'Thin bashing'

That's because some people don't have respect for others. I am a plus size and it upsets me when people are offensive towards larger people but it also upsets me when people insult thin people. My sister is the complete opposite to me, underweight, very lean and she gets bullied terribly at school for her thin frame. I say take people as they are, we come in all different shapes and sizes and none are wrong. Stay civil to each other and treat others as you would like to be treated.

totally agree!!

You'd be surprised how much more 'fat hatred' there is out there than 'thin hatred' - and as for your comment that "8-10 isn't thin" well I think since the average woman is about size 16 I'll itreat and ignore that one with the contempt it deserves.

I'm very much aware of the 'size fascism' that exists in society these days as a 'plus size' (plus from what? does that mean I'm not 'normal'?) individual, doubly hard being a guy as people don't expect us to suffer from body confidence issues.

It's very sad that we should have to campaign for 'fat acceptance' - but have you noticed that you can't pick on people for their religion, sexual preference, ethnicity or disabilities yet making fun of people for being fat is very much alive, and rampant in society.

Unfortunately you have picked a topic that is very close to my heart (it's one of the few things that is considering all my lard) and I couldn't not respond. Sorry.

I'm a plus size too and agree with Shnarfy

Well said xx

AJ I accept your point that 'fat hatred' exists, because people can be very small minded and cruel.

But I absolutely do NOT accept that just because your dress size is smaller than the average you should be happy with what you've got, count your lucky stars, and how dare you complain bla bla bla!

That is an absolute joke.

And as for YOUR comment about ignoring a size 8-10 isn't thin, "I'll ignore it with the contempt it deserves", I Will ignore THAT with the contempt it deserves. If someone is that size and within their BMI then it's fine. I'm not talking about being slim here, slim is fine. I'm saying thin, as in thin being used as a derogatory term.

This is a topic that's close to my hear too.

I totally agree "theycallmelaura"... Im a size 8 and people always seem to comment oooh I bet you only eat a piece of lettuce etc etc, well no actually, I eat very well but have a very high metabolism and cant put weight on and to be honest... I quite like being slim, I have hardly any boobs and some people have, in the past, called me fried eggs etc which is terribly hurtful... BUT if anyone called a larger person FAT or LARDY then there would be hell to pay but its ok to be hurtful to to the slimmer sector.

BMI is absolutely no indicator of 'healthiness' - it's outdated and inaccurate at the very least. Top sports stars like rugby players are technically 'obese' or worse, but because it's muscle rather than fat there's absolutely no distinction or recognition that they're in great health. A friend of mine in the US is the equivalent of UK size 34 but has perfect cholestorol, perfect blood pressure and everything else, she's just "big". End of. She's not eating 10 double cheeseburgers a day either.

My personal preference is towards the more cuddly female, but I wouldn't go insulting someone because they happened to be only a size 10 - yet a lot of people have no qualms about criticising 'fat' people, you should eat less, exercise more, etc etc - well it just isn't that easy.

Can't help but think that there are way too many people, at which ever end of the smaller/larger scale they currently reside at that will take offense to various comments that are put on this thread. It's clearly a touchy subject. Personally i accept everyone for who they are, not what they look like. You could be the slimmest or the largest person in the world,...it's no reflection on personality, unless someone is cruel with their personality to make others feel awful.

Everyone is different, and everyone has their own opinions, but I feel for so many people the size issue is a touchy subject. xx

Indeed. However, there's a lot of stores that cater for the "larger female" but very little out there for the "larger guy" - and it's all so damn expensive too.

AJ - If you said a size 20 isn't fat, and I responded with as the UK average is a size 16 I'll treat that comment with the contempt it deserves" Would that be acceptable???

This post wasn't designed to be a 'Fat people have it worse than thin people' or vice versa.

A lot of stores? There's Evans and that's it.

Theycallmelaura, I do know exactly what you mean. 9 months after having my baby boy I am a size 12 slowly creeping down to a 10. Having moved house since having my baby, my neighbours don't know that I am normally an 8-10 & at the moment I don't feel as good as I should because I know I am carrying more weight than I would normally. I piled on almost 4 stone while pregnant so I do know what it is like to be 'bigger'. I think what is more important than the size on the clothing label is that whatever size you happen to be you are happy with that size & feel healthy. I for one will make sure I am a size 8 again when I walk down the aisle in September but that is because I know that size works for me & is when I feel at my best which is most important on any brides wedding day. I'm a very sporty person & walk miles with my dalmatians every day, I also ride 2 or 3 horses a day. I can't do dieting, let alone starving myself to loose weight. I have to shift it through endless exercise & yes it is exhausting but to me it is worth it to be happy with my body. If larger ladies are happy with their figure that's fab - at the end of the day we are all different & have different bone structures & shapes & we need to learn to embrace that, not make other people feel bad for being fatter or thinner than the norm.

"yet a lot of people have no qualms about criticising 'fat' people, you should eat less, exercise more, etc etc - well it just isn't that easy."

AJ, I see your point but what about when people criticising the slimmer person, i.e when people call me fried eggs for breasts.. do people have qualms about saying that to me, no they do not have any at all... but if someone went up to your B2B and called her big boobs or some other degrotary (sp) statement then there would be absolute hell to pay.

Unfortunately you started it by stating "8-10 isn't thin" in your original post, so whether you think you were or not, you were promoting the fallacy that thin = automatically better = automatically more healthy = automatically more beautiful which is a trap that so many people fall into - why do you think the weight loss industry is such a moneymaker even though most of them only offer short term benefits that soon disapper?

With most forums, once the original post has been made, it's up to the users who respond what direction the thread goes in, so I'm sorry if this wasn't waht you intended, but it's what happened.

AJ i fully agree. Even for the stores that cater for the larger women, it's still hard to get things that look good when they're on. It does really bug me however that the larger guy isn't catered for as much as the larger women.

I also don't doubt that a slimmer person will see an outfit that they love, try it on and it just doesn't sit right or feel right. We are in so many cases all in the same boat, but for different reasons if that makes sense.

Cant help but agree with Laura on this one AJ i think that was a little out of order. We are all different and wouldnt it be a boring place if we all looked and weighed the same ?

I expect there are very few people that are happy with their weight and the body image, that's just the way the world is.

I'm a bigger girl and i would give absoloutly anything to be slim but my sister is the complete opposite and would give anything to have a bit of my height and my weight.

There is no reason for anyone to be judged on their weight be it 8 stone or 18 stone.

Although i'll be the first to admit if i see a skinny girl i think "i hate you", lol, but i'm just jealous really.

I have to agree with you. That phrase seems to have been conjured up to make bigger women happy with themselves but it sends out the completely wrong message to thin women. It's like they are saying "You aren't a real woman." As I said before my sister is very thin, no curves, but I still think she's the most beautiful girl in the world because she has confidence.

They always seem to have blazing strip lights that wash you out and circus mirrors that make you look smaller and wider, or maybe that's just me! I always seem to go home and like the outfit more in my own full length mirror.

How on earth do you come to the conclusion that I was promoting 8-10 sizes people as automotically better, more beautiful.

In no way did imply any size was better than any other.

I personally believe there is no one size fits all when it comes to beauty.

There are beautiful slim people, and beautiful plus size people.

(And I'm sorry if that term offends you btw)

Completely agree AJ. When i was pregnant with my last baby they weighed me and took height measurements to check my BMI. I was told that i was classed at over weight. ? I was three months pregnant and a size 12. Thank goodness i was confident with my size or i may have gone on some drastic diet which would not have been a healthy thing to do. I think its bloody awful that they do it to be honest.

You'd be surprised how much "point and snigger" there can be from time to time.

I admit BMI was not a great example to use, don't know why i did.

The weigh machine in Boots told me for my height my ideal weight was 7st 11lbs ?

You are all right and BMI is a waste of space! X

The national average may be a size 16 that doesnt make it right! If your a size 16 you will generally find you are over weight which isnt healthy.

I am naturally very slim, im about a size 6 and have always had people ask me out right if i have an eating disorder, how cheeky is that, i would never say to a fat person your fat but people feel its ok to say how skinny are you! Im a real woman as well just because i dont have massive boobs or hips doesnt make me any less a woman!

I also think BMI is a bad thing, it can cause a lot of damage to people. My sister (all my posts on here are about her!) was told by her Wii fit that she was overweight. Impossible. She's very short for her age (she has our lovely mum to thank for that!) she is 12 but still fits into 8-9 clothes and sometimes smaller, how on earth can that be overweight?! She has become very obsessive over getting down into the normal range but I think it's ridiculous.

I can see both sides here. On one hand models are ALWAYS a size 8-10, even the 'plus size' shops only use size 14 models, and they always have perfect proportions. But you don't get to be a models unless you have all the perfect traits.

On the flip side most women don't have perfect bodies. We all have lumps in the wrong places, or lack of lumps. We don't have the perfect 36-24-36 figure (if you do you're damn lucky!) and clothes look different on us than they do in the catalogues and websites, and on each other.

And TBH there are some styles that don't look good on certain body types. For example if you want a classic 'mermaid' style dress you need a flat stomach AND decent curves, it wouldn't look good on someone with a belly paunch or someone with no significant waistline.

I'm not a fan of really skinny women, sticky-out ribs and hip bones aren't attractive, but if you're naturally slim with narrow hips and small chest then you're lucky - beats constant dieting to drop those extra pounds. My natural 'frame' is wide, even if I starved myself for 6 months I'd never get below a 14 because I have broad hips and shoulders, it's just the way I'm made and I get upset when people take the p*ss the same as 'skinny' ladies do.

Can we have a little bit of respect for each other then? There are tactful ways of saying a dress doesn't look right without being size-ist or rude.

Just to echo my other post when i had an off day yesterday..... When i was in school...i was a size 10....and I was called fat, and bullied for it. Then i was in college, and was a very toned size 12, and was still called fat.

THEN... i got into my weight training and reached a size 18 made up of muscle and funnily enough no one said a word! ?

since then with my spinal condition and a baby by section 7 years ago (pleased he was by section he was 8lb 14oz lol) i'm around a 24.

i'm not a monster, but i do have confidence issues. It is confidence issues that effect 99% of the population, large or slim.

*if only there was a confidence pill*

http://www.yoursclothing.co.uk/?S=A&gclid=CMfVy_P6mqUCFchH4wodFQ-3Fw

http://www.thatsmystyle.co.uk/shop/home?promo=6201&cm_mmc=Google-_-Thats%20My%20Style-_-na-_-yours%20clothing

https://www.simplybe.co.uk/

https://www.marisota.co.uk/

http://www.curvety.com/

https://www.mona.co.uk/spirito-di-artigiano-sizes-16-28/icat/s/

etc etc etc...

No, unfortunately Im not surprised at all..

I am 5'4 and a size 8 and my H2B is 6'2 and weighs, currently, at 18 stone or thereabouts so physically, we are the exact opposites and people always comment about that, I'm a midget with regards to my height, Im an anorexic due to my size etc etc... its quite pitiful realy that some people find pleasure in hurting others about their weight be it "skinny" or "fat".

It doesnt matter what size we are, we do still have feelings, so when people like Gok Wan says I love curves etc etc it does make us, the slimmer people, less of a woman... OH yes I have had that too as I am small chested I have been asked whether I feel like a "real woman" what the hell is a "real woman"...?????

Overweight? Who decides that? We're back to BMI again, which we've already ascertained is inaccurate and inappropriate at the very least.

The whole concept of what should be your "proper" weight for your height is fundamentally flawed, so nobody is really "over" (or "under" for that matter) weight.

I used to cry to the doctor when I was younger as I was bullied for being thin. I was 5'9" and weighed 7stone, I was the tallest & was always singled out. I hated being thin & used to have Complan as well as my meals to try & bulk myself out. I was like a straw, straight up & straight down. At 18 I had meningitis & went down to 5 1/2 st, it took me 5yrs to put weight on. I hated being thin so it works both ways.