Is She Fat?–UPDATED & Bumped
March 27, 2008 / 4:41 pm • By Dr. Melissa Clouthier
This article caught my attention. A teenage girl in the UK named Chloe Marshall wears a size 16 and is competing in the Miss England beauty competition. She is beautiful. She is curvy. Is she fat? I mean, she obviously has fat on her, but is she what most people would consider fat? Go take a look and come back (there is a full body picture).
It seems that the culture has changed somewhat. The definition of thin seems to be anorexic skinny. The definition of fat seems to be….what?
Are you acceptable visually, as a woman, if you can wear ‘regular” clothes as opposed to shopping plus sized? Is it how the weight is distributed? I’m putting this up for a poll. You guys let me know what you think.
Update: Rachel Lucas did what I was too lazy to do and put the full body size pictures next to each other for comparison and then she goes on a righteous rant about body image and Hollywood starlets:
But Paris Hilton is not a size 0.
Girls see sites like this one, which claims that Paris is 5′8″ and 105 pounds. Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit, bullshit. I know what 105 pounds looks like, and it ain’t Paris Hilton.
No, Hilton is not a size 0. Now, Nicole Ritchie in her anorexic stage? Size 0. That’s what Size 0 looks like. Earnest Iconoclast commented over at Rachel’s site and links to this site that shows how a person looks at a certain height and weight. It’s not what you’d think. And, I’m kinda surprised actually. People look better at certain weights than you’d imagine.
Another commenter mentioned that a fit person looks better at the same weight as an unfit person. Well, fat takes up more room than muscle and it’s not as smooth either.
Still, a lean, strong person will weigh more than you think. An actress that comes to mind is Jessica Biel. She is very fit and strong, but that girl will never be a Size 0 or Size 6, probably, either. She is at least 5’7″ and she’s broad. She looks fantastic. But there is no way in hell that she is the 108 pounds I saw at one site or the 118 pounds I saw at another. She is at least 130 pounds, easily, probably more and it’s all muscle. I agree with Rachel. Women need to stop lying about this and the actresses themselves need to stop lying about it. It’s stupid.
Update again:
Oh, I forgot to link to this chart which is a BMI chart (BMI means Body Mass Indicator). Now, please note, that by this chart, Tom Cruise is considered fat. So is President Bush. Both men are extraordinarily fit for their age. Also note, that for Biel’s height, she should be between 117-159 pounds. I’m upping my estimate of her weight to 140. She has such amazing muscle density, that she weighs far more than she looks.
So, just FYI, do NOT rely on the BMI chart if you are very muscular. It will likely count you as obese. The BMI is for average people of average fitness.
