I just saw a reel where the woman in it was talking about how men (generally) have no idea what women weigh. Like they have a very skewed idea of what certain numbers actually look like on a woman’s body.
She explained that part of the reason why they don’t really “get” what different weights look like on women’s bodies - is because of how muscle and fat are generally distributed on female bodies, plus obviously how height factors in, plus different body shapes, as well.
Like, breasts do have weight!
Note: I know that having a lot of muscle mass can technically put people into the “obese” category on the BMI scale which is a big reason why BMI is silly, so I think a lot of men do “get” that it isn’t strictly a weight/height calculation. However, there is still that societal narrative that exists and gets inside their (and women’s) heads about how 110-115 is like the “ideal” weight for women. All women. Which is absurd, obviously.
Anyway, after I saw this reel, I remembered how one time I was sitting around with a few of my (male) roommates back when we rented a room in a big house - so I was in my late 20’s then, and while not (too) skinny like I was in my teens, I was still pretty thin.
They were talking with each other about a girl one of them was dating - not in a nice way, sadly - and the guy dating her was like yeah, she is a bit chubby too, like maybe about a buck 30 (130 pounds.)
And all of them agreed that that was “fat.”
And I piped up - I had been trying to defend her all along during this convo cuz they were being mean af but they were mostly ignoring me of course - and I said okay, wait, how much do you guys think *I* weigh??
Obviously they were then a bit cagey in their answers (they could be assholes about women behind their backs, but were too cowardly to be that jerk-ish to a woman’s face of course!) but their guesses were like 110-115. (Which probably means they actually thought 115-120.)
I was like okay - I am 5’7. You SURE you think I weigh 110??
I then told them I weighed a bit over 130.
None of them believed me. Like they genuinely did not think I could weight “that much.”
I was like okay well Ben (our other roommate/S.O.’s BFF who also lives there then, but who wasn’t part of this convo) has a scale downstairs, I will show you.
I stepped on the scale and it was like 135. They were all shocked. They even doubted the scale - so one of the guys got on it. He was like yeah, it is about the same as it is for me the gym, so it is right.
I was like - you guys just have that “110 is thin” idea in your head but you all are stupid because obviously height and other stuff factors in!
They were all then forced to agree that I had a point.
(What was funny too, is that I could tell they were extra confused because I do not have a lot of T&A. I do not have big boobs or hips or a butt at all, really. So they couldn’t be like “well she has a booty so you know.”)
Another important thing to note: Again, I know BMI is inadequate and I also have never subscribed to thin being the ideal, even back when I was really thin. I just never bought into that narrative. The number on the scale doesn’t mean much to me and never has. It is more about how I feel in my body. If I feel good and can do the things I want, physically, then I am good. And I have felt like shit at lower weights and great at higher weights. So yeah, to be clear, I myself don’t subscribe to this viewpoint about numbers on the scale/weight-based judgements. Or that thinness is a virtue or any of that. I reject the whole thing.
