Thin vs. curvy – where should a woman stand?

It seems like the world is increasingly waking up to healthier lifestyles and body shapes, though not the ones we may have expected to see only ten or 15 years ago.

It seems that a number of celebrities, as well as the ideals of beauty, have shifted more towards curvy bodies than outright thin. Bigger is more beautiful, though it’s hard to know when to draw the line.Thin vs. curvy – where should a woman stand

There was an interesting article in Hello! Magazine that addressed the issue of curvy vs. fat just a few weeks ago. Focusing on celebrities in its usual fashion, Hello! and its misleadingly-named blogger Cath Bore discussed the results of a recent “perfect body” quiz, which asked over 1,000 people which celebrities had assets they saw to be the most attractive.

While it’s not altogether unsurprising, it was the fuller-bodied celebrities best known for their rears, legs and hips that really caught the eye of those submitting their favourites. Kim Kardashian, Beyoncé Knowles and Jennifer Lopez were certainly noted for their derrieres, while Kim went on to take the best body shape overall.

All are fit and healthy, largely owing to their lifestyles at the gym, on stage or in a TV show with the cameras on them at all times; nonetheless, they’re curvy, and are influencing people around the world with a combination of healthiness and curvaceous feminine outlines.

The article also reflected on the positivity in the UK following Team GB’s success in the Olympic Games, with a number of medal winners falling into the definition of “curvy”. Even if they weren’t curvy, they were muscular and athletic – yet these factors, in the eyes of the general public watching their weight, can often be a big issue – even if their heroes prove otherwise.

This is due to a number of issues, though one relating directly to weight that is particularly problematic is the body mass index (BMI), which does not take a number of key points into account.

For instance, bone and muscle density are not considered as part of the scale, meaning that a lot of people who look slim could be classed as overweight and, in some extreme cases, obese. There are many other things that undermine its accuracy too, as listed here.

It’s disconcerting for those who have already lost weight, or always thought they were of average build, to not fall into the “ideal” category of 18.5 to 25 on the scale. Many will find their body type cannot be anything other than rather bony to fit into this boundary, though being 25 or over on the scale really doesn’t mean that a person will be unhealthy – or unattractive, for that matter.

Instead, it’s important to focus on maintaining a balanced diet of around 2,000 calories a day, as well as using other metrics such as blood pressure, as these can often highlight other health issues and their effects on body shape and size in the long-term, such as diabetes and thyroid issues.

The true issue about accepting curviness is about understanding yourself, it seems. Comedienne Amy Poehler, famous for her appearances on Saturday Night Live, Parks and Recreation, as well as a handful of comedy films, perhaps offers the best advice for women about their image in a recently-posted video focusing on self-image and loving oneself. “I feel what you’re feeling, and I feel most women do,” she explains.

“Sometimes a good way to help yourself get out of it is to have some gratitude,” Amy continues. “What I mean by that is, if you can go around your body and kind of thank it for what it gives you and thank yourself for your great eyesight, or your thick hair, or your nice legs, or your strong teeth, or whatever it is that you have that you were given. And make friends with those parts of your body and not try to focus on the parts that will never change.”

Getting the perfect body is superficial and vain. This may sound overrated but beauty and sex appeal are really more than skin-deep. Having a healthy lifestyle and good perspective are all we need.  Just like in brochures printing, a good design can’t salvage a brochure that has poor quality. So make sure to not only focus on the beauty outside but inside as well.