.

[zedxrgal]

This is an aggravating subject for me because how the US views beauty and what is proper yes is completely off. Growing up I was alway tall and thin. Long torsoed and broad shouldered for a girl. My pants never fit right as a kid and were alway to short. At 18 - 25 I was 5' 7" and only 112 lbs. That's skinny. I was made fun of constantly being called the anorexic nerd. I've never nor will I be anorexic. Hitting 32 years old seems to change things a little and I shot up from 115 lbs to 145 in 9 months. Now I'm not made fun of so speak but at the same time almost am simply because I hit 145.
Average height for an American women is said to be 5' 5" and healthy weight being around 125 lbs.
Imaging growing up being made fun of for being to skinny and now being poked fun at because of being "slightly overweight". Which I am certainly not.
Size 8 is considered a plus size???????????
I wear an 8 in pants. So that makes me plus size.
What a freakin messed up view of beauty this nation has.

Just my two cents.

Edit:

Does any of you happen to know a site that has a conversion between the US and the European size-scales? Knowing my EU size ain't much good if ya compare with these sizes.

I can somewhat give you some comparison charts simply because I am a motorcycle rider /road cyclist and 95% of my gear is made in EU (Italy). My sizing is MUCH different between EU and US. I already know to order at least a size larger if purchasing something from EU. So my US size is an 8 but my EU size is a 10.

[Teigan]

.

[Dulanie]

This is a very touchy and grey topic. With as varied as humans are ranging from the stereotypical "Tall, buxom, muscular" scandanavian/russian/german to the "Leprechaun" types, it is impossable to have a standarized whieght/hieght/whatever. There are so many factors involved it is literally somethign to be taken on an individual basis. A short list of factors are....bone density/size, metabolism, biochemistry, physiology, genetic history, physical activity, diet (meaning what and how much not dieting), cholestorol, and even psychology all play a part, and there are quite alot more. My take on this is....."WTF does it matter what other people think?" What someone else thinks is meaningless. If you are not MEDICALY as healthy as you should be that is one thing, but if you are healthy to hell with the other peoples' OPINION.

[Saturo]

That would make me size 4 or size 6, depending on which way to convert sizes I use. That can't be right...

Is there no official diagram or something? I mean, sure, I don't eat a lot, but I'm pretty sure I'm not size 4... That just doesn't make any sense to me...

[Dulanie]

http://goeurope.about.com/cs/shopping/l ... s_size.htm

This is a conversion chart I found through google.

[zedxrgal]

That would make me size 4 or size 6, depending on which way to convert sizes I use. That can't be right...

Is there no official diagram or something? I mean, sure, I don't eat a lot, but I'm pretty sure I'm not size 4... That just doesn't make any sense to me...

My motorbike gear is all based on my chest, waist, hip, inseam and overall hight to get a proper measurement.
I fit an average American size 8 in pants or large in tops.
This is the best chart I can give
http://www.alpinestars.com/sizing/images/sizing.jpg

In my motorbike 1 piece leather suit (made in EU) I'm a EU size 42. Or a large in bicycling gear which is made in Italy.

Hope this helps

[Saturo]

Hmm... That would make me size 6... Odd...

[Nick]

People at my school give me shit and I'm only 170~ pounds. :| Sometime, I really do hate the ghetto cesspool that is my school.

Doesn't help that it is, indeed, in the 'ghetto' part of town as well.

[Sarayana]

That would make me size 4 or size 6, depending on which way to convert sizes I use. That can't be right...

Is there no official diagram or something? I mean, sure, I don't eat a lot, but I'm pretty sure I'm not size 4... That just doesn't make any sense to me...

My motorbike gear is all based on my chest, waist, hip, inseam and overall hight to get a proper measurement.
I fit an average American size 8 in pants or large in tops.
This is the best chart I can give
http://www.alpinestars.com/sizing/images/sizing.jpg[/color]

The one I linked fits better with my experience. I'm pretty much dead on there, whereas the one you linked would make me a size larger in Europe than I actually am. *shrug* Of course it depends on the clothing you're buying, on the brands, and on the erm... position of the moon and all that. >.>

[Kaleos]

I'm also a big guy and fought with weight issues since 4th grade, always an up and down battle spurred on by parents, peers and of media. Too many people equate weight with perfect health, thinking if you aren't rail thin then there is a problem with you. I for one love all the normal sized women out there, I won't say plus size cause most women in my opinion should have their curves. Granted some women are thinner naturally and that's fine also, but to go to such lengths to look like a Kate Moss, just seems out of hand. Ranting aside you should always go with what YOU find comfortable for yourself, not what society or peer pressure tells you. I'll take my curvy woman any day over some fashion industries idea of 'beautiful'.

[Mania]

Ranting aside you should always go with what YOU find comfortable for yourself, not what society or peer pressure tells you.

*nod* Very good advice.

Also, damned hard to follow. I know that it sometimes seems way too easy to blame things on 'our culture', but the truth is that it can be very difficult to get past the things we have been trained into accepting as our core beliefs.

I'll use myself as an example: I am autistic. Among other things, that means that I tend to absorb social rules and cues less easily than some. I was running around my neighborhood naked until I was almost 9 years old because it was more comfortable. (And I would have kept it up if my mother didn't explain that the guy across the street had been arrested for owning child porn a few years back -- and then explain to me in incredibly graphic detail what that might mean for me, because otherwise it wouldn't have made an impression.) I don't shave my legs or, usually, my armpits. I don't want children (and I had my tubes tied to guarantee that I don't). I'm non-monogamous and my self-conception of myself is genderless. None of these things strike me as odd or rebellious in any way because ... well, because I am almost completely oblivious to the social cues that mark these things as odd.

(Note: None of these things are autistic in and of themselves, and I know many who share similar beliefs who are not autistic. The combination of all of them together indicates an obliviousness that is one sign pointing towards autism, and for me happens it to. But really I am just trying to give a snapshot only of how oblivious I am.)

And yet ...

Yesterday my husband and I went to Target to buy a game for him. I was uncomfortable walking through the store and I couldn't figure out why at first. But then it suddenly hit me -- I was wearing a tank top, and I was afraid that someone would be offended by my fat arms.

Seriously. I'm underwent an expensive and painful surgery because I find the notion of children disgusting, but I was afraid someone at a Target in Florida would be offended by my fat arms. That's some serious social conditioning there.

[Kaleos]

But ..it's Florida ...it's so damn hot down here. >_<

[Vespias]

I know it sounds very cliche, but in my years I've come to learn 1 very important thing; the outside of a person has absolutely nothing to do with who they are. I've known "beautiful people" who i wouldn't spit on if they were on fire. On the other hand, I've known people who didn't fit society "norms" who were the most beautiful people in the world. Body weight is only an issue when a person gives in to feelings of "not being normal". once a person accepts themselves, then they can be the person they were meant to be. As has been said in earlier posts, the view of a woman's body is dependant on which time period you look at. If you notice, going back through the arts you can see that the further back you go the more "plump" women were...and they were the "supermodels" of their time periods. I think we'd do much better as a society if we looked for intelligence rather than boob size. Like Judge Judy says, "Beauty is fleeting while stupid is for life!"