That sounds like a really interesting thesis, I bet it was hard to get in the required word count, that’s something that could be a tome! That one reason why I gave up reading the mainstream female magazines years ago because they really are just “diet”, “how to look younger”, and “buy buy buy”. Talk about trying to hammer in a message. It gets dull after a while.

I had a discussion with a friend of mine this evening about the whole men and curves thing, and I reckon that, at a certain point in most men’s lives, it’s not as black and white as “curvy is better”. I think that the culture (of porn, degradation of women, objectification of the female form) that we’re so immersed in now means that men will often go for a woman who fits the cultural ideals, but often in a very casual sense; so the woman he’ll fancy as a trophy will often have a completely different figure to the woman he’ll fancy as a partner. Any men care to give their tuppenceworth?

Oh and re the colleagues question: it’s pretty much a fact that women in the workplace are valued on aesthetics, as they are in any sphere. Men don’t have that pressure – a successful man, no matter what he looks like, is a successful man. A successful woman, on the other hand, if she is good-looking, it is often inferred that she got there by immoral means; if she is not, then she’s probably a bitch, or a lesbian, and in any case a successful woman is often seen to have eschewed her femininity in place of “power”, which (duh) is a masculine trait. We’ve come so far, I think, but there’s so much farther to go, and it’s fair to say that we (women) are our own worst enemies.

Full disclosure: this particular topic is a bit of a bugbear for me, I did my MA thesis on “How women conspire to oppress women in fashion magazines for women, by women”!

Amy – get that post published! You’re a stunning girl in my opinion, but if losing a bit will make you feel better, then go for it.

Well as a lady who has just lost 2 stone I did not want to loose my curves either! I just wanted to loose the flab that made me not want to look in a mirror. The flab that had me buying size 16. The flab that made me hide in black. I did it totally for me but I don’t want to go too far so the loss stops here. Am still curvy – I hope

PS I agree with Amy….you are fabulous! x

I agree with you entirely-curvy is better! I know I harp on a lot about my weight but at 5ft2in its more an issue with buying clothes for me than anything else as a few pounds do not sit well on me! I would have no time for a man who has an issue with my weight but I will admit to caring what other women think of me! At the moment I am incredibly uncomfortable with my weight and even have an unpublished post written! Thanks for this post though-feeling a wee bit better!

PS You are fabulous!