To hate this whole 'real woman' stuff?

[Dinkytinky]

It just annoys me to be honest- I've got a bmi of 21 (good for my height) and a size 8, and I get fed up with tv programs etc announce that 'real women' are size 16. I've got nothing against other sizes but I just think bloody hell I'm not a 'fictional' woman am I?!

yes you are a figment of your own imagination.

Dont sweat it. You know you are nice and slim and gorge. Women size 16 need a lot of reassuring. Dont take that away from us. Yes, it may be patronizing, but it makes us feel nice. Whereas, I suspect it does not make YOU feel really bad in any way!

Dinkytinky, I'm with you. I'm naturall skinny and spent the first half of my life being picked on for being a "twiglet" none of the boys like me cause I was "too thin" and now as an adult I feel OK about my size but get a bit hacked off with all these "real women" and Curves are better than skinny type articles, facebook groups etc etc.

yanbu, I am a size 6-8, I'm only 5'2" so I am meant to be small. I am not unhealthy, skinny, starving or a weakling and everything curves in and out in the right places. The phrase "real women" make my teeth itch. Can you imagine the reaction if anyone suggested bigger women were somehow not real?

just to add - I dont feel Ive ever had the "benefit" of supposedly having a dress size other women want. Its always caused me to get picked on TBH

Lol qs! I should probably said I'm a shortarse (5ft) so maybe I'm just annoyed that it's not trendy to be small! Hopefully I will get patronised one day too!
mookle- we should start a club so we can reassure each other of our non fictional status!

I have been size 6, I have been size 18 - In neither situation has my vagina disappeared. Therefore I conclude it must be a load of old bollocks!

Stop gloating girls. Some of us so-called "real women" would love to have your figures. The media are just having a go at the skinny minnies in the public eye who starve themselves to be a size 6, a la Cheryl Cole. But of course some people are naturally like that too.

LOL at Xavielli

So agree!

And I'm not skinny, nowhere near it, but how dare crap advertisers and journo's etc dismiss a whole load of women in this way?

'Real woman' my arse! It makes my blood boil it really does.

And its so meaningless. In fact I think its derogatory to ALL of us - slim women being told they're not actually a woman after all, and the bigger women too, its like a pat on the head, fat birds being placated cos we all know when it comes down to it they're irrelevant blobs.

Bastards.

agree with you dinkytinky

although, actually i am a 14-16 and probably one of these "real women" you are talking about.

i think it would be a much healthier attitude for everyone if it was just recognised that variety is the spice of life. If you are happy and reasonably helthy then what does it matter what your dress size or weight is?

the problem is the way the media portays women - as lets face it, your end of the spectrum is portrayed as the way we should all be isn't it?

LeQueen - thats my experience too

dittany I'm googling for that t shirt as we speak!

Dinkytinky - perhaps we should also do a t shirt saying we are not fictional!!?

Things I hate even more:

1.) Women who refer to selves as BEING a size X: (as in: "I am a size 14." No you´re not, you are a person. You WEAR size 14. If that´s even interesting enough to mention...ever).

2.) Making "curvy" a synonym for large

3.) Gok wanting "body confidence" taught as part of the national curriculum (WTF???!!!)

4.) The way the media deal with the whole Fat Britain issue as a fashion versus confidence issue. It is not great to be overweight FOR MEDICAL REASONS. Sod fashion. Sod the pressure to be thin. Being fat still isn´t healthy or great, or even "more real"

YANBU and im a size 16. Its unfair on any of us to be told there is any specific ideal that looks better or men prefer. We are all individuals and have good and bad traits.

LeQueen - this is true - I also think you can often get a specific type interested in pursuing you if you are skinny - usually "player" types that like you to project a certain "image" for them

dittany - I LOVE those t shirts i also want to buy "not for decorative use" and "anitporn star" fantastic!

I agree it's not helpful to be told what men supposedly prefer, it's exactly that kind of thing that plays into the hands of people who prefer women to be suspicious of one another and judgemental/competitive.

Fwiw, I was a lot bigger for a couple of years after ds (depression, suddenly stopping an active lifestyle) and I was still the same person I am now, definitely a woman either way and dh has never once professed any preference whether I am the size I am now or a size 16, he seems to find me attractive no matter what.

Of course we are all real women. I think the 'real women' thing is about a backlash against the ideal image of women which is unrealistic and unhealthy for a lot of women - but is still upheld as the standard of how women should be. For example I am not a natural slim woman, even when slim I have wide hips, (44" when I weighed under 10 stone) so to be smaller than a size 12/14 I would have to starve myself. There are lots and lots of people who believe women should be no bigger than a size 10 (size 8 sometimes) and underweight women are held up as the ideal.
I also find it very weird when women starve their breast away then pay to have fake breast added - just eat a bit woman, and nature will do it for you!

Anyway, the 'real women' thing is a backlash against body fascism, but it shouldn't mean slim women feel inadequate.

Grrr. It's all mens' faults. (joooooke)

I find it mad that grown women will buy into this whole '...well men prefer X sized waist, coupled with X shaped breasts and long hair and and and ...."

Its all just fed to us to keep us paranoid and in our places. And really, who gives a toss?

Disagree its a backlash against body fascism.
It is body fascism. No better, no worse than the worship of skinny.

Smoking isn't healthy, but it'll help you keep thin, as will speed, crash dieting, bullimia, and a host of other dreadfully unhealthy things. For example, you don't get too many fat heroin addicts.

What pisses me off is that some people think that thin is automatically healthy and preach the fat is never healthy line. It's not, but then neither is being too thin in some circumstances.

Smuggy mcsmugness from either side of the fence is blardy annoying and unacceptable. I don't care if you're a size 8 and drop dead gorgeous or a size 28 and someone less gorgeous...who cares???? As long as you're happy with what you have an what you are, I ain't gonna judge you.

Real women come in all sizes and shapes. I feel for the young girls growing up right now. They're presented daily with airbrushed perfection and are encouraged to aspire to it. God forbid anyone would actually put forward brains as an attribute for 'real women'...

Sadly, most clothes as made by today's designers look better on size 8/10 while most men seem to prefer size 16+ We are damned if we do and damed if we don't (stay slim). Surely being a healthty weight for height is what we should aim at./

I hate it

I hate it because the "real women" thing is associated with "curves" and "normal sizes" which the likes of Gok seem to think = a 14 or over!

supermodels are real women too, they're not holograms! as is every one in between

I hate the "love your curves" thing.

Ah who am I kidding, I just hate Gok! LOL, yesterday one of his shows was on a lunch time and I was wondering what impact it would have on young girls to watch this and be told that confidence = posing naked in a sexy pose on front of a tv audience in a shopping centre?

And always women (or at least 99% of the time!) if being stripped naked on television resolves low self esteem then why doesn't he share his gift with all the men out there who are crippled with shyness and body image issues?

IMO Gok is a woman hater.