Why are woman obsessed with being thin

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So interesting the number of thin women commenting that they don’t exercise despite exercise being tied to overall health and well-being. Why don’t you exercise???

Maybe they are walking around in the mall, gardening or work as nurse/fedex delivery gal. Exercise doesn’t need to be in the gym.

Not sure why you sound so testy. The posters I’m referring to said “I’m thin and don’t exercise”. I’m wondering why they don’t exercise….but thanks for chiming in, I guess…

France, Italy, Japan don’t have a big gym culture and people are thin, healthy and work less hours.

Japanese certainly don’t work less.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think as women, we all are simply conditioned to equate beauty = a slim figure.

It starts w/playing w/Barbie dolls…..those dolls had the type of bodies that us little girls all hoped to grow into when we grew up.

Plus we have seen through the years how most of the women we admire, both in real life as well as celebrities tend to be slim.
And we also see how desirable
women become when they lose a lot of weight.

Like when Nicole Ritchie became skinny she suddenly became hot ➕ pretty famous, right??

Plus, why is there this weird pressure on women to do fitness all of a sudden? The whole “active lifestyle” is all nonsense with nothing to back it up.

All of a sudden? Jane Fonda would like a word.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think as women, we all are simply conditioned to equate beauty = a slim figure.

It starts w/playing w/Barbie dolls…..those dolls had the type of bodies that us little girls all hoped to grow into when we grew up.

Plus we have seen through the years how most of the women we admire, both in real life as well as celebrities tend to be slim.
And we also see how desirable
women become when they lose a lot of weight.

Like when Nicole Ritchie became skinny she suddenly became hot ➕ pretty famous, right??

I didn’t have Barbie’s or skinny celebrities when I grow up, and everyone still wanted to be thin. Being thin meaning you can go for long walks, dancing in the parks, climb mountains with ease. I was shocked at half the fitness class here who can’t jump, despite most still being in their 30/40s.

Life is more enjoyable when you are thin.

I think you don't understand why women of that age "can't jump". I'm fit, but I make a point not to jump. See if you can figure out why.

Then you are not as fit as you think you are. Again, limiting basic human movements is not “fit or healthy”, at least not mentally.

DP but I'm as fit as I can possibly be but I avoid jumping a lot of the time. I've had knee issues since I was a kid. And I'm assuming the PP was referring to pelvic floor issues post-kids that can result in women having trouble controlling their bladder while jumping. My pelvic floor is okay but not perfect and while jumping during an exercise class would not result in me peeing my pants, I wouldn't volunteer to get on a trampoline either.

You can be fit and healthy and still have limitations due to age or disability. And a 50 year old body is never going to work the way a 5 year old's body does. One of the ways you stay healthy as you age is being smart and selective about the kinds of exercise you engage in. I'll probably need a knee replacement eventually, but I'd like to keep my knees healthy as long as possible before that happens, thus I'm not going to do exercise involving lots of vertical jumping when I could instead do exercise involving slow, controlled strength building and more sure-footed movement.

Understandable on an individual basis, but 80% of a room full of fresh faced 30 somethings risk having knee replacement for doing functional body weight movements is problematic itself.

Again, if they are moms who have given birth, especially within the last few years, they may avoid jumping due to pelvic floor issues from childbirth and pregnancy. This is an incredibly common problem for women who have been through pregnancy, and is frequently ignored by the medical community and goes untreated. I am thin and I have pelvic floor issues.

Also I frankly don't understand why you are getting mad at women in an exercise class. They are obviously seeking to be more fit. This seems like the wrong population of women to attack for being insufficiently healthy.

Pelvic floor and knee issues are often due to limited hip mobility, Americans sit all day. And they shame the rest of the world for being thin, not strong while themselves aren’t exactly the role model for being fit.

Do you have any support for the absolutely batsh*t statement that American women shame the rest of the world for being thin and unfit?

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I do give side eye to people who claim French women are just thin because they eat smaller portions and walk everywhere. Those are contributing factors, but so is the rampant smoking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think as women, we all are simply conditioned to equate beauty = a slim figure.

It starts w/playing w/Barbie dolls…..those dolls had the type of bodies that us little girls all hoped to grow into when we grew up.

Plus we have seen through the years how most of the women we admire, both in real life as well as celebrities tend to be slim.
And we also see how desirable
women become when they lose a lot of weight.

Like when Nicole Ritchie became skinny she suddenly became hot ➕ pretty famous, right??

Plus, why is there this weird pressure on women to do fitness all of a sudden? The whole “active lifestyle” is all nonsense with nothing to back it up.

What’s so great about fitness ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think as women, we all are simply conditioned to equate beauty = a slim figure.

It starts w/playing w/Barbie dolls…..those dolls had the type of bodies that us little girls all hoped to grow into when we grew up.

Plus we have seen through the years how most of the women we admire, both in real life as well as celebrities tend to be slim.
And we also see how desirable
women become when they lose a lot of weight.

Like when Nicole Ritchie became skinny she suddenly became hot ➕ pretty famous, right??

I didn’t have Barbie’s or skinny celebrities when I grow up, and everyone still wanted to be thin. Being thin meaning you can go for long walks, dancing in the parks, climb mountains with ease. I was shocked at half the fitness class here who can’t jump, despite most still being in their 30/40s.

Life is more enjoyable when you are thin.

I think you don't understand why women of that age "can't jump". I'm fit, but I make a point not to jump. See if you can figure out why.

Then you are not as fit as you think you are. Again, limiting basic human movements is not “fit or healthy”, at least not mentally.

DP but I'm as fit as I can possibly be but I avoid jumping a lot of the time. I've had knee issues since I was a kid. And I'm assuming the PP was referring to pelvic floor issues post-kids that can result in women having trouble controlling their bladder while jumping. My pelvic floor is okay but not perfect and while jumping during an exercise class would not result in me peeing my pants, I wouldn't volunteer to get on a trampoline either.

You can be fit and healthy and still have limitations due to age or disability. And a 50 year old body is never going to work the way a 5 year old's body does. One of the ways you stay healthy as you age is being smart and selective about the kinds of exercise you engage in. I'll probably need a knee replacement eventually, but I'd like to keep my knees healthy as long as possible before that happens, thus I'm not going to do exercise involving lots of vertical jumping when I could instead do exercise involving slow, controlled strength building and more sure-footed movement.

Understandable on an individual basis, but 80% of a room full of fresh faced 30 somethings risk having knee replacement for doing functional body weight movements is problematic itself.

Again, if they are moms who have given birth, especially within the last few years, they may avoid jumping due to pelvic floor issues from childbirth and pregnancy. This is an incredibly common problem for women who have been through pregnancy, and is frequently ignored by the medical community and goes untreated. I am thin and I have pelvic floor issues.

Also I frankly don't understand why you are getting mad at women in an exercise class. They are obviously seeking to be more fit. This seems like the wrong population of women to attack for being insufficiently healthy.

Pelvic floor and knee issues are often due to limited hip mobility, Americans sit all day. And they shame the rest of the world for being thin, not strong while themselves aren’t exactly the role model for being fit.

Do you have any support for the absolutely batsh*t statement that American women shame the rest of the world for being thin and unfit?

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I do give side eye to people who claim French women are just thin because they eat smaller portions and walk everywhere. Those are contributing factors, but so is the rampant smoking.

French women are not all thin though. The UMC Paris ones American tourists look at and admire are thin. And there is less obesity. But look at poorer women in Paris, go anywhere more rural and small town and if you actually look at middle aged women, they are not especially thin (as in the very low BMI stated by op). And yes, there is more smoking, and not as much fitness focus.

[Anonymous]

I haven't read the whole thread but the obvious reason to me is that clothes look better when I am thin (size 2). when i go up to size 4, i have a couple bulges that distort how the clothes hang.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think as women, we all are simply conditioned to equate beauty = a slim figure.

It starts w/playing w/Barbie dolls…..those dolls had the type of bodies that us little girls all hoped to grow into when we grew up.

Plus we have seen through the years how most of the women we admire, both in real life as well as celebrities tend to be slim.
And we also see how desirable
women become when they lose a lot of weight.

Like when Nicole Ritchie became skinny she suddenly became hot ➕ pretty famous, right??

Plus, why is there this weird pressure on women to do fitness all of a sudden? The whole “active lifestyle” is all nonsense with nothing to back it up.

It all really boils down to more misogyny.

Found the fat girl.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I haven't read the whole thread but the obvious reason to me is that clothes look better when I am thin (size 2). when i go up to size 4, i have a couple bulges that distort how the clothes hang.

Wow, yeah, size 4. What a whale.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven't read the whole thread but the obvious reason to me is that clothes look better when I am thin (size 2). when i go up to size 4, i have a couple bulges that distort how the clothes hang.

Wow, yeah, size 4. What a whale.

Yes 0-2 is ideal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think as women, we all are simply conditioned to equate beauty = a slim figure.

It starts w/playing w/Barbie dolls…..those dolls had the type of bodies that us little girls all hoped to grow into when we grew up.

Plus we have seen through the years how most of the women we admire, both in real life as well as celebrities tend to be slim.
And we also see how desirable
women become when they lose a lot of weight.

Like when Nicole Ritchie became skinny she suddenly became hot ➕ pretty famous, right??

Plus, why is there this weird pressure on women to do fitness all of a sudden? The whole “active lifestyle” is all nonsense with nothing to back it up.

Because people in this country aren't active. Everything in our society is based around convenience and outsourcing.

In places like Italy/France/etc, people are active naturally. No one's ordering delivery often, people clean their own homes, walk a lot, carry groceries a good distance.

So in America, fitness is important because our entire culture is centered around laziness.

But let me guess - you think someone can be obese and healthy, because HAES?