Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Weight Wait!

Taylor 7329 Electronic Lithium ScaleFor women there is no bigger issue out there.. nothing quite so sensitive.. nothing... well.. quite so able to get our hackles up or make us smile than our weight.

Just try it.. For those of you brave enough.. Try telling a woman.. any woman.. that she looks like she put on weight. There is no good way to phrase it. You mention this, and if you survive the incident, trust me you'll be on her "shit list" for the rest of the day.. if not the rest of your life.  

The only exception to this might be a woman who is actually pregnant.. but even then.. your chances of a pleasant outcome are miniscule at best.

However, if you really want to make a woman's day.. Tell her she looks a little thinner (genuinely, if the last time you saw her was a size 2 and now she's a size 20, telling her she's thinner might get you a beat down) will always bring a spring to her step.

Men aren't immune to this either.. but for them its usually less severe and does depend on what you say. You tell a man he's fat, it'll hurt. You make it sound like he's bulked up.. its a whole different story. You tell a man he's thinner, its a 50-50 shot as some men are trying to bulk up and will get pissed, others might actually be trying to lose weight and be happy. You tell a man he's looking like he's been working out (even if he never does), or that you like his muscles.. you're golden.

But I digress..

Yesterday I joined @SingleTiffany in a poll based on weight.  Most men got it close to right.. aka avoided the topic completely because they knew when they were "outmatched" by the question... a few men got it right.. and some men got it really wrong.

Its been my experience that men do not understand scales and women.  They understand thin and fat. They understand big and small. They grasp well the concepts of what is attractive to them and what is not.

They do not understand the visual reprensentation of 120 pounds vs 160 pounds unless its of the same quantifiable thing... such as 120 pounds of apples vs 160 pounds of apples.  However, a 120 pound woman can look roughly the same proportions as a 160 pound woman.. or not.  You put two 160 pound women side by side.. one might have a pot belly and the other might be toned and bikini perfect.

If it wasn't well publicized no man would know Marilyn Monroe was a size 16 vs whatever popular size 2 model pinup we have today.  Let alone their actual weights.

Sure sure if you line up girls next to each other, a guy is going to be able to tell you which girl is bigger. Their eyes do work after all.  But unless their a professional scale judge, they're not going to be able to tell you their weight.

This doesn't mean that guys don't have ideas about scale weights. They do.  Some guys insist that a girl must weight under 150lbs, but often they don't understand what that weight means.  I know this because I've dated them. The men who believe in random numbers.

In my beginning years of college is when I ran into most of these Random Weight Number dudes, and since have found all men to fall prey to this in varying degrees.

At the time, I was a very fit, muscular, flat stomached, ample breasted girl. 5'7 and 180 lbs.  In person, I had to peel the men off me.. almost literally. I was stalked. I was clung to.. 

It was insane. 

Yet, when these guys asked my weight, I would tell them.. well after the appropriate "No no.. a girl never says her weight".. and they'd all suddenly look at me different after my confession and back away. Most never really talked to me again as if I'd lied to them the entire time of our "courtship" so to speak.

I nearly got arrested once as well due to my weight.  Because I'm semi-vain, I never put my real weight on my drivers license. Instead I always subtracted about 20 lbs, as thats what most people guessed that I weighted.

I had gained a few pounds during college, so when I renewed my drivers license I put an increased yet false weight on it.  But closer to my actual weight than I usually did before.. 190.

Then I lost a little weight and was actually at or something close to 190.

I was driving through a badly marked school zone going way too fast, like anyone does who doesn't know its a school zone.  Red lights flash, and I get pulled over.

He of course asks for my DL and insurance, and I present it. He then looks at my DL then at me... back at the DL.. then back at me.

"Miss... is this you?" Acting like he's about to make me step out of the car. Hand on gun.

"Yes.." I say looking alarmed and puzzled. 

"It could be you.. maybe.. but.. have you lost weight?" His hand is still on his gun, and he's still examining my DL.

"Yeah a little." 

"You mean a lot." His tone was anything but friendly.

"Wha... Why? Is there a problem?"

He then makes me verify for him everything on my DL. He examines my insurance card to make sure the address matches my DL.

"You need to go get a new DL. I'm writing you a warning. Get it changed. There is no way you're 190 pounds."

He then proceeds to give me a lecture on how important DL descriptions are to prove identity.  Which honestly made me laugh because he wanted me to lie on my DL that I was significantly thinner than I am.

As such, I'm never telling anyone I'm sexually interested in my actual weight. Ever Again.

I did tell my ex my weight once.. (we'd bought a new scale and were trying it out) He pretended to be unaffected, but managed to ask me for several months.. if I really needed that slice of pizza or shouldn't we just skip that cake.. and started talking about "wouldn't it be fun to go to the gym".

Never again.

3 comments:

  1. I understand there's a small population of guys out there that are shallow, moronic, and complete a-holes whose world revolves around a woman being a magical weight number but I think for the most part, women's weight issues are driven by other women. As you said, guys basically give a thumbs up or thumbs down instant reaction. Dress sizes and actual weights mean zippo to 'em (a 2 vs. 16 is inconsequential as you said). I, myself, don't bother to ask, not b/c of the dangerous waters you wind up in, but b/c the #'s mean nothing to me.

    Thus, a "looks great" has a very large band to operate in, especially when considering most guys don't like rail-thin women anyway. In fact, I've developed the theory women look better longer now b/c of weight gains via childbirth etc. over time. Extremely skinny women only seem to reach their full potential afterward when the curves seem to appear, for instance. So, why worry about it when it comes to what guys think?

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  2. I don't think guys understand what composes the number on the scale. Muscle weighs more than fat. Height plays a huge role. Body type. And people hold their weight in different ways. I say if you're healthy and happy with your body, the number shouldn't matter anyways.
    Interesting post!

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  3. Absolutely true! They never even come close, not even within a 10-20 lbs range close. The cop experience you had reminded me of a liquor-purchasing experience I had in which they refused to sell my alcohol until I produced a secondary photo ID. It was ridic.

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