Comments on: Read ‘Em

By: Beth

Beth — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 01:20:48 +0000

Just thought I’d share that my favorite columnist tackled the Meghan McCain issue in a way that makes me proud:

http://www.miamiherald.com/living/columnists/leonard-pitts/story/960263.html

By: volcanista

volcanista — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 18:18:59 +0000

There was one study last year that concluded Australia was the fattest evar, but somewhere in this site’s archives was a post where we picked it apart as a community and came to the conclusion that they were misinterpreting the data, IIRC. But I’m not surprised people remembered that factoid and have regurgitated it without thinking.

By: CassandraSays

CassandraSays — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 05:06:42 +0000

Ok so I followed some links from the Aussie article to more Aussie sites and I’m confused. I keep seeing them state that Australia is “the fattest nation on earth”, but according to the original loathsome article Kate linked the average Aussie woman is an American size 10? And people in Australia think this is huge?

I’m trying to figure out what’s going on here because unless vanity sizing is a lot more prevalant in Australia than it is here I’m just not seeing how “fattest nation on earth” and “average woman size 10 (Aussie 14)” can possibly co-exist.

By: Stacey Stardust

Stacey Stardust — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:56:06 +0000

Does anyone know where that bus shelter ad is exactly? In what city or cities?

Rotterdam, I think.

Alright, thanks!

By: Kaz

Kaz — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 23:06:37 +0000

Is there any room here for discussion about something like this?

http://malecontraceptives.org/

Especially about how this is grossly underfunded because contraception is a woman’s responsibility?

By: Bonnie

Bonnie — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 22:50:04 +0000

People’s perception of human weight is severely, severely warped. And for all the focus on BMI in the media there’s so little understanding of what a difference height makes.
IME someone’s weight has SO LITTLE to do with their appearance! Other factors like skeletal structure and how much muscle vs. subcutaneous fat they tend to carry and where, are what make up the majority of variation.

By: Ostara

Ostara — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 14:48:22 +0000

That’s awesome. It’s amazing to me how clueless men are about what women actually weigh.

Not just men, I think for a lot of women there’s a lot of mystification over weight as well. I remember a friend of mine thinking that the most any woman could ever weigh was 200 lbs. I couldn’t keep from saying, “you know that two years ago I was over 200 lbs, right?” And rather than believe me, she proclaimed that the scale must have been wrong. I still facepalm over remembering that conversation sometimes.

By: Jenny1144

Jenny1144 — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 12:05:08 +0000

Oh, somehow I skipped Agatha’s comment–sorry, Agatha! That didn’t strike me as McCain’s meaning at all, in part because this is taking place within the realm of politics, where I (naively, perhaps) assume a rough direct correlation between a woman’s age and her power. (As opposed to Hollywood, where there would be more of an inverse correlation.) It seemed to me like McCain was combining the message of “you should know better after all your experience” with the message, “You’re an influential figure with the power of age and experience on her side, making snide comments about a young woman in her early twenties who is a relative newcomer to the scene, because you don’t like the way she looks? Way to pick on the new kid.” Granted, Meghan McCain isn’t exactly new to American politics, but it seemed to me that she was portraying Ingraham’s age as a characteristic that strengthened rather than weakened her, thereby making her even more of a bully.

By: marymette

marymette — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:50:53 +0000

No, I think Agatha was saying that. I was referring to Agatha’s comments.

By: Jenny1144

Jenny1144 — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 11:34:09 +0000

Huh, it hadn’t occurred to me that McCain’s comments about Ingraham’s age might mean anything other than “you should know better by now”…marymette, did you think she might have been dishing out a backhanded insult?