This image has been around Facebook

[hani_backup]

A few friends shared it and one friend commented on one of her friends' sharing of it.

Friend 1 shared it and said:
Honestly...

One of our friends replied:
"I think none of the ones in the top row are going to survive the next winter." (2 thumbs up)

Friend 2 shared it and said:
Personally, I think all body types are beautiful but when someone's bones are sticking out is when I grow concerned. (4 thumbs)

One of their friends replied:
Great pic- thanks for sharing!

Friend 3 replied to one of her friends sharing it with:
"When did someone else's body shape become our business?" (1 thumbs up)

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
For one thing, shouldn't that question end with a question mark?

I applaud the image is trying to promote, if I see it right, that current thin celebrities aren't sexy as past curvier women and carries, implicitly, the assumption that the majority of the world finds said thin figures as sexy and becoming. But I think for it to become more analogous, either both rows should have the women in bikinis or one-piece swimsuits. Social commentary, too, I suppose.

I've had a friend get looked at weirdly or ask if she was part of a conservative religion because she wore a one piece swimsuit to a beach in Italy, instead ofa two-piece. I mean, come on.

I found the comment "I think none of the ones in the top row are going to survive the next winter" kind of insulting. I don't know why precisely, though...

However, when I see images or status that claim that "Real women have curves" or something similar to that, it definitely irks me. There are women who do not have big chests or narrow waists or pronounceable hips. There are shopping and clothing brands out there trying to sell clothing they believe gives the illusions of a bust or hips or a narrow waist. I just find it irritating, now and then, when people make generalizations and say this body type sucks and is horrible and this is how women should look like. I have friends who say collarbones are frightening to see - well, my collarbones always show on me. Or sometimes my ribs do, and it's awkward at some points. When I see myself in the mirror in a changing room and a bra, I sometimes think the rib showing looks like I have a bra that's too small and the bottom of my breasts got squished and are showing. (On an aside, I find it kind of off-putting when I see pictures of females where the bikini tops do show the bottom of their breasts. Very awkward.) Invalidating people based on how they look is so invalidating.

I can find multiple body types aesthetically pleasing. I can find multiple body types physically pleasing and sexually attractive. People find whatever they find sexy. Finding what you think fits you the best is what matters.

I found Friend 3's comment interesting. I don't think, if people think the image is also implicitly blaming media for a high prevalence rate of eating disorders, that she'll say that eating disorders aren't concerning, but that that might be a generalization and people should concern themselves with themselves. That if you are concerned about someone based on that someone's body type, it's better to be concerned about that rather than the world is general? I don't know... I suppose she is fed up with paparazzi and all the comments about a female being pregnant just because omg, her stomach isn't completely flat. Or comments about cellulite and of the ilk. Give it up, people!

This is very incoherent. Sorry...

Comments

[unico-love.livejournal.com]

I completely agree with you on all of this!

[fozziewaca.livejournal.com]

As a woman with "curves" I find the statement "Real women have curves" so maddening and ignorant. I can understand the point behind it, too, but putting down one faction of a group just to uplift another is not the way to go about it.

[alankria.livejournal.com]

It's a way of putting down all women - because those curvy women will also appear in magazines like Hello! and OK! being derided for daring to eat a burger and having a bit of tummy flab, while the skinny women will sometimes be derided for having visible bones. No body type is ever widely applauded.

For some ~*~bizarre~*~ reason, this happens less with male bodies.

[lilrongal.livejournal.com]

The first time I heard about the 'real woman' thing was years ago, when I was in college. I couldn't enter a contest to win a car because I wasn't 'woman enough' for them. That's when I realized that the whole movement is just... mean.

The plus-sized model who won America's Next Top Model a few cycles ago (Whitney)--her attitude was so nasty. "At least I EAT." Well guess what? Thin people eat, too, and there are bigger women who have eating disorders!

This woman on woman hate drives me mad.

[big-yellow-moon.livejournal.com]

Your incoherence is very... coherent. Or understandable anyways. Although another person's body shape might not be anybody's business but theirs, human nature makes us notice. There must be times when people, even strangers, appreciate the concern.