Why does everybody hate ectomorphs?

[TrogL]

I'm skinny as a rail. When I was in my 20's I was 6' 0" and 129 lb. I've now developed my "middle age paunch" and it's only visible when I slouch. My current weight - 168 lb.

I don't exercise. I eat like a horse (when I remember) and snack on burgers and sugar stuff.

I drink diet pop only because I'm afraid of diabetes and I like the taste of Fresca.

When I was younger, my doctor wanted me to basically double my body weight before he'd consider me "healthy". Relatives would get totally insulted because I wouldn't absolutely stuff my face at the table. I finally broke down and screamed at one "Lookit, somebody with a weight problem like yours shouldn't be telling people how to eat". I've been called "stringbean" and plenty of other insults.

What's brought this to mind is William Rivers Pitt's thread on Ann Coulter. Yes, she's a sociopathic bitch, but why attack her weight?

[izzie]

1. Sounds like your some one I envy

I just put on 5 pounds reading what you ate

[PBass]

3. Ann Coulter looks anorexic...

but I agree, lets please focus on her repulsive political viewpoints, and leave her weight and her personal life alone.

[conflictgirl]

2. I'm guessing a lot of it may be envy

I'm the opposite of you. I'm female and I'm 5'1" - I do weigh less than you, but I'm still about 25 pounds overweight for my height. I do cardio exercise 3-4 times a week, can't eat a lot of sugar, never eat "seconds" at meals and eat smaller portions than my 8 year old son. But I can't lose weight to save my soul. I've had people insult me for being overweight and assume that I don't exercise or eat well, even though I do both.

I am sorry that people have insulted you for your weight. Regarding the doctor, I think that many doctors believe that everyone should be within a certain weight range, regardless of body type, and don't take into account the fact that we all have different biologically-determined shapes and metabolisms. Obviously we are not all one-size-fits-all. And unfortunately, a lot of society has adopted the same belief, that there is still only an acceptable range of weights for all people.

As for Ann Coulter, I do think she looks very sickly. Her thinness does not look healthy, and she has lost weight in the past year or so. Having seen her at a larger weight not that long ago, it doesn't seem healthy for her and I wouldn't think she just has a naturally fast metabolism. But there are certainly plenty of other reasons to hate her, without having to resort to one of the last acceptable forms of prejudice.

[Bretttido]

19. Try WeightWatchers

My fiance and myself... along with many of our relatives have been on it for 3+ months and every single one of us has lost at least 25 pounds. It's free if you don't want to attend meetings (which I dont). Just look online for how to calculate points and you're set! Hope I don't sound like a commercial, but it truly works.

[rwenos]

4. Green Headed Monster

Maybe 'cause everyone wants to be tall and slim, and not everybody is born that way, eh?

A woman can buy good breasts. But no one can buy tall and slim.

[TrogL]

7. It ain't easy being skinny

• Swimming is much more difficult without body fat for buoyancy
  
• You're cold all the time
  
• Being hit or running into things hurts more without fat for protection
  
• They don't make clothes my size
  
• They don't make cars my size
  

[Kiouni]

10. Thats the funniest

damn thing i've heard tonight TROGL, I hear you but it could be worse too, its just not all the obesity making it hard either. I'm 5'8 and 190 pounds, i am technically obese to every bmi in the world but i don't have a high fat content. Whats this? All the shirts flare out at the bottom so peoples guts don't show, if your athletic or just skinny you have to almost get your clothing tailored.

[alittlelark]

5. In the early 80's I was called anorexic

It was the FAD disease. I have been 20% underweight for most of my life.

IT SUCKED.

[samsingh]

6. envy

[Hekate]

8. Envy. Everywhere we turn we're told we MUST be thin to be healthy &/or ...

... beautiful. Simultaneously we are swamped with corporate-food-product ads that push super-calorie food the same way they used to push cigarettes, and with the same result.

We consume the product. We (the country) are obese. Everything from car seats for babies to hospital beds is being supersized to accomodate.

And yet the same ad agencies that are turning the US into a gigantic feedlot, are displaying photos of models who are skeletally thin. And health organizations are sounding the alarm about the consequences of obesity.

Serious cognitive dissonance going on. I think you are the victim of envy.

I'm impressed you know the word ectomorph, though. My ex-husband was a classic endomorph, built like a teddy bear. He practically killed himself with weight lifting and other exercises, but he was still built like a teddy bear.

Hekate

[TrogL]

12. Learned it in health class in Grade 9

[progdonkey]

9. maybe this endo-mesomorph can explain... :-)

I'm sorry you were teased about being very thin; the people doing that are just the same as those who'd make fun of the fat kids who were just very endomorphic. I was never obese as a child, but I was definitely pudgy and was on the receiving end of a lot of teasing about being fat--usually by extremely thin kids who were ectomorphic like you and could pig out without ever suffering any weight gain. (I'm not meaning to slight you, but rather say we're really on the same page here: you were teased by overweight people who never had to worry about being underweight, and I was teased by people who never had to worry about being overweight.)

That being said, I don't think Pitt is specifically referring to Coulter's thin-ness, exactly, but the sickly nature of it. It's the difference between being thin and being anorexic: a woman who's just naturally very thin (say, Calista Flockheart) may not have a whole lot of fat or muscle, so some people might jump to the conclusion she's anorexic, but she never looks sickly, since she's getting all of her required nutrition (and then some, probably); whereas a woman who is not only very thin but looks "hallowed-out under the eyes" and like a "heroin addict" is a likely sufferer of some eating disorder (or some other debilitating illness, like chronic anemia, cancer, etc.).


On the more general subject of "healthy weight," etc., I think we definitely need to rethink how we view that whole issue. Again, there's a difference between being thin and being sickly/anorexic-looking; and between being overweight and being unhealthy. I figure your doctor was going with the whole BMI thing, which is absolute bullshit. It doesn't take into account body composition, nor does it take into account your specific bodytype. It's a well-known criticism of the BMI that bodybuilders (the usual, and obvious, example being Ahnold) would be categorized as morbidly obese, because they're carrying perhaps 260 lbs or more on a 6' frame.

What's more important is where your body wants to be. As I said above, I'm an endo-mesomorph, and if I got down to your weight, it'd be extremely unhealthy for me (or, rather, in order to get down to that weight, I'd have to force my body so hard that it would stress my system too much). Likewise, if you hit my weight (5'11", 190 lbs, at 15% bodyfat), you'd probably have to eat so much food that it would stress your system just as much.

On Edit: I forgot to add something important: this is not to say that I agree that Coulter's physical condition should be a topic of argument, since what concerns us are her nutjob political viewpoints, but I just wanted to point out that I didn't think Pitt was criticizing Coulter for being thin, per se, but for being sickly looking (again, still not something that should really be a topic of conversation, but I doubt that Pitt was referring to ectomorphs at large).

[Control-Z]

11. I hear you.

My father forced me to drink half and half instead of whole milk when I was a child. I was accused of being a speed freak when I was a teen and anorexic during the years I nursed my babies. At 6'6" I was a size "0". Now, in my 40s I am just normal. Size 3 - 5. It's nice. No one gives me a hard time anymore - well, some people do. But it's just out of habit.

My thoughts on Coulter (aside from some other not so nice thoughts) is that she does not have the looks of someone who is natural to her weight. There is nothing casual or composed about the way she carries herself nor does she have the bone structure of an ectomorph. I think she is trying really hard to look like one. It is not attractive. Maybe if she were an otherwise attractive person it would not be as noticeable or perhaps people would be showing concern rather than contempt.

[porphyrian]

13. Obsession with weight is a programmed behavior.

It serves to keep us distracted from addressing any real problems. Exhibiting obsession with weight is proof that you are a Good Consumer - focused not only on your own consumption, but that of those around you as well. Consume and procreate. Forget everything you just heard and go back to sleep.

[TrogL]

14. The google ads are NOT helping

"I lost 41 pounds in 60 days"
"Our Food is Poison"
"Natural Weight Loss"
"Effective Weight Loss"

[Dulcinea]

15. Jealousy!

You have naturally what most of us must work hard for!

[kestrel91316]

16. Hahahahahaha .....................I think I like you.

"I finally broke down and screamed at one "Lookit, somebody with a weight problem like yours shouldn't be telling people how to eat"."

OMG. To have been a fly on the wall..........

[TrogL]

18. It was not pretty

Some people are still not talking to me....which I don't mind.

[Lilith Velkor]

17. I have a thing for male ectomorphs

They always try to fob me off on their bigger friends, so I don't bother anymore.

It's not hate, it's frustration :cry:

[NoodleyAppendage]

20. Psychologically, there's a deep vein of suspicion that ectomorphs are sick

Bony features and skinniness touch upon a latent fear of death in all humans. There's a reason why death or undesirable characters are featured in literature and art as ectomorphic. This fear of ectomorphism was engrained during the late Dark Ages and reinforced by notions later on of being Rubenesque as the portrait of health and wealth.

J

[lumberjack_jeff]

21. Then everyone must LOVE me. n/t

[sendero]

22. 129 is skinny...

.. 168 is not. You don't think you're still skinny do ya? Because if so, that's classic body dysmorphia.

[TrogL]

24. I put on some weight a few years ago

I was on an anti-depressant (remeron) that supressed my "I'm full" trigger and I was stuffing myself 'cause I was always hungry. I shot up to 182 and I've been slowly working it off. I broke through 170 last week.

My comfortable weight is 137-144.

[TrogL]

25. Be that as it may, I tend to be a closet anorexic

[antigone382]

34. Umm...168 on a six-foot tall middle-aged male IS pretty skinny.

Or at the very least, it's on the slender side of average. I wouln't accuse a stranger I had never seen of having a disorder in the way he perceived his own body...

[SmokingJacket]

23. No one hates you for being skinny! I love skinny guys, and chubby .

guys, and well all guys.

Ann Coulter is not a natural ectomorph -- I've seen pictures of her when she was young. Whatever, there are lots of nice anorexics (I used to be one) but there's clearly something unhealthy going on with that woman. It's fair to point it out, imho.

[Moloch]

26. The overweight people in this country (the vast majority)

seem to think its ok to insult and degrade those of us who are thin, when overweight people are rarely ever criticized for their weight. Its an extreme double standard. Those of us who are thin have to pay astronomical healthcare costs because of the ignorant overweight people who think they are healthy and develop heart disease and diabetes. The overweight also cause a lot of harm to the environment because most of drive SUVs (normal cars are uncomfortable for them, because of their girth.) Have you noticed that in recent years it is difficult for non-overweight people to even find clothes in our size? Its ridiculous.

[TrogL]

27. I talked to one of the store managers about that

They have always stocked sizes for "normal" people. 10 years ago, I'd have no problems finding my size (eg. 30-32 waist, 32 inseam) - these days they don't even stock them. Now I have to go to a tall and big men's shop and pay more.

[Nicole]

31. You're joking right?

overweight people are rarely ever criticized for their weight

This country is obsessed with criticizing those who are over weight. Fat jokes have been around a lot longer than anorexic ones.

Just reading the replies on this thread, you can see where some envy those who are thin. I've yet to read anyone envying the fat people.

BTW I'm not overweight & I have no trouble finding clothes in my size. Underweight people probably have a harder time shopping than I do but I'm sure overweight people do also.

[RandomKoolzip]

28. Fat people who happen to be poor are the REAL enemy.

UNITE AGAINST THE IMPOVERISHED OBESE!!

[TrogL]

29. Obesity is a problem in the poor

Most of the cheap food is high in fat content, low in protein. Leaner cuts of meat are more expensive. Vegetables are out of sight.

[RandomKoolzip]

32. Um, I was making a joke.

[Moloch]

35. You must be right.

Eritrea and Burkina Faso are the fattest countries in the world because of the poverty they face. Right.

The USA has more of an obesity problem than any other country because people are LAZY and don't eat right. It has nothing to do with poverty, just weak will power.

[Touchdown]

30. Because guys like you in gay bars across America

roll you eyes, snap your dismissive little fingers, and act disgusted by fattys, even semi-fattys like I've been all my life.

"Stringbean?" God! What I wouldn't give to be called something like that. Try getting that new roller coaster's shoulder harness to click when your 240+.

If your straight, you may have not been taught the homo caste system. Nobody would've heard of Matthew Sheppard if he weighed 200 lbs. I guarantee it.

[hedgehog]

33. People don't hate ectomorphs, but too many people still

latch on to physical characteristics to criticize people they don't like. I find the constant references to Ann Coulter as a skinny skank rather ignorant. Would her opinions be more acceptable if she was a closer fit to current standards of beauty? Speculating whether Bush's appearance indicates that's he's drinking or doing pills is acceptable. Commenting on how his wife looks in pant suits is not valid political criticism. (Take those comments to the fashion police.) Commenting on how poorly Bush's suits fit as an indicator of his poor fashion sense is not valid. Speculating that the poor fit indicates something is wrong with his health is valid. I'm pretty sure you can see the difference; too many here do not. Cheap shots at someone's appearance do not constitute intelligent political discussion.