take "slim" as a synonym for all the things "fat" is often taken to mean.

I seem to have rattled people. Wasn't my intention at all (for once) but I'll take it.

Exactly, your waist is 28" if you're 5ft or 6ft. Breast size will make a big difference in terms of what size top you need but the under breast measurements will still equate to a 10 if that's the accurate measurement.

When I was 24st and a size 26, then got down to a size 16, I still thought I was fat. It was the size I was stuck at for longest and was very pleased to get to a 14.

I’d say fat as a current size 16/18. Previously size 22.

If you measure these pics on screen, the shortest woman's hips are 1cm wider than the tallest woman. I suppose the tallest woman might have a very large bum that we can't see but from appearances, the shortest woman is not the same size but shorter, she is wider and shorter.

I would be much more convinced if the photo was of women who were different heights but all the same weight. That seems far more likely - I wonder if the 'third party' in the caption who reproduced it has got the wrong end of the stick.

I would be much more convinced if the photo was of women who were different heights but all the same weight. That seems far more likely - I wonder if the 'third party' in the caption who reproduced it has got the wrong end of the stick.

No, the accompanying article makes it clear that’s not the case @PropitiousJump.

www.thesun.ie/fabulous/1338998/these-women-are-different-heights-and-shapes-but-are-considered-to-be-uks-mrs-average-because-theyre-size-16/

The Sun is not known for the accuracy of its reporting!

The source makes it all the more likely to be bollocks 😆

Like I said, it knows its audience.

NO

I'm 5' 10' with a BMI of 23 and I'm a size 16 on top and 14 on the bottom. I don't consider myself fat. Those 6' people who are size 12 must be a lot slimmer than me.

Having been a size 16 (at 5ft 4), I would say yes it is usually fat.

It could be bollocks, but it’s clearly not someone getting the wrong end of the stick as you suggested it was.

It’s usually overweight ( and I say this as a 5ft 4 size 16 down from an 18 11 months ago) - however I would say I don’t in my opinion think I look that bad at 64 , as in my case it’s kind of distributed all over , but I don’t have a totally massive stomache, don’t have huge legs and I have big boobs. I think different people can carry it differently .

They’re all carrying excess fat. The tallest woman looks fairly well proportioned and presuming they have chosen her as she is above average height, it shows that most women will still look fat at a size 16.

I'm not convinced the shorter women, particularly the shortest woman, are a size 16, even a modern, larger size 16.

This isn't a case of personal denial or anything like that - I'm smaller than a size 16 (BMI of 20) - but you can clearly see the shortest woman is wider, not just shorter, than the tallest one.

I agree, I think the shorter woman is an 18, as is the tallest one, and the other two likely 16s.

I think she’s more like a 20/22. She’s most definitely not a 16.

I don’t think she’s a 2o or 22, but I do think she’s likely closer to an 18 , the issue is it is very hard to tell from photos, the same as the tallest women, I don’t think either are a genuine 16.

i think they just found 4 heavier women and wrote an article.

In the accompanying article the tallest woman says she’s a size 16 in Marks and Spencers so I’m inclined to believe her. She says she often shops in Long Tall Sally but doesn’t mention the size she takes there. The shortest woman describes herself as petite and plus size.

Yeah so an 18 in every other shop, and more an 18, as markies up until recently sizing was always bigger than everywhere else.

so id beleive that too, likely a 16 in markies and an 18 everywhere else, same for the smaller woman.