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Gwenosaurus
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Name: Righty
Gender: Female
Interests: Running, Walking, Shoes, Toenail polish
Expertise: Making sure Gwen doesn't fall over
Occupation: Foot
Industry: Gwen
Message: message me
Member Since:
10/29/2004
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| A few months ago I was flipping through one of my mom's magazines when I found an article giving advice to women on how to find stylish plus-sized clothing. The particular magazine is geared towards middle-aged women, many of whom have had children, and whose metabolisms may not be what they once were. Given this and the fact that the average woman is plus-sized or at the larger end of the misses sizes, it makes sense to show these women clothes that flatter their bodies. I know many bigger women, including my mother, who find it harder to buy clothes that flatter their shapes. Although I have absolutely no experience with designer clothing, I have heard that many designers only design for smaller sizes, so women who wear larger sizes may have a harder time finding designer clothes in their size.
While I think it is great to help women of all shapes and sizes fine cute clothes that flatter their bodies, I disagree with some of the language in the article. It kept referring to "real women" and "real women's bodies", implying that only plus sized women are real women. I also have to disagree with certain stores labeling their larger sizes as "women's" sizes, which I noted even before reading the article.
I understand that the fashion industry has not always been kind to more robust women, hiring very skinny models, some of whom are that skinny because they suffer from eating disorders, and only making clothes in certain sizes. Because of this, there has been a backlash against the industry, with people complaining that magazines don't show enough "real women" and stores don't carry larger sizes. Women's magazines have picked up on this and have published articles like the one in question. Stores offer their collections in "women's" sizes. This is great, except that the backlash against that fashion industry has extended to the people who are able to wear the clothes it produces.
This is where I think the magazines and stores have it wrong. I constantly hear women making jealous remarks about their thinner counterparts. The magazines and stores are playing into the insecurities of larger women by implying that only they are truly women, and this just isn't cool. Women are women regardless of their size or shape. Women's bodies come in all shapes and sizes from tall and skinny to short and plump, and no one should ever imply otherwise, even for the sake about making women feel better about themselves. Instead of focusing only on plus-sized women, magazines should write articles geared toward making women of all body types feel their best. Very short women have a hard time finding clothes, as do very tall women. Stores should come up with an equally flattering, but less limiting name for their larger sizes. Finally women should stop worrying about being thin, with the exception women who do need to lose weight because of health issues. They need to stop hating their bodies and hating women who have the bodies they want. Society tells us we have to look a certain way, but society is wrong about a lot of things.
I guess I am a little biased on this issue. I wear a size 2. I am also 5'3". I am not a stick; I have a chest and butt. I love food and I eat more than anyone I know. I love my body too, and I wouldn't change anything about it. Finding clothes that fit is sometimes hard even for me. I'm somewhere between petites and regular sizes. I am too lazy and poor to get my pants taken up, so the bottoms tend to get destroyed within a year. I also have interesting proportions, broad shoulders, tiny waist, slim hips, bigger butt and thighs. Pants that fit both in the waist and the thighs are impossible to find. I also have to deal with comments from other people telling me how they wish they could be skinny like me or asking me if I have an eating disorder. I don't even think I look that skinny because I'm so short. I'm perfectly healthy and happy with my shape. I'm also as much of a real woman as someone who wears a size 16.
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| Growing up in America children are always told that they can grow up to be whatever they want to be. For example many children dream of being president, but as they get older they realize that being president would really suck. I wanted to be an astronaut when I was little until I found out that there would be a greater than average chance of dying on the job. In reality few people actually even run for president even though many people potentially could. Sometimes it's best not to do something even if you could.
This applies to moral problems. If I find someone's wallet with $100 in it, I could be $100 richer, but that wouldn't be the right thing to do.
It also applies to my problem of finding something to do with my life. Up until now I have defined myself by my successes. Being good at school and stuff was the only thing that mattered. I just assumed that I would have a successful career doing something that people respected. I don't think anyone would say that I'm stupid, and it's true that I could do anything I want with my life. I have recently realized that just because I could do something with my life doesn't mean I necessarily should. It isn't a question of hurting someone else, it's a question of hurting myself. I have to consider who I am as a person, not just how successful I've been in school. I could probably become a doctor or a lawyer, which would make people think of me as successful. However, one of the things I am beginning to realize about myself is that I really don't like being stressed out. Both of those careers and the training they require are pretty stressful, so they probably wouldn't be the best choices. I guess I've finally realized what many people have always known, that happiness is more important than money or respect. I know that as long as I am still in school I will stress out about my classes, but I hope that not trying to be perfect all the time will make me happier in the long run. I think that in making any sort of life decision, especially deciding on a career it is important to consider who you are as a person instead of as a list of achievements. On paper it might look like you could do anything, but in reality you might end up rich but very unhappy. | | |
| I may have screwed myself out of a 4.0 this semester. I had a quiz over probability in SAGES, which is primarily a writing class. I forgot my calculator, which totally freaked me out, and I forgot everything I had studied. This incident made me realize why I have such a fear of failure. Lately I have been thinking a lot about the future and what my life can be if I succeed in what I'm doing right now. Today all of my goals and plans seem completely out of reach. Failing at something so small makes me wonder how I will possibly be able to succeed at bigger and better things. But it's one small thing, and small things are trivial and insignificant. One quiz, even one class is not going to end my hopes of being successful in whatever I decide to do later on. I guess there are lessons to be learned from failure, like not forgetting to bring a calculator to a math test. | | |
| During high school I began to have increasing doubts about American society, and they have only increased during college. I see things that are wrong with both lower classes and the middle class educated society of wich i am supposed to be a part. I was expected to go to a decent college, but now that I'm here I don't really want to be like these people at all. Over the months that I've been here I've discovered several things that I can't stand. Unfortunately they occur pretty commonly, especially in liberal arts classes. Here they are in the order in which I think of things to say about how much I hate them.
1. The word Leadership. What the hell does this actually mean? My hatred of the word leadership dates back to high school when it was syonymous with sucking up. Conferences devoted to building leadership skills usually involve overly outgoing students helping each other through an obstacle course and listening to some sort of inspirational speaker. Because the students and my university graduated at the top of their high school classes, they are expected to be the leaders of tomorrow. Unfortunately, not all intelligent people are meant to be leaders, and society also needs competent people to carry out the less glamorous but necessary job of doing what "leaders" ask them to.
2. People who think they know everything about a subject before taking a class on it. People generally take classes to learn about topics that interest them, however some students come to the first class already prepared to answer any question the professor asks. There is only one reason that these people would sit through a bunch of stuff they already know: to make themselves seem smarter when the professor asks the class a question. Also, they answer the questions using language that they seemed to have pulled directly from an acticle on the subject, but usually they just end up sounding like asses.
3. The idea that every student must have an intese interest in one specific area of their field. Maybe this is only relevant to political science, where it seems like every student has some policy issue that they want to spend the rest of their lives studying, or some obscure field of law that they want to practice. I have a feeling that this is also common, maybe more so, in the the sciences where there are more opportunities to do research on very narrow topics. I also hate people who are engineers but can't write a coherent sentence and poli sci majors who can't do a simple math problem. Maybe it's not their fault that they aren't good at certain subjects, but whatever. The their thing I hate that generally fits into this category is when people have very specific plans for their live that usually end with them holding positions that, while not unattainable, are probably tougher to get than they think. I have nothing wrong with goals, but I leave room for changes in what I want or changes in circumstances. I have gathered from reading old books and stuff that educated people used to have a very good general education. I suppose there was less to know back then, but still....I hate that I like both science and humanities, but I can't learn about both. Having to take a variety of classes every year is the one thing I miss about high school. Who wants to have a conversation with someone who only cares about a certain type of rock or some obscure policy issue? I know I would rathe talk to and become someone who can hold a conversation about a variety of diverse topics.
Umm...yeah...so those are the things that really piss me off about, not only college, but the larger society into which colleges fit. Obviously someone told these kids that these are the things that they need to do to succeed in society, or else they wouldn't do them. I guess maybe I just don't like these things because I don't do any of them and people always think that the way they do things is the best way. I guess that's really all I wanted to say.
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| I'm back at school after a wonderful break at home. I'm really excited about starting a new semester with new classes, but I am going to miss a few things about home. For example, the food at home is much better than the food here. I would much rather eat anything in Toledo than dining hall food at Case. Maybe I hate it so much because it tries to be like home-cooked food, but it isn't quite as good. The other thing I will miss is the people. I'm not super close with anyone here, so I really miss all of my friends and family back home. Hopefully I won't think about it once classes start, and maybe I've been away from the dining hall long enough that the food won't seem as bad as it did when I left. | | |
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