sinisterpentatonic said:

Way too skinny & I like skinny.

The camera adds weight, too!

She'd be really pretty if she could gain some weight.

I can understand very skinny girls modeling clothes because they hang well on them, but bathing suits?

How the hell do they do it? I'm hungry all the time!!!

purplerein said:

for christ sake! if she was standing behind prince, prince would eclips her.

that's just grotesque.

Wouldn't be my aesthetic preference, certainly, but if she is that thin while eating well and being active. . . then it's not gross.

Most women who are that thin, however, are not taking good care of themselves.

Whats a "real" woman? Why define "real" in terms of weight anyhow?
She's too thin in my opinion but shes still a real woman.

Also, being that thin is hard painful work and she's conforming to the ridiculous standards of the industry she works in, but she gets no sympathy, how come?

..
[Edited 9/15/06 10:38am]

LleeLlee said:

No she isn't a real woman. She's a real female skelliton in female flesh, but her soul was sickened to the point of death many years ago.

MickG said:

Sure. She doesnt deserve to be called a real woman because she's painfully thin, so is an overweight woman not a real woman either?

..

What if you are that thin naturally and cannot help it? I was 118 and 5' 10 1/2" for 15 years. I have since chunked up 12 pounds but I was the skinniest thing naturally.

I'M A REAL WOMAN DAMNIT!

LleeLlee said:

And, by extension, is a man not "a real man," if he doesn't fit some subjective standard, too?

Notice how the syntax shifts according to sex?

LleeLlee said:

I sure as hell bloody hope so!! otherwise I'm up shit creek

Waaaaay too skinny...for me.


But as others have said, if she's eating normally and is naturally that skinny then likewise I'm not going to criticize her.

Natisse said:

sweety, that's not true.

a real woman has cerves.

A real woman should have at least enough body fat to have a period.

If a woman doesn't have a regular peirod because of some self distructive behavior, is she a real woman?

ThreadBare said:

Youre not a real man unless you drive the right car , didnt you know?

Maybe I just dont like the word "real" being used in relation to weight. Yes, shes too thin, she looks gaunt and extremely under nourished but how does that negate her validity as a woman? Would she be a real woman if she was overweight? Maybe the word real should be substituted for "average" woman. As the average size for a woman is size 12/14.

MickG said:

well, actually, as it turns out I DON'T have a regular period (sorry if this is TMI for some, but anyway...) because of a Chromosonal Disorder I was born with... does that make me any less of a woman?

MickG said:

Of course, you can strip a person of their humanity because you are God. Her crime is being thin and that must mean her soul is dead lol.

...


[Edited 9/15/06 11:39am]

Natisse said:

No, never, and dont even think it.

LleeLlee said:

I agree that talking about people of a certain size not being "real" is ridiculous...but don't confuse the word "average" with "healthy". Average these days simply means that more women are carrying extra weight.

People always scream that fat doesn't have to mean unhealthy. Well, if people are going to adopt that rationale, then they should also believe that thin doesn't have to mean unhealthy either.

Don't assume that someone is unhealthy just by their size. They may look unhealthy, but does that really mean that they are?

LleeLlee said:

I agree...Anyone assigning--or removing--the label of "real" to someone based solely on their weight is a moron...in my eyes a "real" woman is based on things that are not physical, have nothing whatsoever to do with her body, her curves or lack of them.

As for whether or not this model is "gorgeous or grotesque", as long as she's healthy she's not qrotesque in my eyes, whether she's 100 lbs underweight or overweight...in that outfit and with that look on her face and with her hair up the way it is and with her body turned in the pose it's in, the photo is emphasizing her thinness. I'm personally attracted to healthiness, not to body weight.

Byron said:

I do agree with both of you, but to answer your question...I think there is a backlash in western society against the thinness epidemic, which has turned overweight women into something grotesque, unhealthy (whether she is or not), undesirable, unloveable among so many other things...that is where the "real woman" label comes from. I hope at some point we can all come to the point that a woman is not judged on her body weight or her looks...but, unfortunately, I think that's a long way off...

http://www.azcentral.com/...11-ON.html

http://shewalks.blogspot....ht-it.html

http://www.bodypositive.com/forum1.htm

http://sg.answers.yahoo.c...040AA5EJrZ

LleeLlee said:

my point was in a regulartory statement.

so no.

I think the "real women" thing is used to be anti this IMAGE and not a statement per se against the woman personally.

Look at the Dove Campaign.

We have to change images of beauty and health.

My daughter went to the doctor. She weighed 150 and she's 5'7". She wears 7/8. The doctor told her she was 'ON THE LARGE SIDE". We both just laughed as the bones in her neck were all sticking out. He never thought about her being an athelete and that muscle weighs more. Her coach actually thinks she too small.

So its all about imagery.

Is the woman in the pic a real woman? Of course. But is that the IMAGE of a woman that we want as a standard for women? NO.

Rhondab said:

Very well said, lady

Tom said:

Extremely obese vs. extremely underweight. I've noticed some things here.

it hurts to have them bones indenting your thighs when u bang em

origmnd said:

But you still bang them so why complain!?

JustErin said:

I think extreme any weight is unhealthy, obesity and being very underweight. It just seems to be acceptable to crucify this woman. I'm not complaining about the jokes but rather the double standards.

You know, thin people give birth, raise families, laugh, cry, hold down jobs etc. They do "real" things. Averge does refer to extra weight but real is loaded with connotations that go beyond just the physicality of a person.

Byron said:

She could be in the peak of health for all we know, ( but from this picture it appears that she isn't lol ) anyhow, regarding unhealthy skinny women the world and it's wife knows that being extremely thin is not something young women should aspire to as it isn't a healthy condition to be in (unless you are naturally thin) and attitudes are changing. Skinny celebrities are constantly vilified in the press for being too thin. A prime example is Nicole Richie. Anyone who thinks that being this thin is flaunted by the media as an acceptable weight is wrong.

LleeLlee said:

Just in that statement alone, I disagree. The media does flaunt being thin as the STANDARD we should all be.

Now when it gets to the unnatural looking stuff like Nicole, then you'll hear the criticism.

I just liked to hear more about being HEALTHLY for height and body type.

I'm 5'8" with a larger frame (skeletal frame) The smallest I've been was 135 and my family thought I was sick. I can't be that little BUT the media throws numbers out there like if I said I was a size 12, that's fat and yet I'm really damn fly at a 12.

The media plays a part.