The beauty of a fat body page 5

[sbhikes]

I couldn't look at the ads. I don't want to. I hate all the body shaming of some of the posters here.

If any of you women are overweight like I have been all my life you should try what I did back in my 20s. I got a job as a nude art model in the adult education classes of our local community college.

The artists really liked working with me. They would tell me all the time it was such a pleasure to draw me because of the interesting shapes on my body.

Every class in the middle of class I would take a break while the instructor would tape up everybody's best work of the day (I did poses from 30 seconds up to 15 minutes before this break). Then the class would critique all the drawings. It was fascinating to see what they drew. Some people would draw just lines that would capture the essence of my pose. Some people would draw my back but it would look like someone else's back, perhaps their own wife's back. They made me look and feel beautiful even without altering the folds of skin or whatever other "flaws" on my body.

After one class, I fished one of the drawings out of the trash (yeah, they'd do all this on butcher paper and throw it all away!) and had it framed.

[superdooper]

For me, the worst of it is the way that society classifies things.

For instance, do you guys remember the "plus size" model on America's Next Top Model a season or two ago? Here's a refresher image.

All this does is tell perfectly healthy, attractive girls that they are plus size. This causes them to go to great lengths to lose extreme and unhealthy amounts of weight.

It's sickening.

[AyaPapaya]

After one class, I fished one of the drawings out of the trash (yeah, they'd do all this on butcher paper and throw it all away!) and had it framed.

I love this!

[Maureen M]

For me, the worst of it is the way that society classifies things.

For instance, do you guys remember the "plus size" model on America's Next Top Model a season or two ago? Here's a refresher image.

All this does is tell perfectly healthy, attractive girls that they are plus size. This causes them to go to great lengths to lose extreme and unhealthy amounts of weight.

It's sickening.

Oh I remember her. And i actually have the same body type as the plus sized model in the "whale and mermaid" post. AND i always hated that they were called "plus size" It makes you feel terrible for having the tiniest amount of fat where it could be seen by the human eye. I still have to tell myself that just because I don't have muscle definition in my arms or I can't really see my collarbones yet doesn't mean that I'm fat. I agree that shit is damaging to us "medium" size wearing girls

[bloodorchid]

if only more people were as ambivalent and/or uncaring about what other people do with their bodies as i am

someone is 500+ lbs and wants to take a glamor shot? i don't give a sht

someone is <100lbs and wants to take a glamor shot? i don't give a sht

it's a very zen way of going through life

[Gladmorning]

For me, the worst of it is the way that society classifies things.

For instance, do you guys remember the "plus size" model on America's Next Top Model a season or two ago? Here's a refresher image.

All this does is tell perfectly healthy, attractive girls that they are plus size. This causes them to go to great lengths to lose extreme and unhealthy amounts of weight.

It's sickening.

I cannot believe THIS woman is a PLUS SIZE model! This makes my blood boil. Cripes. I mean... she looks beautiful. I see no flub or fat rolls. I don't see her bones either. She's beautiful. This is a very skewed vision of "plus size."

[sbhikes]

She's a plus size model and looks like what a gorgeous woman SHOULD look like.

Years ago they had an exhibit in the art gallery on campus. Photos of concentration camp women in Poland. They looked identical to models today.

[ReformedSlacker]

I can see beauty in these crazy obese women. Some of them would be completely stunning if they lost 300 pounds.

And 34H?! I don't know how to follow that without disrespecting someone other than to say "Holy awesome!"

[EagleRiverDee]

I think it's odd that there are accusations of fat shaming. I've seen just one comment on this thread that I felt was truly hateful. Most of us commented first that we were overweight ourselves, and my concerns were (about the fat women) that their size would truly affect their quality of life as well as their health and I listed individual areas where I am positive they are affected. The skinny women- those women are anorexic and probably won't live long if they don't seek help, that's a mental illness.

The bottom line is that there's a difference between realistically addressing the problems associated with obesity (and in this case, morbid obesity) and fat shaming. I don't believe anyone should be bullied, but neither do I think that fat acceptance should go so far as to ignore the obvious risks and the way it affects quality of life. When you get rashes in between your skin folds, can't wipe your bottom because you can reach it, can't go out with friends because you can't fit in a booth and a chair won't support you, can't fly because you can't walk down the aisle of an airplane let alone fit in a seat, can't drive because you can't fit behind a steering wheel, etc. these are real issues and ignoring them in the name of "fat acceptance" is ludicrous. People that heavy need compassionate assistance, not just acceptance.

[gopintos]

I looked mostly at their eyes. No one looked happy, at all.