So THIS is what the "Size Zero" craze has caused.....LONG

[Becks]

Thank you, Lace and Ginger, for cluing me in.

[Seshat]

Presumably as lemons don't do much that's helpful in a situation, ecept sit there.

And prevent scurvy!

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Yeah, I just looked at a BMI calculator, betting that it would say I was overweight. According to it, I am borderline overweight.

Keep in mind, I am 5'6" tall and a size 8 (or seven, if I'm wearing juniors, which I do with pants sometimes. I'm hard to fit).

I am REALLY HEAVY for my size. No idea why. I don't have large bones. I have narrow shoulders, a narrow ribcage, narrow hips, and small wrists and ankles. NOBODY can accurately guess my weight. I think I have very solid muscles. I am also pretty strong, and can very easily bulk up muscles if only I'd get off my butt and work out.

I am guessing that the BMI people don't take that sort of thing into account. No, a size 8 wearing person of average height must be close to being overweight.

That's the biggest bunch of horsecrap I've seen all day. I'm not skinny, but I am FAR from overweight.

This obsession with thinness really scares me. I'm trying to raise a daughter over here. I want her to be strong and healthy and happy.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

How about the women that critisize their BF/SO/ whatever, for what they wear. And then have the nerve, to ask how they look?

"You're asking me, how you look in that. Yet I apparently cannot dress myself."

One question I have never, ever asked of my b/f is "Does this make me look fat?"

I doubt I'll ever ask that question of him . . . he's tells me quite often how beautiful I am just like I am. I tell him he needs new glasses (even though he just replaced his in April.)

Right now, I'm kinda in between sizes. A 12 is too snug, yet a 14 is a bit loose. My weight has fluctuated over the last 25 years more often than Elizabeth Taylor has ex-husbands. At my skinniest, I've been either in a 10 or 12, at my largest around 18 or 20.

I also have a large frame, thanks to my late grandmother who was large boned. Didn't get her height though (she was 6'1" while I'm stuck at 5'4".) The way my body is shaped, I've had people fail at guessing what size I wear - they always guess too low.

I may be bigger as I go through this life, I may get smaller . . . I don't really care. I like myself as I am . . . even though when I was at my skinniest I still had no ankles to speak of, and probably never will see them if they're there somewhere. I'm just the way I am and anyone who doesn't like it can just go to Hell.

Oh, and Hollywood can kiss my assets as well . . . if they don't live in my house, or help pay the bills, then they have NO right to tell me what weight I should be. :

[BookstoreEscapee]

One question I have never, ever asked of my b/f is "Does this make me look fat?"

I have never asked anyone that question. I will ask trusted people if something looks good on me, but I have never said "Does this make me look fat?" Ever. I try not to think in those terms. And when I do think of myself that way, I keep it to myself. Besides, asking your significant other just puts the idea in their head. Most guys don't notice all the little "flaws" that we notice on ourselves, and when I am with a guy I like to try to keep it that way. No need to draw attention to something he hasn't noticed (and likely doesn't even see).

[TwoScoopsSciath]

Like... carp?

(Sorry; I know that was a typo, but that made me snicker for a moment there.)

That was me trying to watch my language, more or less. I wasn't sure what counted as cussing/

[Broomjockey]

I wasn't sure what counted as cussing/

While you personally will have to decide what you're comfortable saying, board-wise, we've really only got the policy of try not to be excessive. It's not much fun reading a 200 word post when 1/4 of it is swearing.

[JustADude]

That was me trying to watch my language, more or less. I wasn't sure what counted as cussing/

I Am Not A Mod... but as far as I understand it, we don't really care as long as you're not excessive and refrain from what I call Tier 4 (Bigoted/Extremely Offensive)* Profanity except for direct quotes.
Crap, especially when taken in that context, only rates a Tier 1 (Technical) classification.


EDIT: Looks like a Mod beat me to it, and it looks like I was pretty on the mark. Yay me.


*Stuff like calling a black guy "The N Word", a woman "The C Word", gay-bashing, other Racial/ethnic/religious/lifestyle stuff, etc

[TwoScoopsSciath]

Thanks, guys! Just trying to be safe!

[Broomjockey]

Happy to oblige, and I'm sure JustADude is as well.

[JustADude]

Happy to oblige, and I'm sure JustADude is as well.

Always.

[otakuneko]

Damn, if I'd been that manager, I probably would've done the following:

Patiently listened to her ...until they either stop, or I've heard enough, a skill I put to good use in my two years in purgatory.
Apologized to her, and explained to her that she'd already gotten apologies, and when she asked for some 'compensation' ....
Crossed my arms and said, flatly, "No."
And then asked her to leave.
*snap* Security to the changing rooms please.

But then, I'm a cynical, jaded, contracted, now ex, technical support rep who wasn't paid enough to even listen to callers rants.

[Shabo]

I too am incredibly pissed at how women are obsessed with their body size. Recently, two of my favorite stores increased the size of the waists in their pants while keeping the number sizes the same. A little background on me: I'm 5'3" (too tall for the petites, too short for the regulars, but at least I know how to hem) with a waist size of what used to be a "2" in these stores. I no longer fit into the pants at one of the stores since the "2" is their smallest size, and luckily the other store carries "0". WTFH. Don't make the little people suffer just because some women can't deal with being the size they are!

Clothes shopping goes all ways around. It's not easy for women of any extreme to find clothes that fit, but for goodness sake, don't increase the size of the clothes. That only caters to bad body images, IMHO. For example... me. I'm freaking tiny. I know. I pretty much exclusively shop at American Eagle because their stuff fits me just right. I can't shop in the women's section at any store because the smallest size they carry is a 4. I can't find a nice dress coat for winter because I'm afraid that if I order one online, it's not going to fit, and I'm going to waste money on S&H, and juniors stores don't sell dress coats, and I don't fit into women's sizes. I'm 22, and I'm going to be going out for a full time job in late December/early January. I have the hardest time finding appropriate work clothes that I can afford on a college budget that actually fit me, because the only place I can find decent clothes that will last me a long time is Express, and at $60/pair of pants? My goodness gracious. So yeah. I hate the fashion industry too.

I just checked out my BMI. 18.1. Claims I'm underweight, but I think I look perfectly healthy. I just have a very thin frame that it doesn't take into account.

[Seshat]

Clothes shopping goes all ways around. It's not easy for women of any extreme to find clothes that fit,

One of the funniest things is watching the faces of clothes-store staff when my best friend (medium build), my sister-in-law (tiny build) and I (large build) all walk in together.

[JustADude]

I'm 5'3" (too tall for the petites, too short for the regulars, but at least I know how to hem) with a waist size of what used to be a "2" in these stores.

Which is just kinda sad, since all the sites I've ever seen say that the average height of women in their early 20s is 5'4". You'd think they'd target the sizes to where the majority of the population is, wouldn't you?

On another note, your description of yourself reminded me of an ex-girlfriend with massive body image issues.

She was 5-foot-nothing, very petite frame, busty, curvy, great face, smart, funny, and generally just about perfect except for her fashion sense... but she had a worse self-image than I did*. Despite the fact that I (being a teenager and having yet to learn the meaning of subtlety), and every other guy, was being obvious (in retrospect, painfully so) about how attractive we found her, she somehow genuinely believed she was horribly fat and ugly, was completely uncomfortable with her body, and kept herself totally emotionally isolated. After a couple years of trying to get through to her we ended up breaking up because I wanted a meaningful^ relationship, and she was completely incapable of it.

I, personally, blame her family and her first boyfriend, who all deserved a run through the , not only for that, but for their own individual asshattery and Sucky Customer offenses.



*Which was saying something at that point in my life, since I was still wearing the scars of a childhood full of being bullied.

^I am (NOT talking about getting into her pants, which has always been on my list of "fun, but not needed", but about being on the list of people she calls RIGHT AWAY when something really good or really bad happens, about being able to relax completely with each other, and generally just letting each other "in".