Do you think women are criticized too much/harshly on their weight?

Question

For instance, if you ignore the caption in this photo, most people would say the woman on the far right is unhealthy and fat, and that they other two women are not only ideal, but also healthy. There may be a few who say the woman on the far left is too thin, but more than likely, most everyone would agree that she is still healthier than the woman on the right.

It seems that if women aren't thin then they are considered fat and criticized a lot for their weight, much more than guys are. Do you think women are criticized too much for their weight or pressure to be the perfect size?

ImSoSquishy · Accepted Answer

i think it's mostly women who criticize themselves the most. i mean, if you think about it-- every time you waited for my female friend, ex gfs, girlfriend, sisters, or who ever to get ready so we can go out, it's always the girl who goes "OMFG i look so fat in this!" and to me, i think it looks fine. like no one besides me and saw her wearing it, i didn't even say anything yet and so it's like they already criticized themselves first before anyone outside on the street or on social media even criticized them for being fat. and most of the time most guys are fine with a female looking like the girl on the right. if a guy was overweight, he would be teased/made fun of for his man boobs or something, and at least for a women, the guys would be like "DAYUMM!! LOOK AT THOSE HUGE RACKS!!"

TomasLyy · Accepted Answer

No, fat shaming is not a real thing. In this day and age with every group protesting racism, sexism, etc. everyone thinks it's acceptable to play "were being oppressed" but fat shaming is fake. You can help your weight, you're just being lazy. It all depends on you if you want a healthy body or not. Frankly, overweight people are not attractive and they decided that themselves. I doubt women like fat men just as much. It works both ways, women are just more subtle about expressing attraction to guys. Especially teens.

Selena2418 · Accepted Answer

I think there is way too much emphasis on a woman's weight and size... especially with the whole "looking" healthy argument. I think a major problem is that we aren't taught from a young age to understand what healthy means and to understand that healthy looks differently on everyone. As a woman, I've heard it all through the course of my life. I think the worst is when women act out against other women on this. I've seen in here on GaG, and in my own life... why can't women just be left alone and be appreciated for their natural state.

natasha3012 · Accepted Answer

Well.. I think people have developed tho... there are soo many positive experiences in today's Times... But I still think now it's overall like... Too skinny - ugly... fat- ugly... thick with no belly fat and has to have a thigh gap..
This is unfortunately what women must look like today... But I think it's still harder for overweight women

Benedek38 · Answer

You seem a bit paranoid. Let me first address your strawmen:
1) "most people would say the woman on the far right is unhealthy and fat"
I don't believe the majority of people would say that. Yes, she undoubtedly has a bit of fat on her, but the bigger issue with her is that she has a sort-of rectangular body shape - in other words, she doesn't have the classic "hourglass" shape. Which is certainly less than ideal.

On the other hand, she has:
-beautiful face
-beautiful, healthy skin
-healthy hair
-decent curves
-great mammaries
etc.

I would hesitate probably a fraction of a second only if you asked me if I wanted to go on a date with her, suppose she would be willing to.

So yeah.

2) "There may be a few who say the woman on the far left is too thin, but more than likely, most everyone would agree that she is still healthier than the woman on the right."

I don't think the slimmer girl would be considered healthier... But let's be honest. You aren't really concerned with whether people think she is healthy or not. You care about how attractive she looks to people. Well, newsflash - some women are seen as more attractive than others, just like some men are seen as more attractive than others. Welcome to reality!

3) "It seems that if women aren't thin then they are considered fat and criticized a lot for their weight"
Who are these evil men who criticize normal women for their weight? I don't think ANYONE would tell say, the third woman, that she has to lose weight.
Also, as far as I know, women bitch about their weight all the time. When she tells me "I am so fat and gross and ugly" - I tell her that if this bothers her so much, she should do this and that.
If you don't want my advice, just say it!

4) "... much more than guys are"
Probably you perceive it as such because women are statistically (and biologically) more likely to be overweight in the first place.
In the US, there are equal amount of obese men and women (35 - 35 mill.), but 54 mill overweight women, and "only" 45 mill men.
If you check the list of countries by average BMI index, the female indexes are consistently higher.
This is an interesting information though, I will make a map about it.

Regardless, from my experience, men generally get fatter in their 40s, and are more likely to pursue some kind of demanding physical activity in their 20s and early 30s, while many women choose lighter sports to preserve their "femininity", and sacrifice effectiveness.

Elaine_17 · Answer

Yes, because when people start calling a healthy skinny girl anorexic is where I draw a line. I've been the girl on the left who is very naturally skinny due to my Asian genes. I feel as if most men don't want me because I'm too skinny. I've been told to eat more "mcdonalds" or "fast food" to gain weight because they thought I was anorexic. Even an online friend of mine who had not seen what I had looked like before had told me I looked anorexic. Honestly, these people don't even know what an anorexic person looks like. I've seen multiple videos in my health class of a mentally ill person who was even skinnier than I was. She was in rehabilitation because she wanted to be even thinner than she already was and needed help since she was already unhealthily underweight. The girls in the video were bone-thin, let me tell you. The people who called me anorexic were telling me I was bone-thin all over when I knew I wasn't. I have fat going towards mostly my thighs and legs, but my upper body is pretty thin overall with very little fat. Makes me wonder where my fat actually goes. As a little girl, my brother told me I was a "waste of space" and "time" because I was so skinny, and just because he never saw me eat, he assumes I didn't eat. Ridiculous. Then, he proceeded to force me to eat disgusting unseasoned boiled chicken. He kept watch as he wouldn't let me go back to my room without me eating it. Let me tell you after that day, I didn't eat chicken for a long time because I didn't like being forced to eat something that I didn't want. So, do I think women are criticized too much for their weight? Yes, I do. In America, most women are most likely seen as much bigger than I am which if you put me side by side with an overweight women. I would look obviously unhealthy, but I was within the range of healthy as said by doctors. I do eat A LOT, but it's hard for me to gain weight. Can't even go to the gym without feeling self-conscious and thinking people will do the same thing those girls said to me in high school. Questioning why I'm in the gym. I'm already skinny. My therapist encouraged me and helped me change my self-conscious mind to help me go to the gym.

bennyboi222 · Answer

I wouldn't say they're more criticized than men, because if you see a man with the same amount of body fat as the woman on the right, you still wouldn't find him attractive, but honestly body positivity in my opinion is just plain lazy. It's created by feminists and geared towards women who are overweight, and they say things like "all bodies are beautiful" and "all these women are healthy", when in reality that's a lie. They lie to make women feel better, and body positivity is really an excuse to be fat. No one was born to be fat, how we were raised and our habits affect our weight. Sadly, a lot of Americans are raised sedentary so they eat fatty foods and don't exercise. Those habitd are how you get fat, and gain medical problems that make it hard to lose weight. That's what feminists claim is healthy. If you can't keep a steady pace and run for at least 8 minutes, you're not really healthy. I honestly think we need less excuses for being fat, and more pressure to get off your butt, put down the hamburger, and go to the gym. Body positivity exists to make fat people happy about their weight. A much better solution is to actually accomplish something and lose that weight. It's PROVEN that exercise releases dopamine and make people happier. People just tend to not want to put in the work, so they blatantly lie to themselves saying their body is still beautiful. Let's be honest, no guy or girl wants to date a whale. You're a lot more likely to be attracted to Chris Hemsworth or even Tom Holland than you are to Fat Al. They're fit and in shape, and can do pretty much anything you want. Obesity makes it so you can't do half the things your body should be able to do. Fat shaming is rude, but sometimes thats literally what it takes for someone to get off their butt and change. If you tell them it's ok to be fat, they'll get fatter. If you tell them being fat is unattractive, it gives them some motivation to lose weight. I know I'm ranting, but to answer your question, I personally think men have it a little harder in this case, because body positivity doesn't apply to them, and because the ideal male has abs and bulging muscles and below 10% body fat, which is a lot harder to get than the ideal female body where she has a flat toned stomach, not a 6 pack, and around a 15-18% body fat.

GeekyGirl16 · Answer

I do think that many women are criticized too harshly for their weight—starting as young as four years old... I don't know, maybe some people have different experiences this way, but I was always picked on for being a bit chubby. Thing is, I eat healthy and moderate portions of food and I walk everywhere I need to go for the most part, yet I have been about the same size and weight for years with some fluxuations during the school year when I wasn’t sleeping much and causing my body to gain and lose and regain weird amounts of weight (which I was told was probably because of my irregular eating habits at the time)... like, some people think “oh if you didn’t eat fast food you’d be thin like that beauty over there” but, I was never allowed to eat fast food unless we were mid move across the US, and my mum always makes healthy food (full of veggies, low on carbs and fats). Soooooo, I don't know about others, but I feel like the judgment really gets out of hand and makes some of us who are doing our best feel even worse about something we’ve been trying to change for years. We “chubby girls” put enough pressure on ourselves to be the beauty standard and the extra pressure makes it feel worse. I don't know about anyone else, but I know I’m overweight and I don’t want yet another idiot to tell me what I already know—trust me, I got enough “you’re forbidden to eat dinner because I think you’re chubby” conversations from my biological dad, I don’t need it from anyone else.

BrianMerritt · Answer

"For instance, if you ignore the caption in this photo, most people would say the woman on the far right is unhealthy and fat,"
--Nope, most would not say that. Actually, she looks quite fine, especially compared to how fat a lot of American women are, plenty of men I know would be completely happy with her.

"and that they other two women are not only ideal, but also healthy."
--There IS a such thing as too skinny. If we can count a girl's ribs, that is not attractive either. I think the middle one is ideal for my taste.

Also, men get just as criticized. People who dislike fat people don't mean just women. The issue is that the fat positivity movement has to do with mostly women, so the retaliation is in the direction of women.

And that photo is exactly the type of shit people have to put up with. The picture shows 3 healthy body sizes and says they are all healthy...
Look, the one on the right is not fatter, she's just less skinny. She's not FAT at all, she's probably still under 150.
So, this picture is accusing men who aren't attracted to 300-lbs women of saying that the woman on the right is fat and unhealthy.

passinby · Answer

Some women that really do have a genetic weight issue are unfairly criticized, but there are a lot of lazy couch potatoes out there watching women's tv sobbing mostly due to unbalanced obesity hormones. So basic health is first.

The women in the photo, I immediately go for the one on the left, mainly because she is taller and everything about her is longer. But, the one in the middle has a prettier face to me and that would probably win. I would still go with the one on the right, she has a pretty face too.

I don't agree that they are all healthy weight because the calipers would for sure put middle and right at obese. I didn't come up with those percentages.

Serpentgod · Answer

Yes I do think many women are too harshly criticized on there bodies, the media’s portrayal of the perfect body has shaped societies views about how a girl should look like and many people girls believe if their body is not perfect they are “less of a woman”

However, it is still important to encourage healthiness and part of that is taking care of your body, but we should should automatically judge someone for looking a certain way. Maybe there genes are different and can’t handle certain foods as well as most people, and that’s not their fault.

SoundProtocol · Answer

No. Both males and females are heavily criticized and since weight is one the variables that determine sexual value, people take it seriously (as they should).

To men, the sexual value of a woman comes before anything due to biological evolution and conservation of the species. Men express this preference, making it extremely important to women.

To women, men's value is determined equally through physical traits, personality, status and many others. Since physical traits are not a priority, men don't feel as pressured as women do.

This was the sociological explanation. Another reason to consider is the fact that weight plays a major role in health. A healthy person has more value and often shows other personality traits such has confidence, hardworking, etc...

Catholicgirl22 · Answer

I think soceity has a double standard in which it's ok to criticise a man's weight but completely wrong to do the same for a woman.
Personally I think the fat acceptance movement is horse shit and irresponsible. I was raised to eat right and exercise to be healthy.

MScifiwriter · Answer

I know what I find physically appealing, but as for truly healthy, only your doctor can tell you if you are truly physically healthy. Well that and whether or not going up and down a set of stairs or jogging tires you out too quickly.

But if you are depending on social media to tell you if you're heavy or thin, then yeah, you're going to get raked over the coals. People online are overly critical about everything, unless they are a fan of that "thing" then they will fanatically defend it until they're out of breath.

Iwant2kno · Answer

Yes and the worse is that there is women who believe it, do the impossible to lose weight and others end up with a lower self esteem. Fat shaming is equivalent to bullying from my point of view! Now being fat or chubby does not mean your unhealthy, I’ve seen women who are fat/chubby and are more active than skinny women. We all have different bodies, shapes and different needs as well, so judging someone for their looks first only reveals the lack of understanding and vast ignorance on that person judging.

PoliceLivesMatter · Answer

It depends on the person looking at these women and their body. I think men for the most part, want a healthy and slim woman but nothing too extreme. But it’s not just the weight but the body shape and bone structure as well, which is genetic and biological, and either a woman has it or she doesn’t. If you segment each piece of a woman’s body that is deemed to be desirable by the majority of men, you’ll find that bone structure, height, and weight all play some role. I personally don’t criticize women on their weight and don’t know a lot of people in my life that do, but there are definitely people out there that are harsh men and women alike. I think, these people criticize extremes and unhealthiness whether too fat or thin, those pictures here aren’t extreme at all.

Comawhite666 · Answer

I agree. The amount of guys I've seen on here calling women who look like the one on the right fat, chubby or obese is ridiculous. She is what I'd call curvy.

It feels as if any women who doesn't have a flat stomach and an hourglass shape is called chubby or fat. If a girl is apple shaped for example and has skinny arms and legs but carries her weight in her stomach, even if she's got a healthy bmi some guy will probably say she's fat >.<

I've never heard guys criticised on here for their weight the way girls are.

Bandit74 · Answer

Not really.
I don't think they are criticized for their body type anymore than men are.

Men are criticized/judged as less attractive if they are skinnier or heaver than what is conventionally thought of as ideal. In addition to weight men also get judged on their height and I haven't seen manyfeminists trying to say a 5'7 guy shouldn't be perceived as less attractive than a 6'2 guy or that a chubby or skinny guy should be perceived as having the samedesirability as a muscular guy.

I also disagree that most men would find the picture on the left ideal. More than likely, the ideal would either be the middle or something in between the middle and right.

RabuDam · Answer

Society creates this perfect image of a woman. It's this no-fat fit girl who has long legs, beautiful skin and bla bla bla.

This propaganda has created a thinking within the girls out there which is destructive. They always want to be like them, instead of themselves. They admire illusions instead of the divine feminine in them.
Their doubts and suffering arise from their self-judgement, from their constant comparison with public figures which are "made" perfectly.

The only way to overcome this obstacle is to become more self-aware again and to become the person you ought to become since you were born.

Yawn_Yawn · Answer

Would you rather be evaluated on the same scales as men are? So, yeah, we get somewhat of a pass on weight, for sure, but are there other offsets that are more cruel?

Which, I guess, leads me to ask: how do you think men are evaluated? How are they graded by society at large, other men, and women?

Think long and hard about those things before you make that comparison as I'm reasonably certain you would come to the conclusion that your comparison is not of the "like vs like" variety and, thus, such a simple conclusion is insuficient. I'm not being defensive or bratty, I'm just curious how much you've really thought this through...

Oram52 · Answer

Not really. You need to find your partner attractive, so men want women who are not overweight. They're not judged harshly. Your weight is something you can control. Only reason it may feel that way is because men do the chasing. So men would obviously go for girls who are fit.

The reason its not same for men those men don't have focus on them, girls don't chase them or ask guys out. Also if guys are financially well off they are more than happy to ignore his weight. Men on the other hand more financially stable they are fitter they want their partner to be.

Astoriana · Answer

The woman on the right is still pretty thin, IMHO. She’s got a flat belly and small upper arms. She just happens to have hips, ass and thighs unlike the other two.

But yes, I think that women are criticized too harshly for their weight. You can be overweight and healthy. Your weight is not an indicator of a whole hell of a lot beyond your acceleration due to gravity.

ChronicThinker · Answer

I feel like the people who do the harshest criticizing of a woman's body is women themselves. Then they buy into all of the diets, pills, fads and routines to obtain idealism. They breed this harsh judgment themselves.

janna_jcb · Answer

Yes, but it differs per girl where the pressure comes from. For me it comes from myself and the media, I like to look at fashion shows and I watch a lot of movies and I have never seen a celebrity with a body like me (apart from Jennifer Lawrence, kind of)
For a girl I know the pressure comes from herself, the media, her mother, and she was also bullied for a while by boys telling she was fat, when she is actually one of the thinnest girls I know. The pressure was too much for her and she got anorexia...
I also know some girls who are really thin who feel like they are too thin, since the beauty ideal does not only include being skinny, it also includes having hips, a butt and nice boobs. There isn’t one girl I know who is completely happy with her body

Do you think women are criticized too much/harshly on their weight?

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