Messed Up

Hello! I arise to tell you a story that really crystallized for me how messed up we are in the US about thinking about how women's bodies should look.

Last night I was at a party for R's department, talking to a student who knew the part of the world I do research in. She was asking about my research and if I was "tough" because of having to live in harsh field conditions. I told her the only harsh condition was the food, which resulted in me quickly losing a lot of weight. But when I returned everyone kept saying how good I looked like 20 pounds lighter. And I had to reply -- I don't look good, I look starved! This is not healthy! The other woman has a similar experience where she was really sick for awhile and lost a lot of weight and everyone complimented her on how good she looked. Both of us were amazed at the experience of being malnourished and sickly and yet receiving more compliments on our looks than ever. Dude, that ain't right.