[hippieflowergirl]

Originally Posted by Gemme

I'm conflicted with what you are saying, Kathlene. On one hand, I watch ANTM and have been very happy to see that Tyra has actively selected and promoted girls who do not fit the "model" stereotype. I loved that Whitney won her season too. So, in that particular situation, I think this is a wonderful thing.

However, I see your point that, even though it's a good thing (above), our viewpoint of what is and is not obese or normal or plus-size is very distorted.

I'm not someone who may be 'qualified' per se to discuss my personal body issues here (though I LOVED what June said about body issues coming in all sizes), but those who are struggling, please know that, no matter what you see around you, you are not alone.

hi Gemme-a-roo!

i think Whitney is drop dead gorgeous! i should be so plus sized! i'm glad that she won ANTM at a size 10 but i hate that she's called a "plus sized model" when she's 2 sizes smaller than the average american woman (who is typically a size 14. (i hear 12 to 14 is the median). the words posted under her photo arent mine. (hence the quotes)

having worked in high end fashion i've watched the sizes assigned to women's clothing fluctuate into something almost unrecognizable. some time in the early tomid-90s the fit standard we were used to downsized...in other words a size 12 became a size 10, a size 6 became a size 4 and etc. the sizing shift didnt take place globally by any means. so if you're a size 8 in the US you may not be a size 8 elsewhere. there is no single standard for women's clothing. men's clothing has something close to stability with regard to sizing because much of what they wear is based on waist and chest size in inches (in the US anyway) and sized that way (i.e.: jeans come in waist/length denominations like 36/34 and so on, jackets & suits are measured and/or tailored based on actual measurements rather than on random numbers like "size 8").

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on other fronts....why fat? why is THAT so important? it's the same as having brown hair. or being short. or whatever. it's superficial. it has absolutely nothing to do with the worth of a person any more than gender, race, culture of origin, sexuality has.

so what's the scoop? are we so pathetic a species that we feel better about dragging others down in order to pull ourselves up than we do about tending to the cultivation of our own characters and leaving that of others alone?

really?