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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 3 of 3. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by ClearSkies on October 10, 2007, at 20:41:21
As I posted on Social, I just came back from a holiday in France. I did not see more than a handful of obese people. I did not see rail thin model types. I saw women who looked like me, except they wore makeup and heels. I didn't feel as ugly as I usually do here at home. Here I am likely to see women who have had body parts surgically enhanced (I think this is due to where I live).
I think I need to restrict my TV watching and other media intake - that this is a big part of what is poisoning me. I'm *not* fat, goddammit, I am NORMAL. Every day in our newspapers are ads for cosmetic surgery - this is not a necessary part of our health! It's not a recipe for happiness, either. But the pressure is overwhelming to be unsatisfied with how we are. At every turn, we are compelled to improve, to change, to enhance, to shrink ourselves. As if our selves change on the inside by doing things to the outside.
The result is a population of Barbie dolls, look alikes with the same colour blonde hair, with teeth all bleached the same shade of Hollywood white, breasts perked up to the same D cup of somebody else's idea of perfection. Where's the character, where's the personality? (In France, to answer myself - that's where the women are looking real and not created. I felt very secure amongst them.)
NORMAL.
That *has* to be an OK thing. It *has* to be a sick thing that being my size is too big. It's not too big, it's normal!
Argh!
Posted by dreamweever on October 12, 2007, at 20:22:50
In reply to Women in France look normal!!, posted by ClearSkies on October 10, 2007, at 20:41:21
Bravo!!
I remember when I was in my mid-20s, a guy friend of mine made a comment about my size (I couldn't have weighed more than 110 lbs, but I have big boobs). He said you know, you're not fat, you're just pleasantly plump! I mean, if 110 lbs on a 5 foot 5 inch frame is plump, then I guess I'll be plump for the rest of my life! At the time, I had just gone a year without restricting and trying to maintain a weight that would allow me to get into the jeans I wore when I was 12. Thank goodness I didn't let that comment make me stop eating again.
Thanks for sharing your experience in France. It is really incredible what self-esteem and self-assurance can do for us. The French should start giving courses in that area.
Hope you had a great trip!
> As I posted on Social, I just came back from a holiday in France. I did not see more than a handful of obese people. I did not see rail thin model types. I saw women who looked like me, except they wore makeup and heels. I didn't feel as ugly as I usually do here at home. Here I am likely to see women who have had body parts surgically enhanced (I think this is due to where I live).
>
> I think I need to restrict my TV watching and other media intake - that this is a big part of what is poisoning me. I'm *not* fat, goddammit, I am NORMAL. Every day in our newspapers are ads for cosmetic surgery - this is not a necessary part of our health! It's not a recipe for happiness, either. But the pressure is overwhelming to be unsatisfied with how we are. At every turn, we are compelled to improve, to change, to enhance, to shrink ourselves. As if our selves change on the inside by doing things to the outside.
>
> The result is a population of Barbie dolls, look alikes with the same colour blonde hair, with teeth all bleached the same shade of Hollywood white, breasts perked up to the same D cup of somebody else's idea of perfection. Where's the character, where's the personality? (In France, to answer myself - that's where the women are looking real and not created. I felt very secure amongst them.)
>
> NORMAL.
>
> That *has* to be an OK thing. It *has* to be a sick thing that being my size is too big. It's not too big, it's normal!
>
> Argh!
>
>
Posted by Poet on October 13, 2007, at 11:40:07
In reply to Women in France look normal!!, posted by ClearSkies on October 10, 2007, at 20:41:21
Hi Clearskies,
I always pictured French women as rail thin, it's great to know that they not only have normal sized bodies, but are comfortable with them. I think my image of them comes from fashion runways where the models are six feet tall and weigh less than 120 pounds and wear size two (or zero) clothes.
Poet
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