Debate: Society's Definition of Thin

[septbride2002]

For the background story to this post please see my last post at
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=5709063#post5709063

Okay - I have usually group people into 3 or 4 categories when it comes to weight.

1. Skinny - someone that is probably smaller then a size 6, has a flat tummy, and skinny thighs and arms.

2. Thin - Someone higher then a size 8, looks great, may not have a flat tummy - but not someone you would think of as being over weight, or in the need to lose some weight.

3. Overweight - Depending on height it can really be any size - but obviously heavy and needing to work on losing weight.

4. Obese - there are health and medical reasons why this person should be trying to lose weight.

If you read my journal I recently had someone tell me that I am not thin - which really hurt my feelings. But they only thought that there are thin and overweight people. At a recent family event most of the people there felt the same way - if this is how the majority of society thinks - then unless you are by my terms skinny - then you are always overweight. Is that fair? What word could we come up with to describe those who have lost as much as they can without falling into the skinny category?

 

[yasuern]

The word is Healthy!

I have a friend 10years younger than I am - and cannot keep up with me when she joins me on my walks. She is by your definintion "thin" size 4 5'5" But she is NOT HEALTHY! Becomes winded with even the slightess bit of real physical activity. She eats JUNK FOOD all the time and she smokes excessively over 1pack a day! I easily outweigh her by 80lbs I am 41y/o but I am healthier and I am continueing to get healthier everyday!

My goal size is 10 - many may say thats "big" - after all I am only 5'4" tall but I have a large frame - My hips when at the bone are still going to be "LARGE" And shirt sizes if I am LUCKY I'll see a medium. I am large chested and they don't go away when I lose weight(really wish they did).

So When I finally reach goal probably in about 1 year many will still categorizes me as "FAT" or "overweight" and thats okay cause I'd rather be HEALTHY than thin ANYDAY!

Sue

 

[septbride2002]

Sue, thanks for replying! I agree healthy is a good one. I am not all that healthy. I've lost weight and I can run a couple of miles but I'm not sure if I would consider myself overall healthy.

~Amanda

 

[disykat]

I think I group people the same way you do and it is totally seperate from fit and healthy - I've actually known technically obese people who were quite fit. I would consider myself skinny if I were size 6 or under, thin from 8 to 12, overweight when I hit 14, and obese when I hit 18. That is my body - I think sizewise it's different on everyone.

I define thin differently than skinny. I tend to think of skinny as being thin enough that people notice and even encourage you to gain. (My dh is skinny and people push food at him - at 38 he is almost past that though.) I think of the word thin as being more like "average". (though I guess the average isn't necessarily thin anymore!)

 

[LAinSEA]

Amanda:

I have to agree with your definitions...

My mother (5'1" - 90-95 lbs wringing wet, size 0-4 depending upon clothing manufacturer) considers herself the "right size". To me she is too thin - I can feel nothing but bones when I give her a hug. She walks at least 30 minutes, twice a day. Recently I wore her out on a 45 minute hilly walk at my pace. (Currently I'm 5'3 1/2", 163 lbs dry, size 12 or an 8 in an expensive designer suit!).

Healthy is my goal. I'd be estatic to reach my pre-wedding weight of 115 lbs (16 years ago) and happy to reach 125-130 lbs as a goal while still age 40. (I have less than 6 months until 41.)

At a stop for my breve this morning at my favorite little espresso stand, I noticed that the 3 gals working were all about 5'5" - 5'6" and maybe a size 5 at the largest. All had such skinny arms and legs that I don't think they could lift 20 lbs between them. Yes they were thin - but no muscle tone. I didn't ask if they could walk or run a mile without being out of breath. The looked very "fashionable" - not anorexic but still very very thin too me.

My 12 yr old niece has all of a sudden become very body-conscious. She is nearly as tall as I am now and about 95 lbs. She is very muscular - swims, plays soccer and takes dance lessons. I have been trying to assure her that she is NOT overweight - but she knows that she is not the "skinny-thin" of the gals that work the espresso stand. She has muscular arms and legs and is starting to get her auntie's buxom figure...not her mother's small-chested gymnast body at all.

In highschool, at 110-122 lbs, I felt fat. I know now that I was not. But that is what I saw when I looked in the mirror. I was never going to be "model-thin" or tall and to me, that meant that I was "fat". I'm hoping to help my niece realize that she is more than her weight or dress size...beautiful, talented, exceptionally intelligent. Healthy and a healthy weight is and should be the goal for life - not some image on MTV.

 

[septbride2002]

LAinSea - you have made my point exactly. There is your niece who is athletic with a muscular body type, is extremely fit, and she is worried that she is fat because she is not what I would consider skinny (the girls at the coffee place). She is however by my definition THIN.

That is what I want to get away from the idea that you have to be either Fat or Skinny - there has to be a middle ground!

~Amanda

 

[sm4987]

I believe thin is what society wants not healthy. We saw a young woman in a restaurant the other day. She was at leas 5'8 and 105 pounds. I told my husband it's a shame because that is what our world considers a model. I would never want to be so skinny whre all you see is bones.

Our society definately has their values messed up Healthy doesn't mean as much as thin. Like they say, thin is in

 

[lulu201]

Hi, Amanda. Just wanted to pop in here with my family's "body type definitions."

First of all there's

Skinny--you know what we're talking about here: stick-like, a waif, protruding bones. Definitely not me.

Then there's

Thin--a healthier, meatier look, probably around sizes 6-10

Average--not overweight, not thin, just looking good! Most days now I'm in this category. People only call me thin, I think, when they knew me in my overweight (bmi=31) days. Size 10-14

Overweight--the category where one is called "a large woman" or "heavyset." There's a general appearance of good health, but there's definitely some weight to be lost. Size 16-20

Obese--severe health issues are obvious.

I know you didn't ask, but I think you and DH should add an "average" category to your family descriptions. There you'd fit quite happily.

to you, Amanda.

Erin

 

[TigerBear]

I'm with lulu - what happened to the Average category? BTW, I wear a size 4 and consider myself Average. At 5' 2" and 125 pounds, I am definitely not skinny and don't really even think I am thin...

 

[newholiday]

another "average" person here - 5'2.5" (yup theres that decimal again - lol) - weight 120 - size 8 (recently bought my 1st 6 but not ready to face the fact that I really could be a size 6)

doc stopped me at 120 before I became thin/skinny

 

[septbride2002]

Hmm....I'm not big on the word average. And I'll tell ya why - when I was getting ready to go to college I was actually told by a financial aid advisor that I was to average. My grades were average, my extra curricular activities were average, my talent as a musician was average. I was also a white, female, with no physical or mental handicaps, no Native American blood, and my family made an average income therefore - no financial aid to you! The word average became a very negative word to me. But maybe I can work through this. I don't know though - I don't think I would want to look in the mirror and say that I look average - that doesn't seem like very positive speak to me.

Thanks for everyone's replys - I'm not trying to knock them down just trying to be honest. This actually has been rather theraputic to me which is a good thing.

~Amanda

 

[kennancat]

This is probably just semantics, but I've always prefered slender. To me, skinny or thin imply being underweight. I would define healthy as both your fitness level and whether or not your body fat percentage is within a healthy range. Not that I have any clue what "a healthy range" is But I prefer having some measurable individual goal rather than just weight and/or how a person looks. For example, I'm 5'2" and at my goal weight, but I'm no waif. It's just not how I'm built.

 

[septbride2002]

Hmmm...slender might work. Although my initial thought of slender was of my friend Becky who be most people's definition would be between skinny and thin. LOL! This as become very hard. I do like slender though - I might have to try that on for size at the moment.

~Amanda

 

[disykat]

I think many of us consider thin to mean average. Meaning not fat, not skinny. The type of body where no one would think to judge either way.

 

[Robinrs]

Another point of view from another "culture":

African Americans view weight TOTALLY differently than American Caucasians, and sometimes I am in complete AWE of the descriptions here.

If someone is thin, we tend to think of them as SICK!

Healthy meant a big rear, big legs and good sized hips! Without it you had no chance for a date back in high school!!

I think the way "society" has put the fear of God in young women is disgusting. Healthy, yes, looking like a teenaged boy is not what a woman was put on this earth to look like.

 

[septbride2002]

Robin I could not agree with you more! The tendency for Caucasion woman is to want to be as skinny as possible - when in reality that just isn't possible.

Diskat - that is my definition of "thin" but I had the rude awakening of finding out that people around me did not have the same conception that I did and it kinda hurt my feelings a bit.

I'm stilling mulling over slender, I also think I like the word "fit" such as your not to thin, your not overweight - you are fit. Although I think fit could also be a substitute for healthy. Although healthy to me means being able to run marathons and do push ups.

~Amanda

 

[TigerBear]

LOL Robin! Isn't that the truth. When I was in the middle of losing my weight, a male friend of mine complimented me and then said "For all the brothers out there you could even gain a pound or two!"

Just for some interesting comparisons:

1. For BMI calculators, it looks like the weight categories are Underweight, Normal, Overweight, and Obese.

http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/calc-bmi.htm

2. Match.com's body type categories are as follows:
slender
athletic and toned
about average
a few extra pounds
big and beautiful
full-figured
curvy
stocky
heavyset