Body Image

[jmdirt]

I just saw a campaign poster with a "plus-size" model and the stats: 20 years ago the average model weighed 8% less than an average woman, now they weigh 23% less. My interpretation is that the add is slamming models who are too thin, and saying that the woman on their poster is how a woman should be, but neither is healthy.

Models (runway) haven't gotten lighter, but the average American woman has gotten 17 pounds heavier over the last two decades.

Weight isn't the best indicator for determining health, body fat (body comp) is. Average American woman are 38-40% body fat. Short and simple, that level of body fat increases health risks.

I frequently hear women with too high body fat say something to the effect of: "I am proud of my body, there is nothing wrong my body...". Increased health issues is something wrong.

Woman with unhealthy body fat at either end of the scale are sending the wrong message to girls, and other woman. We should tell girls that neither one is good for them. We should teach girls what 'healthy body' means, and give them the tools to be healthy both physically and mentally.

It is important to educate boys as well even though their body image issues occur less frequently and/or are under-reported.

Vent over...

 

[JayKosta]

Health, image, and lifestyle all compete, and the 'balance' among them depends on the individual and their 'at the moment' goals and desires. Substantially determined by how people treat them, and especially by people who they desire as friends or lovers.

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Where to even start with this one...

Having had an eating disorder most of my life I remember us girls talking about diets and losing weight back in junior high when we were barely teens - this was over 30 years ago!

I don't see that trend changing, the only thing that has changed is a growing industry for plus-sized fashion models. (And by plus-sized I mean truly fat women, not ones who are 2 pounds overweight.) Ample photoshopping certainly is of no help, what people see in fashion magazines is largely fantasy. (How do you explain this to a vulnerable and susceptible 10year old?)

As far as men go I think eating disorders go largely unreported and unmentioned, I would guess men admitting to having an eating disorder would be seen as a sign of weakness. But there's a lot of it in sections of the gay community where looks are everything, and I think as well as in sports, or ballet and whatnot, where weight is crucial in relation to performance. But seeing as eating disorders are seen as a women's problem we don't really get to hear about it.

Unfortunately I don't see much hope for change, don't really know what else to add at this time.

 

[LaFlorecita]

So what is "plus-size"?

or

Both are famous "plus-size" models
Although I would only classify the 1st as plus-size

I'd like to see more of the first in fashion shows and adverts and less of this

^this is not a good role model for young girls
but neither is the 2nd of the plus-size models I posted

 

[Unchained]

I can tell you as a plus size model that seeing rider profiles were the guy is @30 kilos lighter than me hurts a little when are height is the same..ouch
I have a few strong opinions about type and size. My own life has most of my best life results when I am slightly underweight.
I have seen both sides of weight gain and loss and I feel accepted overweight norms causes problems..
being a man, fat ,dumb,bald,slow,ect is still most times easier than being a female.. I think for the most part men drive women's advertising and seeing the naked or near naked female form puts pressure on gals that men only feel to a lesser extent.

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re:

I can tell you as a plus size model that seeing rider profiles were the guy is @30 kilos lighter than me hurts a little when are height is the same..ouch
I have a few strong opinions about type and size. My own life has most of my best life results when I am slightly underweight.
I have seen both sides of weight gain and loss and I feel accepted overweight norms causes problems..
being a man, fat ,dumb,bald,slow,ect is still most times easier than being a female.. I think for the most part men drive women's advertising and seeing the naked or near naked female form puts pressure on gals that men only feel to a lesser extent.

I definitely understand how weight is very important to a sporty type of activity, but some athletes take it to an extreme. (Both women and men can end up with an eating disorder, which is a whole other bag of psychological vulnerabilities the may have had to begin with.)

The sight of those calipers and the scale - aaaaaaah! (It's just something you may never get over.)

 

[RedheadDane]

Re:

I can tell you as a plus size model that seeing rider profiles were the guy is @30 kilos lighter than me hurts a little when are height is the same..ouch

To be fair, most riders are probably on the edge towards being slightly underweight. I recall hearing/reading/seeing (can't remember the media) an interview with Jens Voigt shortly after his retirement in which he talked about having complained about having gone "fat", to which his wife replied "No. You're just normal now."

 

[Tricycle Rider]

Re: Re:

To be fair, most riders are probably on the edge towards being slightly underweight.

Slightly I think would be putting it kindly.

The camera adds on weight, I would hate to see what some of these climbers actually look like IRL. (There's a good chance that I could break them in half, should such a need arise, of course.)

 

[RedheadDane]

Re: Re:

To be fair, most riders are probably on the edge towards being slightly underweight.

Slightly I think would be putting it kindly.

The camera adds on weight, I would hate to see what some of these climbers actually look like IRL. (There's a good chance that I could break them in half, should such a need arise, of course.)

Hopefully you'll never feel the need to break professional cyclists - or anybody - in half.
Breaking people in half is against the rules, it's not allowed!

 

[python]

...body image issues are very personal and could be sensitive. when i find myself accidentally in the middle, my custom is to not get drawn in.

but i do mind - and frequently with some energy - when various couch potatoes prognosticate about what weight, looks, or body composition are healthy for an individual(s) they know nothing about. this is not a critique of the thread originator or the posters...just a general remark about how ignorant and righteous some (if not most) self-assigned 'health expert' could be. even if a current medical view of obesity is towards increasing, we should remember that the standards themselves while established sort of scientifically are still arbitrary and subject to generational and cultural perceptions.

not trying to prevent a healthy living. just saying we, in the western-leaning countries, are way overdoing the issue. i think it is b/c of commercialism and some overdone societal norms.

but, the advocates of physical activity and sport as a main promoter of healthy living cant be wrong.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I'm personally sick of the anorexic with implants look.

I worked on a corporate video recently, looked a lot like a commercial, and the woman we chose to be in it was a bit full figured. Though heavy, she wasn't unhealthy looking, perhaps like that model walking on the runway in the first picture above from LaFlorecita, but she was pretty, read the part perfectly, and we felt "normal" looking for what many people look like today.

As a man over 50, I'm personally harder on myself than anyone. I'm actually pretty fit from still riding a lot, but I weigh a good 25 pounds more than I did 20+ years ago when I was insanely fit and lean. We always remember ourselves at our best, don't we? Showing this stigma cuts in many ways.

 

[aphronesis]

Ah, the new normal. How about if it's more comfortable for me to cantilever myself under the seats of an airplane onto the floor to sleep than be weighed upon by my overspilling fellow passengers--man or woman no matter--who've paid the same fare?

What about on a commuter train?

What about police who haven't a chance in hell of reacting to a physical emergency? Diabetics having their feet amputated?