Matt, I thank you for that. I went to a gathering about 20 years ago, and one of the things I was looking forward to is that a man that worked in our orbit was going to bring his supermodel wife. That made the 20-something in me quite excited, despite being married myself. I looked for her. She and her husband came in and sat down on the sofa, and she is what I would call drop-dead gorgeous. But after getting over that, I Chatted with them and I realized that she was just an ordinary woman like the one I was married to, and like the other ones at the party. I walked away from the encounter realizing that she carried with her ridiculous expectations from my fellow men. I couldn’t imagine how hard that must be. I never saw her again , but it taught me an important lesson. Thanks for the reminder.
The pendulum has swung from the celebration of anorexia (eating nothing but an apple with no sides a day) to a celebration of obesity. Neither is healthy. I’m fine with having a conversation about how encouraging beating disorders is unhealthy. But losing weight to get down from obesity to a healthy weight is not an eating disorder. Encouraging healthy weight loss is not fat-shaming. Instead of having super skinny models and plus size models, we could encourage models to be within the healthy/athletic range, thereby modeling good health for Americans.
Bravo! Pretty much laid out what we've all been thinking. Trying to re-brand an unhealthy weight as beautiful has a bit of a Harrison Bergeron quality to it.
Well, golly. My thoughts on this piece and all the comments ran the gamut so I think I will just go with the somewhat popular "it's okay to agree to disagree" vibe I detected.
I know this essay should anger me. I am, after all, a former skinny girl who became a fit and thin woman. However, I then hit menopause and began going downhill where I joined the legions of the fat. I was able to slowly lose over 100 lbs. and I agree with you! It counts as a horrible time in my life-but the loss of health was the worst part.
I’ve also seen women’s lives destroyed by eating disorders. The insanity is there and I despair when I see young people so overweight. I don’t think shame should be put on any body size but the fact is, I don’t see us evolving very quickly into such an enlightened people who shun the aesthetically pleasing.
I happen to think Megan Rapinoe is hot as hell. Preferable because of her fitness. Our society will be paying for the inevitable end results of a fast food, gluttonous culture.
So thank you for saying what needs said. If I hadn’t felt like a 2nd class person, I might not have worked so hard to lose it. Oh and I can’t tolerate being that unhealthy!
Hmm. I'm guessing next week's planned column, "The Elderly: Why Can't They Shut Up and Get a Life" will have to wait at least until the paywall goes up. :-)
Enjoyed reading this Matt. Women will always do beauty better than us dudes. And while there is a wide range of subjectivity when it comes to beauty, it seems reasonable that there would be some objective measures we could agree on. I'm not usually a comments section guy but I've really enjoyed hearing the feedback and discussion on this one. Thanks for taking one for the team and writing it.
Thoughts and prayers for you if you decide to search your name on Twitter in the next 48 hours. Lol. I guess I've decided to interpret the Athleta ads as pictures of larger ladies that are deciding to get healthy, and so, good for them! Would love for the conversation surrounding this to turn from women's looks to women's health, but I don't think that's likely to happen. Also, didn't the dad bod have it's moment a few years ago?
I’m laughing because I thought somehow through something I clicked on they knew at Fancy Yoga Pant Store that I had put on quite a few pandemic pounds. Their marketing did work on me, I bought a skort.
Matt, ,loved your article . For me personally , watching gorgeous looking people is like a poetic interlude in the prose of my life. I simply love that vitality and feel inspired to transform myself in some small way possible.
Matt, I thank you for that. I went to a gathering about 20 years ago, and one of the things I was looking forward to is that a man that worked in our orbit was going to bring his supermodel wife. That made the 20-something in me quite excited, despite being married myself. I looked for her. She and her husband came in and sat down on the sofa, and she is what I would call drop-dead gorgeous. But after getting over that, I Chatted with them and I realized that she was just an ordinary woman like the one I was married to, and like the other ones at the party. I walked away from the encounter realizing that she carried with her ridiculous expectations from my fellow men. I couldn’t imagine how hard that must be. I never saw her again , but it taught me an important lesson. Thanks for the reminder.
The pendulum has swung from the celebration of anorexia (eating nothing but an apple with no sides a day) to a celebration of obesity. Neither is healthy. I’m fine with having a conversation about how encouraging beating disorders is unhealthy. But losing weight to get down from obesity to a healthy weight is not an eating disorder. Encouraging healthy weight loss is not fat-shaming. Instead of having super skinny models and plus size models, we could encourage models to be within the healthy/athletic range, thereby modeling good health for Americans.
Bravo! Pretty much laid out what we've all been thinking. Trying to re-brand an unhealthy weight as beautiful has a bit of a Harrison Bergeron quality to it.
Well, golly. My thoughts on this piece and all the comments ran the gamut so I think I will just go with the somewhat popular "it's okay to agree to disagree" vibe I detected.
The level of trueness in this article is painful.
I know this essay should anger me. I am, after all, a former skinny girl who became a fit and thin woman. However, I then hit menopause and began going downhill where I joined the legions of the fat. I was able to slowly lose over 100 lbs. and I agree with you! It counts as a horrible time in my life-but the loss of health was the worst part.
I’ve also seen women’s lives destroyed by eating disorders. The insanity is there and I despair when I see young people so overweight. I don’t think shame should be put on any body size but the fact is, I don’t see us evolving very quickly into such an enlightened people who shun the aesthetically pleasing.
I happen to think Megan Rapinoe is hot as hell. Preferable because of her fitness. Our society will be paying for the inevitable end results of a fast food, gluttonous culture.
So thank you for saying what needs said. If I hadn’t felt like a 2nd class person, I might not have worked so hard to lose it. Oh and I can’t tolerate being that unhealthy!
Another homerun Matt. From a mans perspective you are so right. Really happy I am a subscriber.
I’m just in awe of discovering your work. So insightful and such a joy to read. Thank you!
Hmm. I'm guessing next week's planned column, "The Elderly: Why Can't They Shut Up and Get a Life" will have to wait at least until the paywall goes up. :-)
What a wonderful little gift this was in my inbox....
Enjoyed reading this Matt. Women will always do beauty better than us dudes. And while there is a wide range of subjectivity when it comes to beauty, it seems reasonable that there would be some objective measures we could agree on. I'm not usually a comments section guy but I've really enjoyed hearing the feedback and discussion on this one. Thanks for taking one for the team and writing it.
“Beautiful Girls” is a wonderful movie, period. And it didn’t even have any fat girls.
Here’s hoping we can all shed our corporeal bodies and commune in the digital Eden that Meta (formerly Facebook) will be creating for us!
Thoughts and prayers for you if you decide to search your name on Twitter in the next 48 hours. Lol. I guess I've decided to interpret the Athleta ads as pictures of larger ladies that are deciding to get healthy, and so, good for them! Would love for the conversation surrounding this to turn from women's looks to women's health, but I don't think that's likely to happen. Also, didn't the dad bod have it's moment a few years ago?
It did, but I didn't get a modeling contract. So maybe it's just the bitterness talking.
I’m laughing because I thought somehow through something I clicked on they knew at Fancy Yoga Pant Store that I had put on quite a few pandemic pounds. Their marketing did work on me, I bought a skort.
Good choice. Skorts are really underrated. Same way sporks are as eating utensils. It's good to have options.
I love sporks for backpacking.
Matt, ,loved your article . For me personally , watching gorgeous looking people is like a poetic interlude in the prose of my life. I simply love that vitality and feel inspired to transform myself in some small way possible.
Meena, you have a supermodel spirit. Which is better than being a supermodel, though not nearly as lucrative.