America's new top model ...or top skeleton

[silver]

I can relate to how Silver feels about the thread.

I'm 5'5" and 111 lbs (used to weigh less before having 2 kids). I constantly get comments about how skinny I am (since I was 8), good intention or not. Some even say it with a "you must have a problem" undertone. I eat LOTS and have no medical problem. It's just how I was born.

From my point of view, I don't comment on people's weight, hips, thighs or whatever body parts that I get commented on. But what makes it right to comment on a skinny person? You wouldn't say to an overweight person "Oh, you're so big", right? Or would you post a pic of an overweight person and say how horrible it is?

I totally understand where the OP is coming from, just offering a different POV.

that's what I was trying to say. thank you.

[HappyAnika]

You know in a way this is so ironic. We participate in a sport where usually the thinnest person wins the race up the 3 mile hill. . . . Ladies we participat in an anorexic producing sport everytime we get on our bikes. . . .So hay put that woman on a bike for a few months she'll put on a little muscle in her legs and likely beat most of us up that 3 mile climb because she has us beat power to weight.

But not all of us race. Some (most?) of us just ride for fun and fitness, and because I enjoy riding my bike and it adds to a healthy lifestyle, I say I win over the model (even though I wear a size 12). And like what michelem said, she's not going to be able to climb very far when all she ingests is vodka, celery, coffee, and cigarettes.

My athletic friend said to me recently, she's proud of the fact that due to genetics, she's capable of carrying herself over far distances for long periods of time on very little fuel. Her ancestors were survivors. She's proud of her strong heritage, and to be strong herself.

The last time I was getting my hair done, I picked up some fashion magazine and was shocked at the numbers of skinny unhealthy women in the pages. It sort of made me feel chunky and ugly. Then I thought about how I used to read Seventeen and Vogue when I was a teenager and wondered if I might have been happier with a higher self esteem at that age had I not read those magazines. Bleh! Looking around the room and seeing the normal people in the salon snapped me out of it and reminded me there's nothing wrong with me. I won't be looking at that sort of magazine again anytime soon, if ever.

And for the record, I don't think seeing someone's ribs is attractive, on either a woman or a man.

[Eden]

But not all of us race. Some (most?) of us just ride for fun and fitness, and because I enjoy riding my bike and it adds to a healthy lifestyle, I say I win over the model (even though I wear a size 12). And like what michelem said, she's not going to be able to climb very far when all she ingests is vodka, celery, coffee, and cigarettes.

I must say I'm with Silver and GreenTea about this thread. It is a bit disturbing how many people think that it is OK to comment/criticize about body type if the person is small/thin. I think that many people are making a lot of assumptions about that woman because of her body type...., you assume just because that woman is thin she has an unhealthy lifestyle! How is that any better than assuming that all larger people are sedentary and eat fried foods all of the time.

[7rider]

that's what I was trying to say. thank you.

I think the issue isn't so much that folks feel bony is ugly, but just that by choosing such a body-type as "America's Top Model" - it perpetuates the belief that that particular body-type is the ideal for beauty - and therefore, anything else is not desireable. THAT is what F's up young girl's heads. That is what (at least to start) was/is the gripe of so many who cannot achieve that body.

And...take a look at who's responding here. You've got 2 naturally skinny people here versus umpteen folks who do not meet that ideal - and never will without extreme starvation and sacrifice. Sure, you can be healthy and skinny. You can also be fat and healthy. Why does culture never focus on the healthy and only on the skinny??

[HappyAnika]

I think that many people are making a lot of assumptions about that woman because of her body type...., you assume just because that woman is thin she has an unhealthy lifestyle! How is that any better than assuming that all larger people are sedentary and eat fried foods all of the time.

Good point. Yes, its entirely true that I assume she leads an unhealthy lifestyle, just based on the stereo type that models are generally unhealthy. If I saw her in, say, a sporting goods catalogue in a running outfit, I'd assume she was a very fit elite runner, and would not be tempted to criticizer her for being too thin. So I suppose that's all about the context.

But it still upsets me that magaznies, movies, tv, etc. perpetuate the notion that a woman is only beautiful if she is really thin.

I think what Greentea said, about not posting a pic of an overweight person and saying how horrible that is, that's somewhat beside the point since we don't have the media sending messages that we should be that way. Does that make sense? I don't feel like I'm doing a good job of making my point. Basically its frustrating that much of society has been brainwashed into thinking that to be beautiful, pretty, and admired, one must weigh a very low weight that many of us can't/don't want to achieve. We are who we are, and I think that anyone of any size who makes an effort at a healthier lifestyle should be admired.

[mimitabby]

Yes, the point i was trying to make is not that thin-ness is ugly; (I actually prefer it) but that making it hard, no, impossible for a healthy looking woman to be a model is dead wrong. And I mean DEAD wrong because lots of models
ruin their health trying to attain this ideal.
It is doubly ironic in these days when 25% of americans (is that the right percentage?) are more than overweight. How must it make people feel as they get bigger and bigger to see models that look like they stepped out of Auschwitz? there is a big giant disconnect here.

for some reason I have always been immune to the beauty mystique.

When I started out at the gym, my trainer told me, "now, don't worry that you're going to get masculine muscles. "
I was surprised, apparently a lot of women won't work out because they're afraid of that. I'd LOVE to get bigger muscles.. (and I am) and there's no danger of me ever looking like a guy!

ps Eden is not fat or skinny. she is PERFECT

[Eden]

Why does culture never focus on the healthy and only on the skinny??

It just happens to be the times that we live in. If you look at the ideal of beauty from other eras you will find that it has ranged far and wide, from thin to rubenesque. Go back only a little way to the 40's and 50's and think about pin up models. They certainly don't look like the models of today. Trends will likely change again.

btw - at only 5 feet tall, even if I were excessively thin, which I am not, I will always be far from the ideal of beauty in this culture, but I really don't think about it too much as I am much too busy doing other things to worry about it too much.... (I figure if I even wanted to strive for it, I'd have to spend more time doing hair and makeup and other things that I don't do now and it would cut into my bike time too much! - maybe being short, a thing I really cannot change, has been good for me, since I never felt pressured to try to get model type looks out of a body that cannot be dieted or exercised into being taller?)

[michelem]

"Ithink that many people are making a lot of assumptions about that woman because of her body type...., you assume just because that woman is thin she has an unhealthy lifestyle!"

Eden, I agree, and that's why I said, "we don't know the particulars about this "Top Model" - whether she is "naturally" thin or starves herself or whatnot." Let's all focus on being the healthiest we can be for each of us individually, no matter the number on the scale! Eat right, train rest, rest right!

[teigyr]

I think so much is predetermined. I know we can make the most of what we have but I know thin people who are just that way...but are also flabby because they don't work out. You don't see it, of course, but they have no muscle. I also know bigger people who are all muscle and are very healthy.

I will never be thin, my frame just isn't that way. I can go to lower body fat and exercise, etc., and that is good but if I compared myself to "thin" people, I'd be pert near suicidal.

I guess what offends me is a set opinion about what's attractive and I do believe the media perpetuates some horrible stereotypes. I have a lot of theories about it but until people refuse to support it, it will continue. If you ever want a horrible education, read a "mens" magazine. Even though an intelligent male will see through a lot of it (like an intelligent woman reading Cosmo), I think it stays in the subconscious and is also damaging to people in their formative years. Just my .02 though, I tend to have a lot of strong opinions on the subject.

[mimitabby]

, I tend to have a lot of strong opinions on the subject.

sounds like a lot of us do!

[teigyr]

Yeah but don't get me started on airbrushing and all of that! I think it is so horrible that real has to be "fixed" in order for people to find it attractive. Now the thing with HDTV is it is so clear it shows flaws! Hmmm.

Yeah, best to not get me started

[greentea]

Why does culture never focus on the healthy and only on the skinny??

I don't think just being skinny has many advantages. In this culture, you must be skinny AND have nice big boobs (which usually don't co-exist naturally) to be seen as pretty. I also agree with what Eden says:

"It just happens to be the times that we live in. If you look at the ideal of beauty from other eras you will find that it has ranged far and wide, from thin to rubenesque. Go back only a little way to the 40's and 50's and think about pin up models. They certainly don't look like the models of today. Trends will likely change again."

One of the things I learned before turning 36 is to accept what you have and enjoy it. Stay healthy and have fun!

[7rider]

"It just happens to be the times that we live in. If you look at the ideal of beauty from other eras you will find that it has ranged far and wide, from thin to rubenesque. Go back only a little way to the 40's and 50's and think about pin up models. They certainly don't look like the models of today. Trends will likely change again."

One of the things I learned before turning 36 is to accept what you have and enjoy it. Stay healthy and have fun!

I woulda been a knockout during WWII!!!

[Jolt]

I think it is so horrible that real has to be "fixed" in order for people to find it attractive.

I agree! Even make-up bugs me for that reason (besides the fact that I fail to see the point of spending the extra time and money for something that really has no usefulness).

[mimitabby]

I woulda been a knockout during WWII!!!

I'm sure you are today too!