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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think that a size 16 is not fat

284 replies

roseability · 19/08/2008 21:48

I mean I would say this, as I am surprisingly enough a size 16.

When I was younger I dieted, starved and fought myself into a size 10-12. I just can't be bothered anymore. My DH seems to like my curves and I feel it is only society that deems I should be thinner.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a size 10-12 BTW but I think some women are naturally smaller sizes than others

I want to stand up to all this size 0 shit! Why can't we just be the size we are without feeling inadequate.

What do you all think?
How do you feel about your size?
What is your opinion of other's size?

Am I harking on about nothing or should Mnetters stand up and embrace their curves/lumps/bumps

OP posts:
MrsMills · 21/08/2008 08:41

O.K., I am a size 16 with a BMI of 26, which is slightly over the ideal. However, I AM NOT FAT. I am 5' 10, and in perfect proportion (I think )

FioFio · 21/08/2008 08:42

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newforold · 21/08/2008 08:50

I thought the average size in this country post war was around a 16? It's only since the advent of "supermodels" that we started down the slippery slope of being told what we should weigh/eat/look like.

SIL is a 16, she has the best dress sense of anyone i know, i at a size 10-12 look like a complete tramp next to her.She gets oodles of male attention and she isn't very tall either.

So inanswer to op - in my opinion YANBU.

CoteDAzur · 21/08/2008 08:50

Size 16 is fat, sorry. (Whether you are happy with your size is a different matter.)

I'm a 12 and even that is fattish.

mrsruffallo · 21/08/2008 08:57

I don't think that we should be blame men for our treatment of each other.
Just read this thread.
I don't give a damn what size anyway is
Size 12 is not overweight
Get over it

ForeverOptimistic · 21/08/2008 09:11

A tall person say 5.10 or taller would not be fat if they were a size 16. I used to be friends with a very slim girl who was 6ft 1ins and she was a size 16, not fat at all she looked like Elle McPherson.

I on the other hand am only 5ft 2ins and I would be very fat if I was a size 16 (think Dawn French)I am currently a size 12 and I am plump. For my height/build a size 8-10 is optimum.

Personally I am not happy with my size unless I am under 9 stone and a size 10 or smaller. I don't blame society, I just don't feel comfortable being bigger.

MrsShalloway · 21/08/2008 10:52

I think Xenia makes some valid points(dons hard-hat). I am 5,5" and keep under 9st and still curvy. I'm not ridiculously thin, I'm a size 8-10 , which given the increase in clothes sizes is not that small anyway...It's not just the junk food situation that's changed since the post-war period, it's the amount of car use, the increase in sedentry activities, alcohol consumption,...all this contributes to what is happening...

The fatter we get, the more our perception of what is truly overweight is skewed. It happened in the U.S and we are following suit as usual. IMO the shops were quick to pick up on this which is why the sizes have increased to keep those of us in fat-denial happy and in-turn boost-sales..

I'm currently abroad and sadly you can always spot the British tourists,obviously there are exceptions but mostly they look just like the American's except with more tattoos and worse teeth...denial is only going to make things worse

By the way, this is not about whether or not you can be fat and beautiful..because obviously you can. It's more about accepting that size 16 is definitely overweight and we should all stop kidding ourselves (puts on second hard hat and runs...)

MrsShalloway · 21/08/2008 11:00

Oops I meant 'Americans'..pedants stand back!

sarah293 · 21/08/2008 11:12

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MrsShalloway · 21/08/2008 11:18

Marylin Monroe was not a size 16, this is a common myth, she weighed 8 1/2 stone was 5,5" and 1/2,an old fashioned size 12 (see..sizes have changed!) facts are on the net...

PerkinWarbeck · 21/08/2008 11:25

I am size 16 (bottom half!), 11.5 stone, 5'9, and definitely look a bit fat. I think I scrape a BMI of about 24.9.

When I weighed 10 stone, I was a 10 on top, 14 on the bottom, and looked and felt pretty healthy.

So yes, for sub six-footers, I think size 16 is probably fat.

MrsShalloway · 21/08/2008 11:27

www.marilynmonroe.com/about/facts.html

MrsShalloway · 21/08/2008 11:30

P.S You sound like you have a great figure Riven, I'd love to be taller...

halogen · 21/08/2008 11:37

My aunt is nearly 6 foot and a size 16 with broad shoulders and big bones. She doesn't look at all fat, in fact she looks positively slim and definitely well-proportioned. OTOH, I am 5'5" with insanely small bones and am a size 8 and officially underweight at less than 8 stone but I don't look skinny at all. I look on the slim side of normal. I've had my body fat measured and it was slap bang in the middle of the healthy range. So I think it can depend hugely on your body type/bones. And I do have a figure. So does my aunt. Neither of us is abnormal.

lovecat · 21/08/2008 11:57

I'M fat when I'm a size 16, no question about it.

A girl in my drama group, however, is a size 16 but 5'11 with a superb figure - I have seen her in the dressing room, there is not a pick of fat on her, she looks great.

So the OP is slightly unreasonable - everyone is different, after all.

I do think that as a nation we are going down the American route to obesity - 'bad' food is cheap and available everywhere and it's just too easy/tempting to have a cake instead of an apple. We were in Menorca recently at a 'British' hotel and were appalled at the amount of severely obese women and men there, not to mention their overweight children

It's almost a disservice to overweight people to say they should be happy with themselves and not care about their size - great in theory, I'm all for self-esteem, but in terms of health, it is NOT okay and in fact is damaging. I speak/type as a member of a family with severe food/portion control issues, who as they get older have many health problems caused by being overweight. Yet they think I'm 'mean' and 'weird' for not allowing dd the box of doughnuts/iced gingerbread/cupcake 10 minutes before her tea...

dinny · 21/08/2008 12:00

If I was 16 I'd be fat

If you're a large frame or tall you may not be overweight if a 16

Janos · 21/08/2008 12:07

Isn't it amazing how many people have such a huge hang up about size?

No being very overweight is not healthy, but apart from that, who gives a toss! It's just not that important.

Dior · 21/08/2008 19:26

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Janos · 21/08/2008 20:17

Oh heck Dior I'm not rolling my eyes at people who want to lose weight for those reasons Dior, not at all! Sorry if that's how it came across.

It's people who sneer and pick at folk who say 'I'm happy with my size'. they're the people I'm rolling my eyes at! The judgemental ones with an internal fat monitor.

FioFio · 21/08/2008 20:18

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Dior · 21/08/2008 21:50

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slim22 · 21/08/2008 21:55

it IS fat.

swiftyknickers · 21/08/2008 22:02

(yawn) god it is sooooooooo british to be hung up on what size you wear...the europeans don't do it you knbnow,they wear what suits...

anyhow i am a size 16/18 am fat but gorgeous so i get away with it

Dior · 21/08/2008 22:09

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mamadiva · 21/08/2008 22:15

I am a size 18 and am comfortable with my size although I could do with losing weight it's more for health reasons than looks TBH I'd rather be curvy!

It's just pointless being hung up on your size personally I have better things to worry about than what other people think of me!

My DS loves me, my DP loves me and I love me too so who cares about size?!?