Asian American Attitudes toward Weight | Asian American Poll

AA ATTITUDE TOWARD WEIGHT
(Updated Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:06:43 PM to reflect the 100 most recent valid responses.)

Assuming you are an Asian American, how important is weight in your assessment of a person's attractiveness?
It's a key element of attractiveness. | 57%
It's one of many factors I consider. | 39%
It's less important than other personal qualities. | 2%
I don't care about a person's weight. | 2%

Assuming you are an Asian American, which best matches your feelings toward your own weight?
I'd like to be 20 pounds lighter. | 20%
I'd like to be 10 pounds lighter. | 35%
I'm happy with my weight. | 28%
I'd like to be heavier. | 17%

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WHAT YOU SAY

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I am 5'8" and weigh about 148 pounds, with a 29 inch waist. Throughout my whole life, even now, everyone tells me that I am too skinny. I thought I was pretty average, what do you think.
AA DOOD Tuesday, June 11, 2002 at 17:28:27 (PDT)

I agree that people look best at the weight that's natural for them. I know that Asian women in general have smaller bones and are a little shorter than caucasians. I hate being fixated on what size fits. So many girs I know are like this. Why should fitting into a 2 make you feel so much happier than fitting into a 4? It's just a random number that's really meaningless as each store or designer's size varies.
shopper Monday, June 10, 2002 at 10:14:11 (PDT)

Shopper:

Size 0 corresponds to a size medium in China, which is not so small. Of course, the Chinese women are probably a little shorter than the women here (the average is around 5'3"). I think people look best when they are at the weight that's natural for them, however, I do think the American standard, which may be natural for Caucasians, is a little too large for Asians.

And krasavitsa, men can also be called slim, and women are voluptuous only when they have lots of curves, while men can be called portly even when they have an ugly belly. A fat guy can be stout, chubby, or portly.
Chinese Girl Saturday, June 08, 2002 at 18:34:02 (PDT)

Yes European clothes are cut smaller than American clothes, but only a little smaller. In America I'm a size 4, sometimes a 6, but in Europe I'm a 38, which I think corresponds to an American 8. So only a difference of one size. I am a person of average height and weight, on the thin side, but I could NEVER fit into a size 0 unless I lost about 20 pounds. It is a very small size.
shopper Thursday, June 06, 2002 at 11:32:56 (PDT)

Zhang Ziyi is 5'5".

Just wanted to clarify. And size 0 isn't very small at all, only small according to American standards. In France and Italy they have much smaller clothes.
Chinese Girl Wednesday, June 05, 2002 at 18:48:01 (PDT)

I just had look over the previous postings. They generally promulgate the assumption that women (but not men) should be paranoid about their weight. However, i think women can naturally and aesthetically afford more variation in body weight. Women are slim, whereas men are skinny. Women are voluptuous, whereas men are fat. Men don't have an equivalent of the positive descriptor "voluptuous". A fat guy is just a fat guy.

Come on, let's talk about men's bodies. Let us women be the subjects and not the objects for a change.

I prefer men to be slim, though he has to have a nice frame (naturally broad shoulders) and a bit of muscular tone. I don't like "muscle Mary's" at all (i think most women agree - competitive bodybuilders are *bleugh*).

I can't imagine a fat guy ever being attractive. He would have to have a really nice face and an absolutely fantastic personality.

krasavitsa Saturday, June 01, 2002 at 18:29:29 (PDT)

"stories about parents nagging their teenage daughters about every bite they eat, one mother even tells her daughter to throw up in a bowl after dinner"

My family never told me to puke in a bowl. And i don't want to dis my own community or family, but asian people do criticize my weight often. I'm not fat, but i have a type of body not liked by traditional asian standards. Traditional standards prefer a slimmer body. But I took after my mom who have big breasts and hips. She told me that in China, people criticized her body often. And she suggested I work harder to lose more weight to compensate. so I diet and diet but its so hard. Also, I'm short so my curves look exaggerated and that doesn't help either.

My cousin is very slim and has that nice figure asian women are known for. and its all effortless. I find that she is so much more appreciated by asian men when we go out. She's tall and thin; I'm short and full figured. I find that more asian men prefer her body style than mine. And more non-Asian men approach me. it's weird. But one thing I do get from all races though are questions of whether I got implants. sheesh.
Miss Suzy Wong Friday, May 31, 2002 at 12:35:42 (PDT)

I have two brothers. They don't want a fat woman, yet they say that bones are for dogs. So you all can sit here & chat up the numbers all you want. It matters about how you LOOK. When a guy sees you, he won't know how much you weigh. You can be a muscular 135 or you can be a flabby 135. There is a big difference in looks, here, because muscle is more compact than fat. What do you think they'll go after? Kate Moss or Madonna? Courtney Cox or Angela Basset? Yeah.
Sammi 81 Wednesday, May 29, 2002 at 19:32:43 (PDT)

Yes the media and modeling industries may have a lot to answer for, but it seems that a lot of the extreme pressure to be thin comes straight from the Asian community- parents, etc. Has anyone read "Yell-oh Girls"? There are tons of stories about parents nagging their teenage daughters about every bite they eat, one mother even tells her daughter to throw up in a bowl after dinner so she can stay thin. Is this a healthy example?
question the community Wednesday, May 29, 2002 at 19:26:58 (PDT)

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