Acceptable clothing

[abcdefg]

In line with what @MeiMay was saying, my hometown in NE Texas is full of morbidly obese citizens of all races, creeds, and colors. Until recently I worked in the medical field, and these "Supersized" folks presented multiple practical problems.

 

The stretchers/gurneys were not strong enough, the wheelchairs were not wide enough, the scales did not weigh high enough, and so on. Equipment designed to reach interior body parts was often not long enough. X-Ray and Ultrasound imaging tests were less precise because of the bulk of tissue they were required to penetrate.

 

And we always had to be very sensitive not to make any reference to their body habitus that might cause offense. We developed all sorts of odd but acceptable euphemisms when taking a medical history. "Have you always been somewhat large?" was OK, as was "Were your parents sort of big-boned also?"

 

At WalMart these people had to use motorized shopping carts when they were too fat to waddle the aisles. At the China Star Cafe, the manager would cry to herself as they entered in groups for the $5.98 "all you can eat" lunch buffet.

[MeiMay]

abcdefg: Thank you for your contribution, that is just one (but perfect) example of what I am talking about. Who does NOT think that is horrible? Does it not hurt/scare/disgust you to read that?

ChTTay: then is there a Western culture that doesn't follow the behaviors I criticized? If you feel your culture is one of them, feel free to exclude it in your mind from the umbrella term I used. I think there is a Western culture with universal beliefs, philosophy and behaviors that covers all of the West, in addition to the collections of variations you point out to be separate cultures. In other words: there are things shared by all Western cultures. If you disagree, please explain why you think it's wrong to suggest that.

[Demonic_Duck]

OK folks, aside from all the crap we're giving MeiMay for their misguided ideas about "western culture", seems like we're setting ourselves up with a nice little false-dichotomy here on the side. There is a middle-road between tiptoeing around a blatant obesity problem and deliberately shaming people who are a little on the tubby side, y'know. Of course, obesity problems are based in psychology, and shaming someone isn't exactly going to have a positive effect on their mental health, is it?

[Lanchong]

In line with what @MeiMay was saying, my hometown in NE Texas is full of morbidly obese citizens of all races, creeds, and colors

And in Italy, woman have an average BMI of 21.2. Yet for some reason, NE Texas and Italy are being put under the same umbrella in this discussion.

[Lu]

MeiMay, I don't know where you are, but if you think one town in Texas is a good representation of ALL of 'Western culture', I'd recommend to see a bit more of the world. There is a Western world, but there are many, many Western cultures.

Also consider going to a touristy place in China and count the number of fat Chinese people you see walk by. You'd be surprised. There is this image of Chinese people all being very skinny, and while there certainly are a lot of slim Chinese, there also are a lot of fat ones. This is not something unique to the West.

And yes being very fat is a bad idea, both for the fat person and for society if many people are very fat. I think given the shit society gives fat people, on top of the practical problems it brings, there must be very few people indeed who enjoy being fat and don't want to be slim. People generally don't become fat because they think they'll like the body shape. There is, in my opinion, no need to further pile shame on people who dare to be fat, because generally, they will already know they're fat and already be unhappy about it. Shaming them or being disgusted by them won't help anyone.

Everyone has bad habits. The only difference between a fat person and a sloppy person or an alcoholic or someone who is always late is that a fat person wears their bad habit on the outside for all the world to see and to judge.

[MeiMay]

I have traveled and I can tell you it's not only one city on Texas. I agree, everyone has some bad habits. The difference is between accepting your faults and doing nothing about them, and rejecting your faults and working hard to get rid of them. The difference in attitude exists both on a personal and a societal level. That is as far as I'm going to go in the way of justifying my views. I was expressing my feelings about a certain subject and my views on the differences between cultures when it comes to that subject, that's all. I feel people reacted to it as if I'd told everyone to go up to fat people and make them personally feel bad. I'm sorry so many people got upset. Perhaps it would be better to get back on topic.

[ChTTay]

"Also consider going to a touristy place in China and count the number of fat Chinese people you see walk by. You'd be surprised. There is this image of Chinese people all being very skinny, and while there certainly are a lot of slim Chinese, there also are a lot of fat ones. This is not something unique to the West." Lu #25

Indeed! India has 5% morbid obesity. Not just fat... But morbidly so.

Obesity in China is at around 5% nationwide but can be as high as 20% in some cities. According to wikipedia, due to it's massive population, one fifth of the worlds one billion obese people come from China.

Also a rise in diabetes in Asia. Many factors but one of which is lack of exercise and bad diet.

[gato]

Getting back on topic, so what is acceptable clothing for a fat Western model in China?

[Demonic_Duck]

If you're a man, it's letting your beer-belly hang out for everyone to see.

 

Fuck gender discrimination. If you're a woman I suggest you do the same thing, if you see anyone 盯着 you just give them 臭脸.

[Lu]

what is acceptable clothing for a fat Western model in China?

Whatever suits your style, fits your body, keeps you at a comfortable temperature and covers you up to an extent that you don't get more looks than you want. Also applicable for skinny non-models from other countries.

[ChTTay]

People stare anyway. Just wear whatever you like.

[Baron]

There did seem to be a weird double standard in China about acceptable clothes for Chinese and foreign people. It seems like if a foreign girl wears a vest top, people would instantly assume she was a harlot or very available, yet Chinese girls could walk around in tiny tank tops and micro shorts and no one would bat an eyelid.

 

Cleavage and flip flops ('wearing slippers in the street?! No culture!') were offensive enough for people to comment loudly and openly on, but last time I was in China it looks like flip flops are becoming more acceptable, in that I saw Chinese girls wearing them.

 

I don't think people like to see revealing clothes on girls who are not very slim. I think it's something about wobbly flesh that's seen as very sexual.

 

Revealing clothes aren't morally or religiously offensive to most Chinese, it's just that some people will judge you and stare so it really depends how much you'd like to avoid that.

[Guest realmayo]

Too much carbs. 20 years from now giving a child a can of coke will be like offering them a smoke. 

 

Re-writing current official health guidelines aside, I think Baron's right: skinny and skimpy can be normal and not seen as super sexy. Maybe attracts more jealous looks from women in places where the population is getting fatter.

 

Some time ago I remember friends describing International Pop Star Coco Lee 李玟 as face of an angel, body of a devil which I think would have been: "天使脸孔，魔鬼身材。" She was, ahem, curvy and at the time rather curvier than most of the competition.