I am a teen. I read fashion magazines and watch television. I see all the images plaguing heavier teens and adults all over our society, and I feel helpless. It is difficult to get my own self-esteem up when I see these anorexic models and compare myself to them, but to help fix everyone else's? Almost an impossible task. But wait, there's hope. Time is once again to the rescue.
Not too long ago, being heavy was actually O.K. Not obese, but just heavy, something that's almost social suicide today. Icons such as Marilyn Monroe were not skeletal, nor were they obese. they were just right. The used what they had, to get what they wanted, instead of trying to force themselves into an image that was not biologically compatible to them. A few hundred years before Marilyn Monroe was even born, being heavy was symbol of wealth, as well as health and eating well. If one was fat, that mean thy did not have to work, but was still eating well enough to gain weight. it is comparable to the "tan" obsession and how years previously, being pale was considered more desirable. Another signal of social stature and wealth.
A long time ago, being heavy was perfectly fine. Maybe a long time ahead of us, it will be fine too.
Being obese is never fine because it is unhealthy, but being heavy is nothing to be ashamed of. You can't hep being who you are and that includes body type. Society will just have to get over it.
There's an old proverb: "Time cures all ailments" and it is certainly applicable.
I am glad that you have taken an issue like this one and written about it. Many women feel the need to be thin because those seem to be the women that get the compliments, the looks and the attention. There is intense pressure for women to be a certain weight, have a small waist line and be extremely petite. The reality is that every woman is beautiful and we all will never look the same. That is the beauty of being uniquely made.
So, I hope that young women like yourself and all of us across this country that have had something negative said to us because of our weight, whether too thin or too full, will recognize that they are beautiful and should not try to fit the mold set by air brushed magazine covers and overly thin models that must maintain a certain weight to keep their careers afloat. I do not blame them, but many of them have recognized that it was unhealthy and not worth the downward spiral of their self-esteem.
The average woman is a size health as Queen Latifah would say and full-figured.
I agree that having some meat on your body today is okay. But many people are just morbidly obese. People no longer exercise on a regular basis, and all they eat is junk food.
Which is why I specifically excluded obese from my argument. It is never ok to be unhealthy, but it is perfectly ok to be your body type which cannot be described by a single standard.
You are absolutely right, being obese is bad for you, but being heavy (not to the point of obesity) should be perfectly fine.