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• Monday, December 12, 2005 02:37 PM

  Re: Fat is a social issue

  >>Ms Waldman failed to touch on the main reason anorexia is becoming more prevalent in all parts of society. Like footbinding and lead-based facepowder being pathetically scrawny signifies that a woman is not only so wealthy she can avoid physical labour, but that she is willing to undergo a great deal of personal discomfort to conform to another's wishes. All this makes her good wife or girlfriend material for the self-obsessed robber barons who sit at the top of the social pyramid. As long as we live in a society where the elite find fluffy females desireable, women will emulate these traits in the hopes of moving up. Dangerous beauty practices don't go away because women get together and decide to love their bodies. They disappear because average joes and janes come to find the class differences they signify intolerable. Making half-hearted comments on beauty coming in all sizes while secretly hating your belly won't change a thing. Fighting to make America a true meritocracy will.<<

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  Christ, I think this reader had spent too many years taking intellectually-bankrupt women’s studies classes.

  Fat is not a social issue, it's a health issue.

  Guess what? Unlike footbinding and lead-based facepowder, being thinner is actually healthier for you. I don’t mean 80 pound-anorexic-thin, and I don’t mean that a healthy endomorph will look like a healthy ectomorph. I mean having a healthy percentage of body fat, no matter what your underlying bone structure is like.

  To imply that most of the women at the top of the social pyramid are anorexic or unhealthily thin is beyond absurd. There is a big difference between a thin-boned woman who wouldn’t notice a few extra pounds and one who is unhealthy. Try going to one of the websites about body mass index (BMI) to see what is considered healthy—you might be surprised by how thin someone can be and still be in the “healthy” range.

  I am one of those women who has people openly criticize me for my weight, because I'm naturally small boned and thin. My BMI varies between 20-21, well within the "Normal" range of 18.5 - 24.9. (And, incidentally, I also do not engage in unhealthy practices to maintain my “fluffy” female form – I eat healthy portions of well-sauced meals, don’t believe in low-fat or diet foods, and get moderate amounts of exercise.)

  —Anonymous
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