Stanetta is 11 today - Happy Birthday to you !
At 11, her birthday dresses are British size 6, which I believe equates to the much-hyped American Size 0.
Stanetta is average height and weight for an 11 year-old, so it gave me a shock that she's now wearing adult sizes. It was even more enlightening though to see exactly how little a size-zero actually is.
Only a small percentage of women surely can be the size of an average preteen ? I understand Kylie can comfortably dance on the palm of one hand, so maybe she's one of them.
Luisel Ramos wasn't. Aged 22, she died of a heart attack last August actually on a fashion catwalk, after trying to live on just Diet Coke and lettuce leaves for an extended period. She had a Body Mass Index of 14.5 - which is similar to mine (if I were 3.50 metres tall).
But I hear a large number of women desire to be that size. Judging by a un-scientific (but throroughly enjoyable) study of the twenty-somethings at my local gym, even the smaller ones are a well-toned size 10 and quite a long way from fitting my daughter's clothing.
I'm heartily sick of being told that it's "men" that are pushing this idea. The only men who like females of this size and shape are either doing ten years in Barlinnie or are homosexual clothes designers who don't want creases in their creations. Give me Mrs Stan's callipygous size 14 any day.
So who is behind this ? "The media" ? I really don't believe that there is such a beast as "the media", acting in concert towards some devious end. They'd do anything for circulation - that's their single motivation. So they wouldn't be body-obsessed unless their readership already was.
And why aren't there hoards of men struggling to fit the clothing of 11 year-old boys ?
Traditionally, a blogger usually has an unshakable certainity as to what the right answer is to any given issue. Stan is flummoxed - can anyone help him ?
2 comments:
it gives me great pleasure to know that i am probably ok to wear adult sizes and not starve myself to do so
I think that it is both men and women responsible for many women feeling like this.
Discussing how fat everybody is, seems to be a new national past time for a lot of young men and women I know. I've over heard way too many men that I've worked with picking women apart for their appearance.
I've stopped trying and caring and aim to feel healthy rather than thin, this approach requires a thick skin :)
Glad I stumbled upon your blog.
Post a Comment