response 13 of 69:

Sep 22 21:24 UTC 1998

Symmetry is often considered beautiful, in that lack of symmetry can indicate
poorer health or genetic problems.

response 15 of 69:

Sep 24 03:47 UTC 1998

Yep. For women the wide eyes, narrow cheekbones and defined chin are 
what's defined as ideal symmetry. Also, larger pupils are supposed to 
be more attractive. Supposedly, the pupils dilate slightly when you are 
aroused.

response 17 of 69:

Sep 29 14:06 UTC 1998

Erica Jong's essay about women attacking women is on

http://www.ericajong.com/nyobserver980713.htm

response 19 of 69:

Jun 19 21:23 UTC 1999

I'd never  realized how difficult a topic weight is to discus until
I re-read this item.  When I'm giving a physical description of a friend,
there are only two terms that I can think of that I feel uncomfortable using:
"black" and "overweight".  I had taken it for granted that the word "black"
could be awkward to use, since it has a huge range of meaning (appearance,
culture, parents, identity, used as a compliment, used as an insult, etc...)
and it's pretty heavily politicized.  But I hadn't expected "overweight" to
be just as awkward until, after reading this again, I noticed myself
hesitating to use it just as much.  

response 21 of 69:

Jun 20 12:09 UTC 1999

People are the most eager to do discretionary spending when they're
dissatisfied with themselves and trying to "fix it".  The "pushing
inflatomatic junk food at you everywhere" then tell you "thin is the
only way to be in" things is just another part of capitalism's Dark Side.

response 23 of 69:

Jun 24 01:48 UTC 1999

ref #19, 20: Assuming you have no problem describing someone as "thin", what
makes you hesitate to use the word "fat"? "Overweight" sounds, to me, like
the person has made a mistake or done something wrong - gone over.
Same with "weight problem". Some people are thin, some are fat, short, tall,
blonde, etc. We will all be a lot better off by working on changing our
thinking a bit, maybe starting with the words we use.
By the way, I'm fat. And gorgeous. 8^)

response 25 of 69:

Jun 24 18:35 UTC 1999

I've seen TONS of people who I would call underweight most definitely.

It's a pity skinny is in. 

I wonder if people would feel the same if someone they knew was in the 
hospital for anorexia nervosa.

response 27 of 69:

Jun 25 15:22 UTC 1999

A friend of mine was indeed hospitalized for anorexia. As in, feeding 
tube. It was a horrible thing to witness. 

I'm at the point where I just don't care anymore. No, I don't want to 
binge on Twinkies in the name of apathy. It's more that the whole body 
obsession thing no longer means much to me. I still want to take care of 
myself and eat well. Yes, I could stand to lose some, how many couldn't? 
I'm beautiful and that's all there is to it, thankyouverymuch. :)

If you are clinically obese (or overfat or whatever you wish to call it) 
and are happy with it, great. More power to you. But when I see someone 
profoundly overweight, it does make me wonder how it feels to carry all 
that around. It looks uncomfortable. 

response 29 of 69:

Jun 25 18:33 UTC 1999

As I would reply, "Well, I'm relatively average and I'm still gorgeous!!"

response 31 of 69:

Jun 26 00:01 UTC 1999

ref #24: "Overweight" seems to imply that there is a proper weight which one
has gone over. Remember the life insurance height/weight charts of years ago?

Society and medical science seem slow to realize that different bodies are
made to carry different amounts of weight, and that differing percentages of
that weight will be made up of adipose tissue.

Yes, too much fat will cause health problems, as will too little.
My personal guideline: if a person's girth is the first thing one notices,
that person is probably not at a healthy weight. (high or low)

I said earlier that I am fat. I mean that as opposed to being thin, which
I am not designed to be. Eating sensibly and exercising have made me
healthy. I truly believe that anyone who isn't willing to do that much for
themselves has *far* bigger problems than the size of their butt.

response 33 of 69:

Jun 27 06:21 UTC 1999

When she was young, she was not so thin, and she was much more attractive.
Many women who get really thin develop horse-like features of the face. I
don't know what's up with that. Sarah Jessica Parker and Celine Dion are
examples.

response 35 of 69:

Jun 27 18:23 UTC 1999

Horse bones.  Heheheee! Yeah Celine does have the horse effect, but I 
think that is also exacerbated by her stick-straight hair she's sporting 
now. Feh. 

response 37 of 69:

Aug 25 04:18 UTC 1999

Hmm... I'd always been short and scrawny.  I know that this is genetic...
I come from a long line of short, scrawny women.  But it made me
self-conscious, because so many people seemed to see "skinny" and
"anorexic" as synonyms, and some made very rude comments. (I don't
'understand this; if you met someone who *was* anorexic, how exactly would
you be helping them by insulting them?)   I was healthy, just small. Very
delighted
to gain weight in college -- I now weigh somewhere around 125.  I'm still
self-conscious, although mostly I'm self-conscious about being short,
oddly enough.  Makes no sense.  

It scares me that among my generation, where women seem to be encouraging
each other and themselves to like their bodies more and more, men seem to
be doing the opposite.  My female  friends, on average, seem dissatisfied
with their bodies but a bit happier than my aunts or my mother's friends.
My male friends -- both fat *and* skinny -- generally feel quite
self-conscious about ti.  But maybe I've just got an atypical group of
friends.  <shrug>

I think that our society encourages people of all ages, genders and body
types to hate themselves.  Some succumb more than others.