Another pet peeve: the focus on women's appearance, and our own touchiness about it.

My son got into a minor fight the other day at school, some girl pushed him, they bickered, and he had called her "Fatso". She was crushed. When asked about this at home he was a little sullen but surprised, because "mom, she's really slender". It was just a stray insult in a stupid argument.

So why is it that the worst, most insulting thing you can say to a girl, is that she's fat, or ugly? It's not a nice thing to say to a boy either, but there I think the equivalent worst insult would be "weak", or "cowardly". Girls get judged and judge themselves a lot from outer appearances, boys judge themselves more by skills and personality.

This is children, but I think this applies to adults as well. Honestly - would you be more insulted if someone called you fat, or if they called you a weakling? But when you think about it, wouldn't you rather BE strong and brave, instead of pretty and thin?

I think it's a shame that it's such a huge faux pas to ask a woman if she's expecting, and find out she wasn't pregnant at all. If she's put on that much weight, it can hardly be a surprise to her that it's visible to others. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could say to a friend "gee, you've got a little chunky, better lay off those chocolate chip cookies for a while" and laugh at it, and just let it go?