Eye of the Beholder

It's early morning in Baltimore. I just finished reading an interesting take on obesity--and our reaction to it. The writer had some excellent observations about why we find it so abhorrent. If you would like to read the article click HERE.

It made me consider what it would be like if we were blind. How would we decide whether or not another person was attractive, friendly, smart, dangerous, happy, angry,...and so on? How would we know if they were skinny or obese? If you are not a regular reader of my blog, what do you know about my physical appearance?

The Internet is a vast repository of information, much of it false, especially in the social media area. There's a reason many authors don't post their pictures, and it's not always to do with appearance, but security or privacy. But say all things were equal and every individual had to post a current ID picture on their Facebook or Twitter account. How would it change our perceptions of them? How does it change the perceptions of our readers when they meet us or see our picture on our webpage?

Is there a true bias against obesity such that a reader wouldn't buy our book if they discovered we were fat? Is the bias that deep in our culture? And if so, could it be remotely possible that the writer of the article I read was correct in her reasoning?

I wonder.

anny

Clothes in the Women's Section

Clothes. I hate shopping for clothes. Whoever styles/ designs clothing for the Big Beautiful Woman is NOT a BBW. Otherwise, we wouldn't have the atrocities in the Women's section of the store (Women's=BBW).

I will not debate the issues surrounding obesity. Everyone knows obesity is bad for you. But let's face it, there are a bunch of us out here in the world, like it or not. I don't know a single person who is happy to be obese. But it's hard to keep a positive attitude regarding medical issues, regular exercise, and a healthy eating plan when you look like crap.

Clothing does make the woman--or man. At least it can give you a real boost when you know you look your best. And 90% of the bigger sizes in clothing on the market are incredibly ugly. It's no wonder women wear sweatpants and sloppy t-shirts. At least those items are comfortable. And don't even get me started about undergarments. No one wants to wear the horribly uncomfortable underwear that's available.

Here's my wish list...

a) Just because I'm a big girl doesn't mean I'm a tall girl. Why are all the sleeves and pant legs three inches too long? Chances are if I'm on the chunky side, I'm short. Having to roll up my hems makes me feel like I'm wearing my sister's hand-me-downs. And I don't even have a sister.

b) Why are all the tops too short and too wide? And once you wash them, they're shorter and wider? Com'on, now. Do I really need a top that exposes my belly? Really?

c) And on that same line, why are the sleeves so narrow they feel like sausage casing? Is there really such a shortage of fabric?

d) Or there's no sleeve at all. Listen up! There are very few obese women out there who are comfortable exposing their arms! What's with all the tops with no sleeves. Or such short sleeves they end up in a wad in my arm pits. Gross.

e) And finally...the worst fault. The fabrics and patterns are atrocious. Most of them remind one of tents and sofas. I have the vision of the clothing factory. The guy that chooses the fabrics has two bins. One for the smaller sizes (pretty colors and attractive small prints) and the other for the large sizes (burnt orange, hot pink, blinding blue and prints suitable for drapes or furniture).

I could go on. Why are all the large sized sports bras only in gray and white? The smaller ones are in blue, pink, yellow, red, turquoise, purple. Do you suppose the designers think obesity also means we're color blind?

Sigh.

The BBW just want to look as attractive as possible while we're battling to get down to a healthier size. It would be nice if the industry pitched in to help out.

anny