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April, 2025

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Fat Chicks in Bikinis...Protesting Societies View on Beauty

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PopsicleStand
Posts: 6890 - Karma: 147
Real girls post their 'fatkini' pictures in protest against society's obsession with 'beach-ready bodies'

By Olivia Fleming

PUBLISHED: 17:04 EST, 24 May 2012 | UPDATED: 12:04 EST, 25 May 2012

Real women have posted images of themselves in their swimwear for a 'fatkini' gallery asa retaliation against society's obsession with super-slim summer bodies.

In an age where Victoria's Secret models are viewed as an ideal, 31 women sent in their images to prove otherwise.

Gabi Gregg, a writer for xojane.com, posted a request for the images, to inspire women with similar bodies as her own (a U.S. size 18) to feel good about wearing a bikini.

Ms Gregg wrote: 'Our culture is so obsessed with having a "beach ready bod," that the mere idea of someone my size in a swimsuit, let alone a bikini, is shocking to most.'

She continued: 'I know first-hand how inspiring it can be to see people with bodies that look similar to my own feeling confident and happy on the beach in something other than a Hawaiian-print skirted one piece'.

The bikini has come to inspire both dread and awe as our culture increasingly enshrines physical perfection through magazine features that encourage women to be bikini-ready for summer, and the constant trolling of other women by women.

Rather than being a statement about health, which it could have easily turned into, the gallery appears to be an endorsement of diversity, and an statement that no one particular size or shape of woman has a monopoly on being considered attractive or even ‘normal’.

The women featured in the gallery look vibrant and confident, regardless of their body-shapes or sizes.

While the writer and fashion blogger has received a wave of support from readers who applaud her confidence, some have been quick to judge.

There have been comments that Ms Gregg isn't 'flabby' enough to be self-conscious, and her 'toned, hourglass-shaped' body makes it easier for her to put a picture of herself online.

Another commenter wrote: 'I will be the combo breaker cause the sugar coating sometimes needs to stop. Sure you can love your body and flaunt it proudly, but objectively some girls needs to realize when an outfit just DOESN'T GO WITH YOUR BODY TYPE. Sometimes it just doesn't fit right. Sorry, but it's just how fashion goes, for thick and thin bodies.'

Ms Gregg, who posted the article today, tweeted earlier: 'Already annoyed by the xojane comments. and I know they're only going to get worse as the general public finds the article.

Of her own body, Ms Gregg said: 'I do acknowledge that I have some level of body privilege (but um, for the record: I totally have flab, stretch marks and cellulite, you just can't see it in the photos I posted due to the high waisted bottoms and the distance of the shots).'

She added: 'Hopefully this gallery, which features lots of body diversity, proves that it's not only "toned" fat girls who can feel confident hitting the beach in a two piece.'

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13 years ago
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PopsicleStand
Posts: 6890 - Karma: 147
Food for thought, according to the US Government I am overweight and my wife is underweight


13 years ago
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corona
Posts: 12845 - Karma: 33,290
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13 years ago
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BurgRider
Posts: 1597 - Karma: 17
thats great that they are comfortable with their bodies but the reality is their body condition is extremely unhealthy.
13 years ago
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smooticus
Posts: 1798 - Karma: 27
Ya I understand the whole natural beauty movement, but some of those women are obese. No one should be content with being overweight to the point where it is unhealthy.
13 years ago
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miroz
Posts: 10333 - Karma: 3,948
Agreed, but it is in part the American lifestyle that contributes to your grandparents' and mother's weight as well. America is the fattest country on the globe and so while of course some of it comes from genetics, it's probably not that much. I'd argue that the grand majority of overweight people in America (and the world, most likely, but not making that argument not) are as such because of their lifestyle.

That being said, you're right, some people are just built to carry more human flesh around with them day to day. But that effect pales in comparison to that of the American lifestyle.

And one more note: having an overweight lifestyle and suffering for it is no different than having an eating disorder slash being to skinny. Fat woman can act out all they want, but they're really no different, they're just suffering from the other extreme of the same disease. One end is lack of effort (fat) the other end is overeffort (skinny).
13 years ago
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_DUSTY_
Posts: 1097 - Karma: 686
Yes there is not an epidemic of underweight people in America however I would say that the amount of people that are at a good weight for their body size is very low. There are too many people who are under or overweight and too little who are at the right weight.

The issue with swimsuit and underwear models are that they can be very close to loosing too much weight in order to keep their looks. Girls that can stay healthy while being skinny should not be criticized, the problem is that too many girls (including models) will go overboard and end up dangerously underweight.

I personally believe that a healthy body weight is a reflection on how well you treat your body. You should eat enough to be able to maintain a certain amount of activity, not eating enough will not give you enough energy to do a healthy amount of activity, eating too much also affects your ability to do a healthy amount of activity. If you can maintain a healthy amount active at the weight you are at then I would say you have a healthy diet and weight. This is why I don't really rely on what the government says my weight should be popsiclestand.


13 years ago
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miroz
Posts: 10333 - Karma: 3,948
I agree with them in that fat woman shouldn't have to feel bad about themselves. They shouldn't have to deal with faces of disgust and open discrimination when they do things that they're entitled to do, ie wear bikinis. They can do whatever they want and we have to respect that, and its best to be polite and ignore them slash not say anything even if you disagree.

...but on the other hand, we don't have to think it is beautiful. Sorry girls, you're fat, you're not attractive, get over it. You can wear that bikini but you won't be getting any rewarding looks except from old chub lovers.
13 years ago
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TRASHY.
Posts: 736 - Karma: 355
I also noticed this but my thought process was "she has a really pretty face".

I'm down for being proud of yourself or what not, but like most people in this thread, i'd have to agree that these woman are all obese, and most likely extremely unhealthy. Tons of medical shit is linked to being obese, so yeah 'go self-esteem' but you're just cutting years off your life when you could lose some weight, have less meat on your bones, and still be stoked about how you look. There's no need to be a stick woman, but there's also no need to flaunt that you're humongous and most definitely medically compromised.
13 years ago
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annex_
Posts: 1659 - Karma: 1,499
i agree with pretty much everything begin said but [i don't know stats or anything] isn't the prevalence of eating disorders at an all time high in the states?
13 years ago
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[hamnuts]
Posts: 2356 - Karma: 439
Okay. It is idiots like you that drive women like the ones in this article to seek out that attention. Firstly, that is not an achievable body weight by any means. Being 5'8-5'10 and only being 110-119 pounds is NOT HEALTHY! That example IS UNHEALTHY because its not TRUE! Real NORMAL girls DON'T AND CAN'T look like that!

That's the typical weight/height for a Victoria's Secret model and I can assure you its fucking hard to be like that. Those women follow incredibly strict work out plans and diets and that in itself is not healthy psychologically. Imagine taking your girl out for dinner and only seeing her eat a tiny portion of grilled fish or chicken and a salad. I don't know about you but I would hate to limit myself like that, and supermodels like Brooklyn Decker and Rosie Huntington swear by that kind of stuff. Also they spend at least one to two hours minimum in a gym or working out each day. Sure it isn't as physically damaging to an extent, but at what point do we say enough is enough? A lot of hardworking women do NOT have that kind of free time to throw around on making themselves beautiful.

These women, and many others are constantly pressured to look like that airbrushed perfection and I can assure you those women don't even look like that in real life. That is where it really gets unhealthy. It is arguable that the woman in your picture is just as unhealthy as the fat ones because what the represent is an unattainable form of perfection, which is not healthy for any young girl to see.I am not saying the larger women in those pictures are right fro doing what their doing. I think it is great that they are happy with themselves, sure but yeah it is true that are overweight and it IS unhealthy. But the women that you talk about cause just as much problems. They turn young girls into anorexics and bulimics (trust me, I've seen it) and make regular girls like me feel like shit about themselves consistently. They set such a high standard of beauty that it drives a lot of people to do unhealthy things, such as stop eating, take laxatives or diet pills to lose weight etc. Maybe the girl in your picture won't get heart disease but she definitely causes some social and psychological problems.



And one final thing. Before a big shoot, or their runway show Victoria's Secret models are required to eat a liquid diet 2 weeks minimum before the big day. No fucking way in hell is that "healthy" or "normal".



13 years ago
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Bill.Nye
Posts: 4060 - Karma: 2,109
Well, define eating disorders. Is having a BMI of 50 an eating disorder? Whatever problems we have with people being too thin pale in comparison to the obesity problem we have in this country. Plus, Victoria's secret models don't even push that look. Swimsuit and underwear models are fit, editorial and high fashion models are the ones that look like holocaust survivors.

Healthy is sexy. Natural is sexy. There's nothing healthy or natural about being either 350lbs or <100lbs (unless you're very, very short), but look at the stats and try to tell me with a straight face that America is facing equal problems from both. We're just not.
13 years ago
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AWALLRUS.
Posts: 5762 - Karma: 223
wow you must be a professional nutritionist or something huh? god damn I can't believe how smart you are.
13 years ago
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Mr.Sloth
Posts: 5091 - Karma: 13,472
Not even compairable to the obeseity epidemic.
13 years ago
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gnustreetfool
Posts: 2595 - Karma: 51
totally just got a half chubb i mean they some of them werent that fattt
13 years ago
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Relish_man
Posts: 5386 - Karma: 551
Protest all you want, we still wont bang you.
13 years ago
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Bill.Nye
Posts: 4060 - Karma: 2,109
Oh hey look, it's a crazy person.

The women in those photos are right at the border of proper weight and underweight. Sure they could gain a few pounds and they might be better off (might be), but the women in the OP are so far in the other direction, to even suggest that it's a wash and they're both just as bad is inane drivel.
13 years ago
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michelle
Posts: 6290 - Karma: 428
Yes it is. There are many people that look just like Miranda Kerr or even skinnier that don't have to work out or eat right. I know plenty of girls who have similar bodies to VS models that don't starve themselves.

God damnit this is such a stupid fucking argument why am I posting in here.
13 years ago
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Bill.Nye
Posts: 4060 - Karma: 2,109
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13 years ago
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AWALLRUS.
Posts: 5762 - Karma: 223
my favourite post in this thread
13 years ago
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.Hugo.
Posts: 17360 - Karma: 28,488
Well not all eating disorders are ones that make you super skinny. Some cause you to eat a shit ton of food and be overweight.
13 years ago
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PopsicleStand
Posts: 6890 - Karma: 147
Thanks for posting this from a womans perpective. Its a hard life out there as far as self esteem goes, and its hard for us men too, although we dont admit it much. My wife just told me she is 120 btw Jailbait....and she's 5'9". I better start looking into rehab for her.
13 years ago
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katie.
Posts: 2833 - Karma: 874
All I thought of was some of these women are going to die soon.

I'm totally all for acceptance (let's be real here, I do not have washboard abs) but not for grotesquely obese women trying to feel better about the fact that their body is going to slowly kill them. We're not naturally meant to weigh 600 lbs!

Some of them were ok:

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but others made me sick. There's nothing wrong with being curvy and healthy, but trying to promote the fact that it's ok to be morbidly obese is just stupid.
13 years ago
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sleazy
Posts: 374 - Karma: 281
I agree with this cause thats how i am, i do not workout much and I eat a lot and i'm a size 0-2. Some people just have good genes.

side note i googled that average women's size in american it came up with size 18.... so those girls in the picture are closer to the the average women size rather then the vs models, whether thats healthy for them or not i don't know.
13 years ago
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katie.
Posts: 2833 - Karma: 874
That's unfortunate. Why can't people just not eat chips and actually go for a jog? Its not that hard to hang out at a healthy size 2-8.
13 years ago
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Laurent.
Posts: 10056 - Karma: 25,311
Why does every bloody thread on NS about fat girls or thin girls end up in silly debate with the worst arguments and so-called facts?



Problems associated with overweight:

Those who are have a much higher risk of developing some diseases. Diabetes, high blood pressure, osteoarthritis, strokes and cancer are the prominent ones. Other conditions are possible as well, such as increased cholesterol, sleep loss, gallstones, weak hip muscles and general discomfort. Constant fatigue due to the excess weight and combined with the lack of exercise comes alack of endurance.
(There is more stuff but this is from the top of my hat.)

Problems associated with underweight:

If you are underweight you can still develop diabetes in the case of rapid weight loss, since rapid weight loss affects insulin production. Second, you are more susceptible to illness, since you lack muscle and fat to retain body heat. Third, your body has little fat or muscle to use as energy, so poor endurance ensures, as well as constant fatigue.


Neither is a good thing, underweight or overweight. You can consider underweight less worse because most problems associated with underweight disappear if you'd go back to a "healthy" weight. Also the gap from underweight to health is usually quite a bit smaller.


About "healthy weight" there is no true healthy weight everyone is different, but there is a general area in which someone's weight is considered "normal" and this is way better then the two ends of the spectrum.


Now about calling people "too thin"

You can't judge from a monitor, you can only make a slight assumption.

"Her ribs/hip bones are showing, she has anorexia!"

This is total bullshit, I've seen people with a "healthy weight" (even slightly on the chubby side) that had them showing, and underweight girls who barely had them showing.
Your bone structure has nothing to do with fat/thin, some people have more pronounced ribs/hips.
Also your length comes in the equation, tall girls on average are more likely to look skinnier at the same fat/muscle percentage due to their stature.


Now about Victoria secret models:

I'd safely say none of them is underweight (from what i've seen)


13 years ago
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king.tubby
Posts: 2865 - Karma: 122
"big boned," " glandular problem," "societys fault" blah blah. yer a fat fuck. get over yourself, put down the diet coke and do a fucking sit up for fucks sake. there is nothing healthy about "fat pride."
13 years ago
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katie.
Posts: 2833 - Karma: 874
Your username is ironic
13 years ago
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JakeAssBeatClap
Posts: 6673 - Karma: 2,537
The majority of these bitches are fucking way too skinny. No. just not for me at all. I like a woman with sexyness a little meat on her. God damn the media really has fucked with peoples heads. protruding hip bones aren't hot I want a girl I can bring home and have something to grab onto... not a fat chick
a curvy sexy woman
god damn.
13 years ago
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sleazy
Posts: 374 - Karma: 281
Exactly and it's not just how you look, you should want to feel good and healthy too. I doubt these girls feel healthy.

I know after I eat a big batch of ice cream I feel guilty and unhealthy and so I go on a walk or go on the trampoline. it doesn't take much energy to go on a walk.
13 years ago
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Laurent.
Posts: 10056 - Karma: 25,311
They do have a slight point in that department.

If they are truly big boned they are more inclined to be endomorphic and thus more likely to become obese.

But it's not the sole contributing factor to obesity like those people would claim.
13 years ago
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katie.
Posts: 2833 - Karma: 874
Oh of course they don't feel healthy. And though they may be pretending, I doubt they feel hot either!

Like damn it is so important to me not to be overweight, not just from an aesthetic point of view but from an overall I dont want to die when I'm 50 point of view.


13 years ago
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Milksteak
Posts: 9948 - Karma: 832
hahahah chronic argument we got going on here.
13 years ago
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Bill.Nye
Posts: 4060 - Karma: 2,109
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13 years ago
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Julian.F
Posts: 2738 - Karma: 1,281
I'm sure fat bitches wouldnt be saying anything if she were skinny and healthy.
13 years ago
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Laurent.
Posts: 10056 - Karma: 25,311
I've worked (during my study) for one of the leading eating disorder clinics in my country with an incredible track record on published papers and studies.

They may be "fucking way too skinny" from your point of view but not from a medical point of view.

Media hasn't fucked with my head. And protruding hip-bones are (like ribs) a bad indicator of telling how skinny a person is.
13 years ago
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Anathema
Posts: 21048 - Karma: 5,062
hey girls, suck it up and stop acting like everybody expects you to be tiny little starving models. nobody cares. we just don't want you to eat like pigs and to maybe go outside and do some physical activity once in a while. after all, isn't that what you expect out of guys? we know we don't all have to look like ryan reynolds and adam levine to be attractive, but i'm sure you wouldn't find it very appealing if we all complained and rationalized why we shouldn't have to look a certain way and just walked around with pot bellies and scrawny arms..
13 years ago
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Jane6
Posts: 5359 - Karma: 4,506
this this this this this this this this

I dont know how accurate this is or how old that figure is, but I read somewhere that Adriana Lima is 5'10" and weighs 112 pounds

that would give her a BMI of 16,25. I'm no expert on whats healthy or whatnot according to the BMI scale, but that sounds pretty low to me considering a normal weight should be between 20-25 if I'm not totally wrong.

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13 years ago
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Pmoore
Posts: 1802 - Karma: 1,246
Related news stories "The weak gets fat" hahahahhaaha
13 years ago
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_DUSTY_
Posts: 1097 - Karma: 686
I am not sure where you got your information however I want to make a comment on being underweight. My sister has been fighting severe anorexia (she was in the hospital for a year) and there are far more severe side affects that are hard to find. When you have an eating disorder such as anorexia your brain does not function properly, you body can not retain heat properly and you have no energy. The most dangerous aspect of anorexia is your brain function, anorexic people are not capable of thinking rationally. Girls in the eating disorder clinic would be eating less than 500 calories a day and believe that they were getting enough to eat. There was a girl who would sneak out of the hospital and run in order to burn calories because she thought she was going to get fat.

I would never consider being severely underweight better for you than being severely overweight, anyone who suffers form anorexia will be fighting it for the rest of their lives. Of the eight people in the eating disorder clinic my sister is the only one who has not had to go to the hospital again. To put this in perspective out of the 8 girls that spent a year of rehabilitation, 1 girls has not returned to the hospital within 8 months because of an eating order induced issue. If someone who is overweight manages to reduce their weight to a healthy amount then chances are they will try to stay at their healthier weight. If someone who is underweight gains weight to be healthier it is much harder for them to retain that healthy weight.

You can tell if someone is underweight if you can see their rib cage easily pronounced. It has nothing to do with your bone structure, it is how much fat you have between your skin and bones. If you can faintly see the rib cage then you are probably not too thin however if you can see each individual rib bone it should be obvious that you need to eat more. Being able to see clearly pronounced bones is a sing that you are not eating enough, you should have enough fat and muscle between your bones and skin to leave only a faint outline.

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That is not healthy!

About victorias secrete models, I can't say anything about them, I've never done much research on them however everyone should keep their minds open to the idea that many of them are underweight. I assure you that you would be surprised to find out how many people really are underweight.

The point I am trying to make is that people vastly underestimate the dangers of being underweight, obviously there are many people who are naturally skinny, however people who are not naturally skinny that try to hard to be skinny can seriously jeopardize their health.
13 years ago
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Laurent.
Posts: 10056 - Karma: 25,311
I've worked (during my study) for one of the leading eating disorder clinics in my country with an incredible track record on published papers and studies.
That's where I got my information from.


I wasn't talking about severe cases, just underweight and overweight.
I said that underweight (and no not severely) can be considered as slightly less worse then overweight.

If you bring severely into the equation, then both cases are extremely bad for a person and there is no better or worse.


Our clinic has a near 100% rate, I don't know how that works in the U.S.A. but over here healthcare is pretty much free and they had a ridiculous budget. And yes we do get critical cases.


This is the average weight recovery over a certain period (not sure how long) with the several types of treatment we offered.

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You are sorta true about the ribs, but I was talking about the fact that you have people who think that when they see ribs it's: "OMG Anorexia"

People aren't medically schooled so they would never see the difference like you do.

13 years ago
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_DUSTY_
Posts: 1097 - Karma: 686
Sorry for attacking you so quickly, I'm used to dealing with a bunch of people who have never really had to deal with anyone who has gone through a serious eating disorder.

I'm living in Canada where our medical system is practically useless when it comes to eating disorders. We have 8 seats for eating disorder patients in a city of 1,000,000 people, that probably affects our success rate severely.

After seeing what my sister and other girls have gone through I really want guys to understand severe eating disorders, before this happened to my sister I thought anorexia and other eating disorders only happened to people who were mentally unstable. I have now realized that it can happen to anyone, this is why I believe everyone should understand the dangers of pursuing a "perfect" body.
13 years ago
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Laurent.
Posts: 10056 - Karma: 25,311
Now hard feelings, I sometimes don't express myself too well in English.

A lot of people forget the psychological aspect to eating disorders.
I think 80-90% of the anorexic girls cut themselves in my clinic.

Working there was incredibly depressing from time to time.
But our clinic has one major advantage that helps them being so successful and that is the team of psychologist we have. They were outstanding.

They rank people on an eating disorder psyhopathological scale. (directly translated)
A normal person without eating disorder would rank at 0.78, most clients came in at 3.5-4.
This is how they ranked on that scale during the same time period as the weight recovery:

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After the recovered to a healthy weight and the physical cure stopped the psychological treatment would continue until they were deemed treated.



The mental aspect of eating disorders is so often overlooked.

But the media's portrayal of fat-thin completely skewed nearly everyone's idea on eating disorders.
13 years ago
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JamesR
Posts: 3396 - Karma: -12
Most people don't lose weight through exercise and diet because dropping weight permanently takes years of strict changes, not because their genes are against them. People aren't "fat" because of genetics (excluding rare cases of genetic disease). People may have larger builds, but people only get fat if they consume more calories than they burn. I would be very interested in seeing a case of an overweight person who, despite maintaining a strict diet and exercise regimen over a couple years, is still overweight. As far as I know, that just doesn't happen. It's harder for some, but nobody is incapable of maintaining a healthy weight.
13 years ago
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annex_
Posts: 1659 - Karma: 1,499

At 1-800-ASS-HATT i never claimed it did.
I never said it compared to the obesity problem did I? Just stating a fact
EATING DISORDER: any of several psychological disorders (as anorexia nervosa or bulimia) characterized by serious disturbances of eating behaviour
an eating disorder isn't classified but weight/bmi etc.
13 years ago
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ironic
Posts: 735 - Karma: 104
I honestly think that this is getting ridiculous. Sure, women should be proud of their bodies no matter what shape they come in- but this is pure neglect! Natural curves are absolutely beautiful, eating yourself to death is not. There is a difference between everyone looking different in their own way and people allowing themselves to go to ruin.
13 years ago
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Snowgoner
Posts: 5047 - Karma: 969
that is fucking retarded. you allowed yourself to get that fat. if you dont care what society thinks of you; good for you, but posting pictures of your disgusting body is not attractive to anybody, and it will not change how society perceives beauty.
13 years ago
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TheHamburglar
Posts: 3895 - Karma: 3,317
fat chicks need lovin too. they just gotta pay.
13 years ago
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Backyard.Skier
Posts: 5397 - Karma: 1,498
$
13 years ago
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SterlingArcher
Posts: 2200 - Karma: 2,456
Do the truffle shuffle on my face baby.
13 years ago
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AWALLRUS.
Posts: 5762 - Karma: 223
you all made this thread suck really bad. are you proud of yourselves?
13 years ago
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