Is there a cultural backlash against skinny people?

6’ and 140 pounds. I get tons of shit like “Eat a Fucking Sandwich.”

In some cases (NOT ALL BEFORE ANYONE JUMPS DOWN MY THROAT) it’s a self defense mechanism to try and compensate for self consciousness over a bad self image or skewed body image in some people that may carry some extra weight. Jealousy at it’s most passive aggressive.

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Yes, definitely. Skinny people , to me, are potentially ill, quite possibly bulimic, definitely not healthy-looking. That’s in my head. I do not act on it. I know it’s probably wrong 90% of the time, especially if they’re marathon runners . <g>

Actually perpetual low calorie , extreme diets ( 30% lower) , would lengthen our lives by 25 years… and yes, we would look skinny.

It’s a backlash against a backlash. Being thin is still the ideal in our culture. It’s great that there have been so many empowering messages that it’s great to be any size, but some people are bitter and negative about it. It’s a lot more accepted to hate on someone for being thin, but it’s really terrible to insult anyone for their size.

@virtualist Most bulimic people are actually normal-looking, and you can’t tell just from their size. It’s a lot more obvious if someone is anorexic.

Below a certain percentage of body fat, and above a certain percentage of body fat, women are in danger of being infertile, and so we were selected for being attracted to women within that window.

I think it’s less spoken than the backlash against the obese but it is definitely still there. In high school, I was very very skinny and it was hard for me to find clothes that fit that weren’t designed for 12 year olds. Of course, If I said anything to that effect, I got dirty looks and nasty comments. Nowadays, I just have issues with finding clothes that are designed for short people. Now that’s a challenge.

@virtualist I remember reading about that study, and I also remember some wag commented that we wouldn’t actually live 25 years longer, it would just seem like it because we would be hungry all the time.

@johnpowell at 6’6” and 160 lbs (in high school) i got that all the fucking time and it bothered the hell out of me. Then i started getting into football and other sports and kinda bulked up…. Now at 6’8” and 240 lbs I get more “dude.. don’t hurt me”.

@KatawaGrey my wife has to buy her shoes in the Boys Section because of the size of her feet. How many pairs of open toed pumps have you seen in the Boy’s shoe section?

@johnpowell . . . I prefer to wait until the sandwich is done.

I’m 6’ 2” and weigh 168 lbs. on a good day. Yeah, I’m tall and skinny. Do I get grief about it? Not really, I get more grief about the perpetual grimace on my face. I always looked pissed, even when I’m not.

Yeah, I think there is to some extent. I’ve been called “scrawny” and “anorexic” and I’ve been asked if I eat enough, etc. It’s annoying. (I’m like 5’5”-6” and 115 lbs. or so). It’s one of those things where one “side” has been made to feel lesser for so long and that now it’s becoming less of a bad thing, some take it too far to where they bash the other “side”. It’s like when introverts talk shit about extroverts in general. It’s a double standard. It’s a “no no” to call someone “fat”, but calling someone “skinny” is perfectly fine. The way to feel better about yourself doesn’t require making other people feel bad, but apparently some people think it does. I don’t understand why people have to do that so often.

I can’t help but think that people who do that are just compensating for insecurity.

@Psychedelic_Zebra: Perhaps you should move to San Francisco. I’m sure they have boy’s pumps there! On a more serious note, I know your wife’s pain. Luckily I now have normal sized feet but when I was a size 6, damn, finding shoes without little pink butterflies was a chore. Tell your wife to shop at Charlotte Russe. They love teeny women with little feet.

@johnpowell 5’8 and 101 pounds. I hear that phrase SO much.

@Dr_C :: I have lifted weights and drank more protein shakes than anyone should have to. I just can’t get bigger. I ate four double cheeseburgers from Burger King today. That is around 2000 calories. And I had pizza too.

@KatawaGrey it isn’t that her feet are tiny, they are oddly shaped due to childhood abuse. Remember those colorful cubes where toddlers have to put various shapes in the right shaped holes? Imagine putting the square shape in the triangle hole, and you get what her foot looks like in a woman’s regular open toed shoe.

I have to admit that I am guilty of acting in that behavior at times. I have stated before, “look at her leg it is the size of my arm- geez.” I don’t mean to and I know it is not right, but I do it to compensate for my insecurities of being a bit overweight.

@Psychedelic_Zebra: Ah, ouch. That is rough. I hope your wife can find some lovely shoes and that, you know, she has no trouble walking.

@johnpowell when I was younger I drank endless protein shakes with raw eggs, I ate like a horse the rest of the time, lifted weights, etc, etc, etc. Didn’t help. The only way I got any real muscle was from working, and that was just in my arms. Some of us are destined to be thin.

We’re drunkenly trying to balance weight ideals on a seesaw, but it’s not working for some reason….

@Chikipi I do that, but usually when describing a really muscular person, whose upper arm is as big as my thigh.

@Psychedelic_Zebra :: I am freakishly thin. Thin enough that Asmonet would give me the elevator eyes.

@Dr_C That’s because it’s all being converted to Fluther Points… call it slow death by flutherexia !

I knew I could count on Fluther for interesting input. ;)

I feel like, while it’s less socially acceptable to say to an acquaintance, “You should lose weight! Why are you so fat?”, I see a lot of people who find it easy to say “You should eat more! Why are you so skinny?”

@Drawkward So we’re just going to bounce between thin as good and thin as bad? That’s a grim future.

@johnpowell I am about thirty pounds under my ideal weight, on the conservative side, that’s think enough to be freakish.

@kyanblue

Yep, it’s the beauty of double standards and hypocrisy. :)

@virtualist lurve!

@johnpowell I had the same problem for the longest time.. i think it’s not just the food i ate that hepled me bulk up (or weights for that matter) but more active sports that helped create and maintain muscle mass and required specific exertion… plus it’s not so much the quantity of food as much as the quality.

BTW asmonet could give anyone elevator eyes… in the best way

@Psychedelic_Zebra- opposite- interesting :)

@kyanblue it’s not a grim future, it’s a grim present/past. Emphasize healthy body image. Get off the metaphor, and go on the swings instead. They’re funner.

Yeah, but what is healthy body image? I want to tell people they should love themselves, but if you’re actually overweight you have to make the distinction between self-confidence and denial about your fat.

@Drawkward, I don’t know what swings you have, but at my park they are made for children, and I don’t quite fit into them anymore.

I think guys can get away with it more than girls, girls can easily get that “sick” skinny look, or look pre-pubescent when they are in fact grown women.
My poor brother, when I try to set him up, girls are turned off by the fact that he’s skinnier than them. He’s about 6’ and I think maybe 130…skinny genes run in my (dads) family. He can’t help how he looks. He’s tried plenty of things to pack on pounds, but he can’t even get the bad fat to do anything to him. secretly jealous
I never got harrassed for it really. I’ve always been semi-lanky, but still healthy looking. I do get comments since I’ve had a child, about how thin I got…but I was thin to begin with so I didn’t understand the shock. I’m usually 5’6 and 115lbs
When it comes down to it, attraction wise..everyone has their own preference. And people also have a preference for what they want their body to look like.

Hmm.. sandwich .. not a bad idea… (shakes away the thought)..

The only time I’d consider someone too skinny is if they are dangerously skinny.. so skinny that it is causing health problems…

@casheroo hehe…we are the exact same size. :)

@DominicX but she has nicer boobies and looks a bit better in a bikini

@DominicX Sadly, not anymore. I’m up to 134lbs, but I’m six months pregnant, so that’s acceptable. lol

@Dr_C Well, I don’t know about that. You’ve never seen me in a bikini. ;)

@casheroo Yes, I suppose that does excuse it. lol

People will always talk shit about others when they’re uncomfortable with themselves. I’ve only said “her thigh is a big as my arm” when her thigh was actually as big as my arm…

@DominicX No hablo ingles gringo… de que me estas hablando? no te entiendo!

@kyanblue I think somewhere in the middle is the best way to shoot for. But, people ought to be more concerned about what they put into their bodies and how they work their bodies before they get concerned about what they see in the mirror.

Hehe.. I’m lucky to be skinny enough to still fit into some of the swings around my parks.

<—now wondering how @DominicX looks in a bikini.

@Psychedelic_Zebra haha…you would… :) I have to say, I look marvelous in one…

@DominicX if my imagined mental image is any indication, I would have to agree. Your boyfriend is a lucky man! =)

I’ve always been fairly skinny. As a kid I was picked on a lot. I was able to eat anything and not gain weight. But people assumed that because I was tiny, I must have an eating disorder. Thankfully I filled out a little as an adult. I don’t look freakishly skinny anymore but I still get comments from time to time. I’ve learned to shrug it off.

@Psychedelic_Zebra Thanks. Yes, he is. And I am just as lucky to have him. :)

@Question

I think one of the fundamental differences here is that yes, there is a double standard about it, but if you ask someone what they would rather be: really skinny or really fat, I’m guessing the majority would say “really skinny”. It’s still considered “better” to be skinny than it is to be fat.

It is now and will forever be much more acceptable to be skinny than to be a fatty.

I am skinny and I look smashing, even Fluther told me that this morning (there was absolutely no need to hear that anyways, I already knew).

oh hell, just wait, the aging process usually takes care of the problem. And if you are a smoker, give that up and the weight watch your metabolism change. It certainly cured the situation for me!

But to answer the question, there may be a bit of a backlash if someone is unhealthily skinny, otherwise, most would probably choose skinny over pudgy anyday!

@DominicX – I do so enjoy your sense of humor! The aussies wear “budgie snugglers” or speedos to the rest of the world. At your height and weight I bet you might be one of the few adults who actually look good in them!

You mother fuckers are lucky. I’m 5’5–6 and – at my best, most fit – was 145 lbs. On a good day. I’m about 130 now.

I’m short and skinny. Jerks. I hate you.

And yeah, I get that “dude, eat a goddamn sammich” all the time. My metabolism is superhuman. Luckily, I understand fitness slightly better than most, and am able to pack on a few pounds. Getting to the point that it is noticeable is a bitch, though.

@Grisaille I am short and skinny too!

I am so bored of people assuming that because I am thin (and lack certainly “womanly“curves) that I have an eating disorder and it’s up to them to enlighten me to this “fact”. If I went up to someone and said “you probably could do with eating less” I would cause offence to that person but it’s perfectly ok for them to assume things and then make comments about my eating habits.

Real women may have curves but they may also lack them. The fact is, real women come in all shape and sizes and God didn’t bless us all with perfect boobs and booty!

Sorry if my answer sounds a little agressive, this is something I deal with on a daily basis because I, apparently, don’t fit the guidelines for what a real woman is. However, only a month ago I had my height and weight taken at the doctors and apparently I am just fine the way I am. Her exact words were “you don’t need to put any weight on and you don’t need to lose any”. That’s good enough for me even if I would quite like boobs bigger than bee stings!

insta-lurve for bee stings

would have preferred the term “mosquito bites”, but hey. can’t win ‘em all

@rooeytoo thanks for that, now I am imagining @DominicX in budgie snugglers. Great term by the way, I have to remember that one.

@Grisaille: Ah, shaddap. I’m 3 inches shorter than you and got probably 10 pounds on you. :-P

Many people have issues with fashion models.

They claim its concern over their exploitation and for their health.

My gut says it’s actually jealousy.

All shapes and sizes Lurve @Leanne1986 They’re all hot!

My boyfriend is about 5’5” and 109 lbs. He has difficulty finding clothes constantly even if he buys the XS- I’ve been with him shopping, and he has to try almost everything on to make sure that it will actually fit.

He experiences quite a lot of backlash- people don’t expect that he’s able to lift things or be as “manly” as other guys because of his size, although he’s typically able to perform a great deal of manual labor and actually possesses a great deal of muscle. Several weeks ago, he was getting fitted for a tux and the woman commented that he better not get any smaller or he’ll “disappear.”

Wow, there are a lot of short and skinny people here! It’s not all bad. I’m short (5’2) and I was skinny for a couple years because I had massive stress and worked out all the time to blow off steam. It was nice being able to wear whatever I wanted and not think too hard about how the clothes would fit me. I really liked being able to wear little tops and not worry about showing cleavage. Now I’m a lot curvier (size 10 or 12) and I have to dress a lot more conservatively if I want to look appropriate. I also have to pay a lot more attention to the cut of clothes, which means mostly spending more money, to make sure the proportions are right. It’s annoying.

Yes! All my life I’ve been made to feel there’s something wrong with me for being thin and liking myself to keep myself that way as I age. People assume I don’t eat well, lack nutrients, strong bones or whatever and that part is infuriating. Men have joked they wanted to “fatten me up” but then I hear how they make fun of chubby, fat and obese people so it makes me even more contemptuous. Women have always seemed more critical but so much of that is self loathing and jealousy that I’m on autopilot to disregard most of it.