https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/miss-indiana-normal-an-addendum-to-the-earlier-thread Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Sun, 26 Apr 2026 17:08:06 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/miss-indiana-normal-an-addendum-to-the-earlier-thread#post-1278586 Sun, 15 Jun 2014 16:53:55 +0000 lyn* 1278586@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I think how you carry your weight is a big difference too ... like I felt more flabby (which probably isn't an objective measure) as a 140 lbs with 5'7"; but I feel more fit now at about 150 lbs and still 5'7".</p> <p>If you're weighing in at 120 and 5'7", there's probably not too many weighs (haha, ways), you can cut that - you're pretty skinny. If you're 110 lbs and 5'7" that's starting to get pretty unhealthy. At my lowest (hospitalizable) weight, I was about 97 lbs. At that weight, there is no longer menstration and you get that funny hair growth all over (lanugo, for you medical types) and it's weeeeeird. Cold all the time. Can't sit down because it hurts. Not fun. <b>Still a size 4 though!!!!</b></p> <p>I think 6 ft tall and 115 lbs is pretty extreme. That's a scary weight to be at - and I don't think I'd be comfortable with that at all.</p> <p>I think your pelvis size has a lot to do with what size you are and what clothes you can fit in. I carry my weight around my belly and I know that has been going down with working out (despite my weight going up). My weight overall has been going up and I've been moving up a size because of my shoulders and chest; but I don't think that's an unhealthy thing either. Now I'm in the zone between a 4 and a 6.&nbsp;</p> <p>A lot of GP's now use a hip to waist ratio as a better indication of health </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/miss-indiana-normal-an-addendum-to-the-earlier-thread#post-1278225 Sat, 14 Jun 2014 22:54:07 +0000 Deborah 1278225@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Not sure I can comment as reading the article it appears that I am "plus"sized by US standards:). Trying to get my head around that one. US sizing fascinates and scares me! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/miss-indiana-normal-an-addendum-to-the-earlier-thread#post-1278068 Sat, 14 Jun 2014 17:05:00 +0000 crutcher 1278068@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Saw Miss Indiana on NBC Today this morning and the tab said she is 5'8" and weighs 138 which is not skinny...Good for her...Seems to be right in the middle and a healthy weight.. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/miss-indiana-normal-an-addendum-to-the-earlier-thread#post-1276577 Thu, 12 Jun 2014 19:32:25 +0000 catgirl 1276577@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I think this just shows how warped our perspective has become.&nbsp; And skinny is normal too.&nbsp; But when EVERYONE is skinny, the less skinny person will stand out.&nbsp; She is beautiful beyond belief for sure.</p> <p>I was more impressed that she is very close to my body shape - broad shoulders, narrower hips, relatively undefined waist.&nbsp; And I found it attractive, which tells me I should appreciate my own body type more instead of wishing for everyone else's features.</p> <p>Rabbit, I was once the same weight but a size or two smaller because it was all muscle then.&nbsp; Sigh.&nbsp; Not about the "smaller" but about the loss of my lovely muscles! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/miss-indiana-normal-an-addendum-to-the-earlier-thread#post-1276556 Thu, 12 Jun 2014 18:58:59 +0000 Isabel 1276556@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Rabbit, yes ! &nbsp;That is it ! &nbsp;The "average" woman. &nbsp;Years ago, the "average" woman was suppose to stay home and cook and take care of the kids and make sure that everything revolved around "hubby's hard day". &nbsp; &nbsp;Have we moved away from that expected "average" to an expected "average" look that is really an outlier.</p> <p>And yes to all those that say they feel bad for young women and girls. &nbsp;I am really hyper vigilant about these messages because of my 11 year old daughter and her friends. &nbsp; : &nbsp;( &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;Especially with all the reality tv being touted as "real life".&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/miss-indiana-normal-an-addendum-to-the-earlier-thread#post-1276548 Thu, 12 Jun 2014 18:33:38 +0000 rabbit 1276548@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I wish there was a lot more emphasis on 'function' rather than 'form'. &nbsp; In other words, to my mind&nbsp;health is determined by what you can do with your body, i.e. if I was a caribou, could I keep up with the herd and outrun a predator? &nbsp; </p> <p>With my own body, barring a joint or foot issue or an illness, the question is, can I run without getting winded? &nbsp;What is my endurance while running, walking or climbing? &nbsp;What kind of strength do I have to lift or push or carry? &nbsp; What kind of flexibility and balance? &nbsp;What is my baseline and how can&nbsp;I improve it? &nbsp;When I couldn't do any impact activities at all&nbsp;with my foot for a year, I tried to look at what I could do to keep up my energy levels and mood.</p> <p>Often I weigh more when I have more muscle mass, &nbsp;but I might sometimes be leaner in silhouette or at the waist for example. &nbsp; My DH does various kinds of bicycle racing and often gets left in the dust by someone in their 60's. &nbsp;As I see it, form follows function, and physical strength&nbsp;is something that if I am&nbsp;privileged enough to have at some point, I&nbsp;use or lose. &nbsp; If one&nbsp;uses it, and is lucky enough not to have or develop&nbsp;other health limitations,&nbsp;it's kind of incredible at what ages people can continue to be physically strong.</p> <p>So that was a long-winded digression, but I that's where I worry about the 'average' - not in how it applies to dress sizes or weight, but to how fit is that 'average' woman? &nbsp;Especially compared to an average man? &nbsp;Or to her mother or grandmother at the same age?</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/miss-indiana-normal-an-addendum-to-the-earlier-thread#post-1276381 Thu, 12 Jun 2014 15:20:41 +0000 rachylou 1276381@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>It's all interesting to me, esp. as a type 1 diabetic. Supposedly it's even more important for me to be in the "right weight range," and my doctor essentially wants me to be invisible when I turn to the side. I'm maybe between 135 and 140 lbs now, and my doctor complains. At the same time, my doctor sends me to the hospital at 115 lbs, starts keeping an eye on my being underweight at 120 lbs. I've got about a 5 lb complaint-free window between 125 and 130 lbs. That's not much in my book.</p> <p>I also have to say all the doctors in my life (i.e., friends and family), they get on with the morbid-obesity talk a lot sooner than I, for one, would expect. It's ironic, because people who are "slightly overweight" apparently live longer. And if I hadn't been "overweight" when I became diabetic, I would have gone into hospital from the weight loss.</p> <p>Anyways tho, since I'm 5'6" and headed for hospital at 115, I find it amazing anyone can be 6' and 115 and <i>not dead</i>. In organ failure at the very least, I'd think. But no, they're out there walking and talking. It really all depends. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/miss-indiana-normal-an-addendum-to-the-earlier-thread#post-1276363 Thu, 12 Jun 2014 14:52:21 +0000 Astrid 1276363@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Janet, I do agree that size doesn't say anything and I only named those numbers because hearing them I never placed them anywhere near the overweight category - to me this weight has absolutely nothing to do with being "obese". And I don't like the BMI either. But I do think that you generally shouldn't be afraid to name some numbers what they are - "obese" and "underweight". To me those words are not related to dress size, but there is such a thing as being too thin or overweight and I think it's important to be able to recognize that. I also get the argument that your weight and health don't have to be directly related (like the overweight person being fit is better than the thinner person with no fitness at all), but I do think that in the long run you are always healthier when you have the weight that's right for you. Whichever number that is. And some numbers I would clearly place into a quite wide bracket where you don't have to judge on a case by case basis IMO. Anything over or under you'd have to look at individually, I guess.</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/miss-indiana-normal-an-addendum-to-the-earlier-thread#post-1276262 Thu, 12 Jun 2014 12:46:16 +0000 Janet 1276262@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Can I say I hate the numbers game that all this becomes? It's completely arbitrary and only serves as a terribly unproductive point of comparison. Even though I am wholly aware of it, my brain starts calculating where I am on the "normal" or "average" or god forbid "attractive" weight/height/size spectrum. If a grown woman of almost 50 can get caught up in that thinking, imagine how hard it is for young girls and women to resist comparing. And comparison, as IK once pointed out, is the thief of joy.</p> <p>Let's not get into labeling any size or weight as "underweight" or "obese" unless we are a doctor evaluating a patient in person. People are made with hugely varying builds, and numbers never tell the whole story. Don't even get me started on BMI and how flawed that is. I know there are women who are my exact height who weigh more than me, but wear smaller dress sizes than me. What does it mean? Nothing. We are all different, and we are all amazing. </p> <p>Miss Indiana is very attractive. And yes, she is normal. She does not have extra appendages or a tail. But she is not average. Neither am I, by the numbers. And strictly speaking, neither are most of us here on this forum. Which is pretty funny, when you think about what "average" is supposed to mean. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/miss-indiana-normal-an-addendum-to-the-earlier-thread#post-1276204 Thu, 12 Jun 2014 10:18:39 +0000 crutcher 1276204@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>My concern with all of this nonsense is the message that young girls get from these people...Seeing Miss Indiana as a fit but skinny woman could make it difficult for a young adolescent trying to get a stab on who she is...Maybe her body type will allow her to work out and be fit and skinny ...maybe it won't and the end result could be negative body image...How hard it is on young girls today... </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/miss-indiana-normal-an-addendum-to-the-earlier-thread#post-1276151 Thu, 12 Jun 2014 06:51:56 +0000 Astrid 1276151@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I don't like the word "normal". But you can say that she is NOT average. She definitely lucked out in the genetic lottery and looks like she worked a lot to "optimize" herself further. </p> <p>As for weight, a size 4 seems to be a size 34 here. Well, I've never worn a size 34 after puberty. My hips just wouldn't fit, no matter what. I wore a 36 (6) as a very slender teen. And Rachylou, I'm a bit confused how a woman being 5'4'' and 120lbs can be in any way termed as obese!? I'm 5'3" and unless my weight conversion doesn't work right this is pretty much the weight I had as a teen. A very slender teen. Alright, maybe this woman would be very slenderly built to start with so that would mean the weight would look like slightly too much, but obese? I remember when I was 15 and I had pneumonia and very high temperatures and couldn't keep anything down for a week - I lost a lot of weight very suddenly. I suddenly had 108 lbs. Going back to school people complimented me on loosing weight! And I might have looked thinner in my clothes. But I did look like a "bag of bones" underneath. I was so glad when I had my old weight back two months later. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/miss-indiana-normal-an-addendum-to-the-earlier-thread#post-1276124 Thu, 12 Jun 2014 05:13:42 +0000 rachylou 1276124@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>That's an excellent point, Gigi.</p> <p>5'8"... you know, from 5'6" at least, a size 4 doesn't say "skinny" to me for someone's who's 5'8". I've been watching some show about *fat brides* - or actually, I've been listening because it just comes on the tv channel I run in the background. They would say stuff like *you're 5'4 and 120 lbs, oh the horror* - and I was <i>What?! That's scandalous. That's misogynistic</i>. But I finally turned around and looked... and yeah, my doctor would've put them on a diet too. It doesn't take much to get into morbidly obese territory.</p> <p>Anyways, I think you have to look. Miss Indiana looks like an athlete to me, which is different from being healthy and different again from more likely to live longer. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/miss-indiana-normal-an-addendum-to-the-earlier-thread#post-1275994 Thu, 12 Jun 2014 02:29:06 +0000 Gigi 1275994@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I like what Isabel said: sometimes we confuse "normal" with "average."</p> <p>Reading the article got me thinking—kind of along the lines of what Lyn just said—about what it means that the "average" woman is a size 14. Is the average the best indicator of general weight among women? Or would some other type of statistical data be better, like the median or the mode? (It's been a long time since I've taken statistics, so others are welcome to correct me!) </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/miss-indiana-normal-an-addendum-to-the-earlier-thread#post-1275841 Wed, 11 Jun 2014 23:32:42 +0000 lyn* 1275841@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>To say she's average makes me think 50% of us are "skinnier" and 50% of us are "larger" - which is so not true ... I don't think, anyway.&nbsp;</p> <p>:p I don't look like her in a bikini at all! I might be the same size in clothes, but that's not a reflection of how we carry our weight or the amount of muscle or other body composition we have. I can be a "soft" 4 or a "hard" 4 ...&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/miss-indiana-normal-an-addendum-to-the-earlier-thread#post-1275830 Wed, 11 Jun 2014 23:28:13 +0000 ironkurtin 1275830@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Right! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/miss-indiana-normal-an-addendum-to-the-earlier-thread#post-1275817 Wed, 11 Jun 2014 23:17:13 +0000 Isabel 1275817@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Rachy, she is 5'8''.</p> <p>Lyn, you are her size. &nbsp; : &nbsp;) &nbsp;She is exactly your size ! &nbsp;</p> <p>IK, I think that these conversations are important, especially for girls. I also think that we often confuse "normal" with "average". &nbsp;This woman is not average and to talk about it as if what she has should be attainable to all women, is a disservice. &nbsp; But you are sooooo right, we are ALL normal and beautiful. &nbsp; : &nbsp;)&nbsp;</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/miss-indiana-normal-an-addendum-to-the-earlier-thread#post-1275805 Wed, 11 Jun 2014 23:07:23 +0000 ironkurtin 1275805@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Ha. WhatEVER. One person labels her "normal," another says she isn't, another says fashion-normal isn't healthy, another says American-base-weight isn't.&nbsp; She's a pretty girl.&nbsp; So am I.&nbsp; Good for us.&nbsp; The end. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/miss-indiana-normal-an-addendum-to-the-earlier-thread#post-1275802 Wed, 11 Jun 2014 23:06:56 +0000 lyn* 1275802@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I don't think I'll ever be smaller than a size 4 because of the size of my hips. Like I literally cannot be smaller than what I am now - I can lose fat or even muscle, but the size of my pelvis is the size of my pelvis.</p> <p>I would think she looks relatively healthy, I'd be pretty happy to be her size though </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/miss-indiana-normal-an-addendum-to-the-earlier-thread#post-1275797 Wed, 11 Jun 2014 23:03:00 +0000 rachylou 1275797@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>The <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_standard_clothing_size" rel="nofollow">history of US standard sizing</a> on Wikipedia is fascinating. Dress size is totally meaningless. Being told Miss Indiana is a size 4 tells me nothing about her weight and health. However, I see a couple of things: she's quite far from the *golden mean* (which I believe is correlated with fertility and other health issues) (and which is genetic) and she has very little fat (which I suspect comes from working out a lot). </p> <p>Long and short: I wouldn't want to be her and get ill, and I'll bet a nickel that she's at slightly higher risk than average for illness.</p> <p>I'll tell you: I'm size 4 and 5'6," and I'm about 4 months pregnant with a food baby.</p> <p>And I'll tell you: I will never be smaller than a 4 because of my shape. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/miss-indiana-normal-an-addendum-to-the-earlier-thread#post-1275725 Wed, 11 Jun 2014 21:27:30 +0000 Isabel 1275725@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>There was an earlier thread regarding an article about how Miss Indiana had a "normal" body. &nbsp;Most of us disagreed.&nbsp;</p> <p><div>Today I read a counter argument to it. &nbsp;And I think this journalist is right on.</p> <p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/11/no-miss-indiana-s-body-isn-t-normal.html">http://www.thedailybeast.com/a.....ormal.html</a><br /></div> </p>