Why You Can't Alway Trust the News
A number of prominent UK newspapers have declared that "Size 12 is too fat for young women". In US terms this is equivalent to a Size 10.
The newspapers then go on to list what else young women think.
- Liz Hurley is the woman whose body most would like to emulate.
- Six out of ten women think "size zero" is attractive.
- 97 per cent think size 12 (US size 10) is fat.
The UK Telegraph also lists some other gems
13 per cent had taken "speed" or cocaine to increase their metabolism and almost half had taken slimming pills or bought diet drugs on the internet.
Let's get something straight here.
This is not representative of what young women think.
Survey?
This published information is from a survey of 5,000 women that was carried out by Emap. Emap own the magazines Grazia, Closer, and New Woman. The "survey" was actually conducted on-line across the magazines websites.
This basically tells us a lot about the readers of these magazines - and the perverse symbiosis that such magazines have with their readers.
- Magazine publishes fatuous celebrity-obsessed fluff focussed on how women look.
- Readers obsess on it and hate they way look.
- Magazine surveys readers and concludes that women hate themselves.
- Other young women think this is "normal" and start reading the magazines so that they too can learn how to emulate a celebrity.
- Magazine publishes more fatuous celebrity-obsessed fluff focussed on how women look.
New Woman editor Helen Johnston said:
"For the first time, this survey is evidence of the staggering impact size zero has had on British women, with six out of ten thinking this minuscule size is desirable.
No, Helen Johnston - it is not evidence. Let's take a look at some of your magazine covers.
Some of the headlines on the magazine covers: "Diet - Lose a bikini size fast", "So, how beautiful are you?", "Lose your wine belly in 4 weeks", "Drop a size in 4 weeks - become a slave to fashion!", and of course sex tips, sex guide, more sex tips, and another sex guide.
You can publish your magazines and fuel the insecurities of young women. But don't you dare try and hold up your magazine as representing the ideals, dreams, and goals of the "new woman".
Sources
Size 12 is too fat for young women (UK Telegraph)
Women favor size zero (Channel 4 news)
Survey unveils women's slender frame obsession (Belfast Telegraph)
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Awesome post.
You look at and read covers of these type of magazines and it's no wonder that women feel so much pressure to thin.
It's just nor right.
Brian
ReplyWomen who read these magazines are getting exactly what they are looking for, a reminder that they are not good enough and hope that things will change if they read the magazine. It's marketing brilliance.
Just look at the cover, the first hit is free!
ReplyI think the unrealistic body sizes in those magazines contribute to obesity, because people see them and think that's what they are supposed to look like in order to be acceptable and figure they never can so they might as well eat. You end up with people either obsessed about their weight and trying to lose it all or just giving up on themseves. It's bad at both ends.
ReplyI think Melsky has a good point. If what is acceptable is completely unattainable, people don't even consider trying anymore.
ReplyActually, I think size 12 in the UK is equivalent to a size 8 in the US. This is why I like shopping at Gap here in Britain so much...
ReplyGreat site, and you're spot on that the survey is seriously skewed. Women buy these magazines because we're horrified by what these celebrities are doing to themselves - no normal person wants to look like this.
Here is a link comparing UK, US, Japanese and Euro sizes http://www.usatourist.com/english/tips/womens-sizes.html
One of the problems with US sizes according to an article I read is that the US sizes have been made a size smaller, so that overweight people don't feel so bad about buying large sized clothes...so I was told on several occasions. So a size 16 a few years ago is now the new size 14, so perhaps this is what Ponytail was referring to.
Perhaps those in the US can comment on this.
Women's magazines - I never buy them.
ReplyI think it still depends on the brand...size wise I'm all over the place - some expensive brands I wear a larger size others a smaller size; cheap-o stuff, same thing....no consistency if you ask me!
ReplyPatricia, I don't know if its changed much in the last couple years but I know a few years ago when I was really underweight(had a bmi just under 15)and had practically no body fat to fluff that weight out I had no problem finding well-fitting size zeros. I can't imagine what the UK must be like if that was a size 4.
Reply"13 per cent had taken "speed" or cocaine to increase their metabolism and almost half had taken slimming pills or bought diet drugs on the internet."
Well, here in the states we have doc ordering ADD drugs (ie amphetmines or speed) to children that do not have ADD, but are overweight!!!
ReplyI was horrified a few days ago when I heard Entertainment Tonight talking about a model who was booted off some modeling TV show. I don't know if it was them or the TV show that was saying this, but they called the girl, who is a US size 12-14, a PLUS SIZE model!!! It is no wonder some women have image problems! The media should be ashamed of themselves.
ReplyThose magazines certainly do carry a large portion of the blame for creating false expectations of what women should look like. I used to be a size two when I was in college. I was very, very thin and over the years I got fatter and fatter. I am now struggling to fit into size 10 and 12 (US). Every time I pick up one of those magazines I just want to starve myself so that I can be pretty like the models or actresses on the cover.
I also realize that I am responsible for my ridiculous weight gain over the years but I don't even know what normal is - I'm 5 feet tall and weigh 140 pounds - I don't know if I should weigh 95 pounds or 115 pounds. The weight scales are all over the place but I am starting to believe that I should weigh closer to 95 pounds. On a recent episode of "The Agency" one of the models, who was 5'10" and weighed 110 lbs, was told that she's too fat and had rolls of fat on her tummy. So what am I supposed to think about my weight?
Reply...but are they really 'pretty' or is it professional makeup/hairstyles and computer photo re-touching? And is skin and bone really 'pretty' or are we force fed (pardon the pun) -read that brainwashed- into believing they are?
Oh sure, 'rolls of fat' on a 5'10' 110 lb. young woman...reminds me of a young woman I knew who was devastated when her ex-boyfriend spread the story that she had wrinkles on her stomach when she wore her bikini - the natural skin folds that occur when you sit.She had a lovely figure, everything just right by anyone's standards, slim-ish but curvy because of the natural layer of fat over her muscles.
I think you should be the weight YOU feel good at and YOU feel attractive to yourself at.A doctor once told me that one cannot take those 'medical weight charts' too seriously and he thought one should add 10 lbs. to what a chart says. His thought was a woman's body has the natural layer of fat for a reason...and women without it are asking for hormonal problems later...besides looking gaunt and 'unhealthy'. That was 20 years ago.
And it is quite true about the natural fat reserves we have and estrogen (and other hormones)production. Why is it the fashion industry wants us to have just skin over our muscles like men? Why is it the fitness industry thinks we should have abs like a man? Why do we (collectively) fall for any 'look' defined by magazines or the fashion industry.
Whatever happened to the well toned, strong body/some fat reserves that used to define a healthy 'beauty'?
Me, I have always been 10 lbs 'overweight' - according to those charts and I never bothered about it but always kept my weight about the same. Now at 57, it has crept up (not so physically active as years before), I am only trying to loose one dress size. And I will...and am...but slowly.
Diet...never. I have nothing to cut out because I never eat junk food and eat very well...just too much of it! So I just do more Nordic walking, etc and training myself to eat less, slowly and chew longer...I certainly do eat less that way!
ReplyI have written about " Extreme weight loss measures exposed" on my blog where the the size 12 considers to be overweight and size zero have extreme weight loss done and may be facing some health related problems.
ReplyPatricia - thank you for your feedback. I don't know for sure what it is that makes the girls on the cover pretty it's probably all those things you listed but I definitely feel like there is no possible way to measure up to that "beauty ideal" that the fashion, beauty and movie industry are using as a measuring stick. I was appalled when I heard the very thin and tall model being told she was fat on "The Agency" - I thought if she is considered fat than I must be what is considered horribly obese.
I agree with you regarding the slow and steady approach to weight loss. I have finally come to the realization that it took me many years to become overweight and that there is no miracle diet that will safely help me get healthy again.
Having said that I would be lying if I said that I have not been tempted into buying any one of the dozens of fast weight loss pills on the market so I can get skinny quick. I so want to be thin and have small hips and a flat tummy like the models in those magazines that I find myself struggling between being responsible and approaching the weight-loss from a healthy perspective and being irresponsible (healthwise)by buying my way to skinny through a "miracle weight loss " pill.
To date (I started the lifestyle change in Feb.) I have opted for the healthy approach but the weight is slow in coming off and the easy way (pills & minimal eating)is so tempting.
Replywhen I lived in London, I was told to add 4 to my US size to get my UK size. Not 2 as you report. Why?
ReplyPeople. These magazines are there to put ideas in your head about what they believe is an "acceptable" size. Every ones body is different and unique, not everyone can be a natural size 8 or 12 or whatever. Please know yourself and be happy. If you feel you want to lose a little fine but to almost die to become something a freelance journalist thinks is great news is damaging our self esteem
ReplyThere's far too much obsession with being the smallest number on a tag. What does the tag matter, especially with so much variation in the number throughout the world? It's hard at times, I'll admit that...but at the end of the day, the guy who checks you out isn't thinking "nice number 8!", he's thinking, "cute butt" or some such. So it's really more about wearing your clothing well and maintaining an attractive physique, which doesn't require being skin and bone.
ReplyI agree with Dani. My Mom always said make sure the clothing fits you well; that's way more important than the number on the tag. You and maybe some other obsessive women are the only ones interested in your clothing size anyway. As far as what the most attractive size is, I'm pretty sure it's my size, whatever that might be at any given time...
ReplyI agree with Regina that size is dependent to some brand. In this case UK has their own brand and it's different from the US.
Those magazines should promote self-esteem for their readers to be more optimistic.
ReplyI dunno, for me a size 10 would be kind of pudgy. But I used to be a size 18 and I think part of the problem is you see these weight loss ads where the BEFORE picture is a size 10. At that time, I would've given up 10 years of my life to be a size 10!
I don't think a size 10 is fat, but I personally know that when I am a size 10, I'm pretty overweight.
ReplyI think what we needs is a healthy body, wherein we are not overweight and not underweight. We just have to complement our weight with our height.
I guess that some of those bodies shown in magazines are underweight. It would be useless to have that kind of body if you're unhealthy.
ReplyThe average Brit is short, and a size 12 on a short person is large, whether you want to hear it or not.
ReplyWhile I do think that we have a very misled view of ourself, I also am one of those people who feels that unless you are six foot tall, a size twelve is a bit "tubby." I think we should look at what our bodies look like when in peak physical condition, and judge that to be the correct weight.
ReplyFor example, I am 5'9'', and a size 12 leaves me with a quite a bit of middle fat, as well as making it a bit difficult for me to do many things.
Alyvia, people of the same height can look very different at the same weight and also at the same clothes size. Different builds. You may need to be less than a size 8 - a British size 12 is a US 8, not a US 10, di was absolutely right - to look good at 5'9", whereas someone else may be 5'4" and look very fit at a US size 8.
A few years ago Marie Claire US got 8 women who were the "average American": 5'4" and 140lb. The women looked everything from fit to very lean to very chubby, all at the same height and weight (and they were weighed by the magazine, it wasn't what they "said they weigh). Elle did a similar experiment but it was with size 6 women, ranging in height from 5'2" to 5'10". They all looked different and it wasn't in the predicted "the short one looked tubby, the tallest one looked lean" way. I remember the one who was 5'4" looked the skinniest of all.
Replya uk 12 is actually a us 8
Replya uk 14 is a us 10
Jan wrote: "A few years ago Marie Claire US got 8 women who were the "average American": 5'4" and 140lb. The women looked everything from fit to very lean to very chubby, all at the same height and weight (and they were weighed by the magazine, it wasn't what they "said they weigh)."
I think Self Magazine did something similar. Alas, I did not see the actual article, but they included the picture the following month when readers wrote letters about it. I remember thinking that it was kind of cool seeing the diversity amongst the women. I am almost 6 feet tall and I usually weigh 140-145 give or take some donuts, LOL. I would never say I look skinny; I consider myself athletic and fit. I remember mentioning my weight once to some friends and they all gasped and shook their heads. "No way," they said. "When is the last time you weighed yourself? No way are you that big."
That BIG? At almost 6 feet what am I supposed to weigh? An anorexic-model 120 pounds? I was really surprised by their response and I realized that they were reacting viscerally just to the **number.** Somehow women are being conditioned to think that you have to be a size zero and weigh 100-120 pounds, regardless of your height.
I used to model when I was a teenager. I had shot up from 5'7" to almost 5'10 within a year and so I was pretty skinny. I knew I was underweight for my height and even then agents casting for fashion shows would weigh me and drag out a measuring tape for my bony hips. I didn't stick with it because of the pressure to be unnaturally thin (I made some money for college and went on with my life). When people say to me that I should model now I laugh and say "Are you kidding? Do you realize I am too old and 'fat' for that?" I know that I am not, but I tell them that is how the industry would see me. It is all very disturbing.
ReplyCatBlue, great post. People do have this "number" thing. I am almost 5'2" and weigh 128-133lb (give or take some Toblerone...) and people think that is "a lot" for someone tall, and a ton for someone short. It is crazy. Someone your height with a different build could probably weigh 165lb and still look pretty thin; I've weighed 145lb at my height and I was still in a size 10, so still just in the "could stand to lose a few" range, not "fat" or even "chubby" yet (153lb seemed to be "chubby" for me - coming down from 230lb, I've seen all weights, hehe).
There are lots of short people in the world that are built like me and look sickly at 120lb (I had awesome leg muscle definition, but my face looked awful and my shoulder bones were scaring me), imagine a tall person. There are maybe 1% of women out there who can be 5'9" and weigh 120lb and not look like death, which is also why most models look like death.
ReplyJan and CatBlue...good points. I am one of those people that is short and compact. Right now, at 103 lbs and 5'3", I look REALLY skinny. My muscles are very ripped and my body fat is almost nonexistant. I have to gain up to 120 or so in order to look aomewhat normal. But when people try to guess my weight, they never get it right. I look like I weigh a lot less than I actually do, thanks to a high bone density and a LOT of muscle.
ReplyPowerpuffin, you are deluded. I am 5ft2 and UK size 12. I'm also not overweight and even had my body fat percentage tested which came out fine.
Some short people do have wider hip bones. You can be tall with narrow hips or short with wide hips. It's just not the case that the taller you are, automatically you having wider hips and this play a big role in what clothes size you are. In fact you can have a tiny waist and it makes no difference, if you've got wider hips you will need a bigger size.
For example, I could have the measurements 34-27-36 and weight 120lb....this would be a UK size 10 right. But if I was two inches smaller on the bust and two inches bigger on the hips, I'd still be 120lb, yet with the measurements 32-27-38, I'd clearly need to wear a size 12 on the bottom just to accommodate my wider hips. I wouldn't be any fatter or heavier, just my my fat distribution would be different.
ReplyMost men hardly find lanky women as sexy, even in some animated cartoons this is evident where usually ectomorphic women are oftentimes depicted as bookworms with attractions to bookish interests of comics, science fiction and fantasy as well as science and literature and obvious technophiles. That's why in these media, the attractive women are often curvy.
ReplyThe descrepancy is quite incorrect; in some media (games, comics, animated cartoons) it isn't the case. Besides calling naturally skinny women anorexic is an insult.
Take a look at Lara Croft, she's a sex symbol among gamers because she's curvy same for Marilyn Munroe in the 50s film industry. It appears for women, the ideal shape has become more androgynously immature leaning on narrow hips, a boyish face and a slight build.
Twiggy, who is skinny, was never a sex icon only Jane Fonda and Bridgette Bardot were because they're voluptuous. For most men, there is nothing erotically carnal about skinny girls.
Reply