JWIGGIES! Feed them!

[Emoni]

In America, we have plenty of people who are significantly over weight. I'm not going to bash people over weight, but it ain't healthy folks.

However, in Japan I've noticed a significant number of girls who look just sickly thin. They have little to no muscle or fat on their bodies and just look unhealthy and one step from a death camp somewhere. They are the Japanese Twiggies...

They are... Jwiggies.

Now keep in mind that yes, there are an increasing number of overweight people in Japan as well, but in general it is pretty damn low. However, there is a lot to be said for not eating enough as well, or at least not eating healthy.

Looking at the Japanese diet it tends to be pretty healthy, but I swear there are many friends of mine who I look at and can't help but think. "That poor thing, I gotta feed her!" They are literally near anorexic and sometimes I swear that they are. Even to the point where a few friends (in Japan, who were Japanese themselves) worried about their weight... not being enough. This can be due to stress, health, and very other reasons as well.

However, then there are the dipsh*ts that look at the near death skinny girls and say "Oh I'm so jealous she looks great!" You have to be @#%$ kidding me... I swear that there seems to be an extreme aversion in certain areas in Japanese female society (maybe male too) that any fat at all, even healthy levels is a bad thing. I tell many friends all the time, that no they AREN'T fat, they look just fine, and they don't need to go on a diet. I back this up by telling them that girls who are very skinny often aren't found that attractive (by at least American guys). There have been studies to back this up where men were shown pictures of women at various levels of body fat, and their choice was compared to what women thought men liked. The women consistently picked lower weight than the men had picked for the most attractive level of body girth.

Now, let me stress, I'm talking about a normal healthy weight, both muscle and fat here. Both are critical. You can't be walking around at near 3% BF and think that it is a good thing.

What are your thoughts on this? From both sides of the fence, Japan and outside Japan. What are your experiences with this sort of situation?

[Kirakira1232]

As someone that has constantly struggled with their weight, I can understand why people can think they are never "skinny enough". Even people who look healthy may think that they still are fat. Unfortunately this can often spiral into anorexia and bullemia. Even if you tell them over and over that they look fine, that they're healthy, they still look in the mirror and see someone fat and repulsive.

Trying to reconcile how people feel with how they look on the outside I think is a difficult task. Accepting yourself for who you are can be hard in a society that is so focused on the celebrity and airbrushed supermodels. For some people they may believe they may never lose enough weight and continue to do so...often to dangerous levels. Perhaps in Japan this is exacerbated by the need to conform. I believe ex-pats and Japanese posters would have more experience in that than I do.

In my opinion the root of body image issues lie with our obsession with the lives of celebrities and models. We place unrealistic expectations on ourselves to look a certain way and sometimes may take it just too far...

Thats my 2 yen anyway...

[Emoni]

I never did buy that "too much about celebrities so I want to be skinny" stuff. With a decent amount of knowledge it is very easy to understand what is a healthy body weight and what is good for your body and what is bad, in general. Simply put, I was never shown how celebrities directly connect to the creation of a status quo on weight and being too skinny when few people model their lives off them anyway. Maybe for a few, but over all? No I personally don't think so.

Now, the push to conform... that may be more strongly connected. I've seen people take actions in order to fit in with others much more than I've ever seen anyone trying to be skinnier than a celebrity.

Thanks for the nice post.

[Kirakira1232]

But you see I think the two are inter related somehow. For a lot of guys they dont buy into that celebrity crap. But a lot of girls I know do as superficial as that sounds. There is a reason why tabloid mags are so popular among women, they want to see the fashions and so as one group of women imitate and set the trends...the rest follow like a domino effect. Of course I'm not saying ALL women are like this...that would be a gross generalisation but there is no denying media does have some kind of effect on the way women view their bodies.

Consider how Marilyn Monroe was once the pinnacle of beauty 50 years ago...yet as you said a lot of women nowadays want to be way skinnier than that. Look in the fashion magazines, tabloids...esspecially at Japanese models...see how skinny those girls are? Women are in tune with this kind of stuff...and unfortunately some tend to take it to the extreme. The media has a particularly strong influence in Japanese trends.

I watched a TV show called Catalyst on Australian TV where a british researcher took a sample of women of "normal" weight (BMI of around 22-23...yes I know there are limitations to the BMI..) and were aged in their early 20's and took shots of their body. Then he deformed the image and told the women to adjust the image to how they felt they looked like. Almost all the women thought they were 10 kilos heavier than what they really were. Women were particularly concious of the size of their legs and hips and tended to add more weight in those areas than in others. I wish I had a link to the study :\

What society determines is a "healthy" body is tied strongly to the media just as Marilyn Monroe was the pinnicle of beauty in her time, nowadays it is supermodels who need to fit in rediculously small sized clothes. It also varies across cultures too. In Fiji, being overweight is actually a sign of prosperity and good health as opposed to laziness and lack of control.

So I dont think its as simple as "knowing what a healthy body is like". There are many many things that can distort that view, and have a stronger influence than you may think.

I wonder if any of the Japanese posters/ex-pats can shed some light on body image issues of women or men in Japan?

[Emoni]

You do have a point there on gender. I'm a guy, and yes maybe that is part of the reason I don't buy into that stuff. Yes, I do see women going for that sort of material and obsessing over it... and then claiming the blame lies on men expecting those images :P

I agree with you on the fact that they are interrelated somehow, just not the core of the issue BEING celebrity images. I think it is more complex that than. I definitely think that media has an effect, but I'm hesitant about placing BLAME. I think the most dangerous aspect is just the lack of knowledge on the issue and blind acceptance of those images more than anything else. Heck, maybe this relates to that "critical thinking" thread here in regards to questioning and evaluating the information presented to you.

As for skinny girls in magazines, while I don't read many, there are a lot of girls (guys too) in them that look like weak little anorexic twigs, but then there are those who look to be fairly healthy and in decent shape (after the airbrushing of course I'm sure!) One thing I can say, is that a majority of Japanese women who I have talked to about this subject, and it is amazing how much the subject of weight and dieting/starving oneself (seems to be the method of choice based on ignorance) comes up in a conversation, and they consistently seem to have a very... "inaccurate view" of themselves and their appearance. Thinking they are fat, thinking they need to lose weight... when if anything they need to gain a bit of weight and maybe a little muscle to hold their head up.

[Elizabeth]

In America, we have plenty of people who are significantly over weight. I'm not going to bash people over weight, but it ain't healthy folks.
However, in Japan I've noticed a significant number of girls who look just sickly thin. They have little to no muscle or fat on their bodies and just look unhealthy and one step from a death camp somewhere. They are the Japanese Twiggies...
They have to be skipping breakfast or something lol but seriously a lot of this for sure is a combination of genetics, the benefits of a traditional Japanese diet plus maybe an excessive amount of everyday walking. Although girls in the big cities do seem the worst offenders. I swear I could fully encircle both of my hands around some of those waists...:okashii:

[Emoni]

What I find so ironic is that honestly Japanese food IS quite healthy for the most part, but knowledge of health and what is a healthy weight and body seem to be absolutely absent overall. At least it seems to be absent.

I agree with you that it seems to be in the big cities for the most part, giving KiraKira a +10 for the somewhat abstract mention of how the media plays a role. I'm still hesitant to claim that is the source and cause of the problem.

I guess two of the things I'm most curious of are the "Why" and the "How can this be addressed?" aspects (both on a large scale level and personal 1 on 1 level with a friend)