Why is society so in love with skinny people?

Question

Why is it that people are obesessed with skinny people. As seen in media, shopping stores, and anywhere you look. Is there any room for oversized people in this world and if so then where in America is it okay for big people to live to be able to have a self esteem?

Answer 1

well the media is sure in love with skinny people, but real life people for the most part are NOT skinny. The average woman in the USA wears a size 14/16. I think many, if not most large people have good self esteem- it's just a stereotype that they are lazy, emotional messes.

Answer 2

I think skinny people look unhealthy. Really overweight people are unhealthy. They is a in-between. Back in th 50"s women had hour glass figures! they had extra weight on a bone rack (Marylin Monroe had such a figure)
yes big people can have self esteem there is nothing wrong with being big. Not everyone has the same bone structure either. I know some with a 5 ft 6 in height small frame looks good at 130lbs another with the same height & large frame weight is 160 both look healthy and they are

Answer 3

It's because society has become very superficial. Women especially are encouraged to be skinny because we're being made into sex objects.

Right now, it doesn't seem that there is room for oversized or even normal sized people. But that's slowly changing. As more and more large people are putting their foot down and saying, "You know what? No more! I am who I am and you will either live with it or leave me the **** alone!", society is beginning to get the picture.

Companies are slowly beginning to use plus-size models and, in my town, the mall recently opened up a store that sells fashionable clothes to normal and plus-size women. (btw, I have never figured out how those anorexic stores stay in business. There's so many of them and if you look around at all the people in the mall, not a one of them could fit into that tiny stuff.)

So there is hope. It's okay to have a self-esteem. Don't let anyone get you down. I've known lots of beautiful plus-sized people and even more hideously ugly skinny people. Seriously, they look like living skeletons with their flesh stretched over those sharp bones. Yuck!

Answer 4

Why? Because people in general find skinny folks more attractive I would guess. Or that is the current trend at least. The why beyond that I do not know. Why do the majority prefer tanned people over pale? I don't know the why behind that either - they just do.
Not everyone feels that way so there certainly is a place for over-sized folks. Just not in the media apparently, at present.

Answer 5

Because there are billions to be made out of all the women buying diets and diet products, and the medication they take in order to stand the constant hunger.

The press especially has an interest in keeping all the advertising going, so they keep promoting this image.
I have nothing against people who are naturally thin, but one can certainly tell the difference to those who starve themselves.

It also seems to be partly caused by the desire of some men to see "their" women as fragile, dependent on their strong arm, and basically childlike creatures that they can easily dominate, at least by brute strength.

The fact that the majority of fashion designers are gay and don't actually like the look of normal, grown up women has of course contributed to the whole thing.

Answer 6

There are, IMO, a number of factors;

1) Being overweight is unhealthy.

2) It is easier to stay thinner, in the modern West, the wealthier you are, so it is a stand in for wealth. In past ages being a little overweight was attractive for exactly this same reason.

3) Being significantly overweight minimizes the physical differences between men and women.

An interesting point about #3 though is that it is also true for significantly underweight people. So, for example high fashion models are often found unattractive to men.

Why the fashion industry is so focused on this latter case is an interesting question of its own.

Answer 7

Excellent Question !!!

In almost all other countries, Medium to Large built is considered to be healthy. And I think a 9 on up is sexy, not the anorexic type we see on TV showing off all those skinny clothes.

And one of your previous answer is Correct, The Average American AND U.S. Citizen within the U.S. is an 14/16. This is not fat, and most certainly is Not obese.

Of course to be obese is unhealthy because of the risk factors.

R.N. - with Masters Degree.

THANK YOU !!!

Answer 8

The fashion industry prefers tall and very thin people because they make the clothes look really eloquent. People look at these fashion models such as Kate Moss and Oluchi Onweagba and see that as beautiful then required that all women in the entertainment industry look like them. Regular everyday men and women see this images of very slender women portrayed as beautiful. So women desired to look like them and men lust after them. I'm not saying that this is right by no means but we are definitely the product of the our environment and the media. Remember just because society says thin is beautiful and healthier isn't doesn't mean you shouldn't feel good about yourself. Society also tells me as African American woman that I'm not attractive but I personally love the way that I look and more importantly who I am.

Answer 9

the short answer is because skinny people are better in every way, shape, and form. The long answer is that we skinny people have the discipline to not stuff our faces with everything in sight and exercise more than walking to the refrigerator when commercials are on. Plus, when is the last time you saw an attractive fattie? never, because they dont exist.

Answer 10

I don't agree with you. I've never seen any sign of obesessions with skinny people. Just about everybody likes to see a well shaped person, male or female, not skinny.
The reason overweight people are ridiculed is because overweight shows a lack of self control. Fat is unnecessary. Eat less. Food makes fat. Less food, less fat.