Does anyone ever feel like the stereotypical fat American?

I don't want to sound bad news, but American retailers have been down-numbering their clothes for some time.

I remember this being true when I worked at Express for some time..


I want to agree with Wishstar about rude kids here.. I think  I've been close to tears  from what a punk A**  kid has  said to me  than any other person in my life..  It's too bad  these  little things  bring back all your  insecurities..    Where I live  I don't agree  England is more fashionable.. nor are the people  "smarter looking"..  Then again I am  from  Los Angeles and later the  Phoenix  area  so  maybe that makes me have different expectations..  I DO feel  self  conscious because of the way I talk and that I am louder than most people here..   maybe a bit more straight forward  than most  which may translate as  "pushy"..   I am still new here  so I do  tend  to think people are talking about me..  but who knows??    just do the right thing  and go about your business.      it's tough being an immgrant  but  it's  do able..   I am just so  grateful  to a  supportive patient husband and  such a positive  Site,..

I do especially now since I had my baby 7 months ago and the weight doesn't seem to want to shift.  I suppose it's all about how you feel about yourself.

Thanks so much for bringing up this issue!  It  is something I have been worrying about for our projected move in April.  As if there isn't enough other stuff to worry about!    It is really good to hear everyones perspectives. 

I feel that my concern for what others think of me is, almost without exception, a projection of my own insecurities.  So changing the world is really changing my own way of thinking.  I tend somehow to overvalue the negative reactions I perceive in the world and undervalue the positive I receive at home from my loved ones and friends. 

Having said that, there are incidents like the one described of the little girl and mother.  It helps to think about how to handle that kind of thing ahead of time.  When something similar happened to me (in the states)  I said (to the child)  Yes, I am fat, and isn'it wonderful how different people are?   Different colors,  ages, heights,  and  all?    I have also responded, depending on the innocence or maliciousness of the comment,  that  my mother taught me that it was rude to make comments on people's appearance.   I find it helps to say something rather than fume and feel powerless. 

Again thanks for bringing the subject up!

Kathleen

I've never felt like a fat American, though to be honest, I am not overweight so I shouldn't.  HOWEVER.  Every single one of my gal friends in Scotland are overwieght.  They get guys chasing them like you wouldn't believe.  They have a confidence about them that is great.  Okay, they wear UK 16 or so, but they don't care.  They take pride in their appearences and enjoy just being themselves.

I've been told over and over that I do not "seem like an American".  I am openminded and am NOT loud, brash or rude.  My wardrobe is certainly American (right down to wearing flannel pj bottoms and slippers to the corner shop for eggs).  It's a personality thing.  

A little confidence, and little self-esteem, you'll be fine.  If people don't like you because you are a "fat American", it is probably because they do not KNOW you.  And, if they do know you and are still going to judge you based on some silly steriotype, drop them--who needs such rude and closed-minded people around...

Okay, they wear UK 16 or so, but they don't care.  They take pride in their appearences and enjoy just being themselves.

A UK size 16 is a US 12. The average American woman last I read was a US 14 or UK 18. Im a UK 16 and feel bad about myself because I was thinner when I moved here (two kids ago) but I dont really think a UK 16 is so big unless youre 5ft tall.

A UK size 16 is a US 12. The average American woman last I read was a US 14 or UK 18. Im a UK 16 and feel bad about myself because I was thinner when I moved here (two kids ago) but I dont really think a UK 16 is so big unless youre 5ft tall.

I agree with you Pebbles!  People have all different sorts of height, body shapes and so forth, that all go into what size clothes someone wears.

interesting article:

http://www.rense.com/general42/sdert.htm

I would guess that most expats who have been abroad for a good while - maybe 15+ years like me, would say it's not really the accent that gives stereotype, it's more the approach towards problem solving and confrontations that are particularly foreign.  How do you go about resolving a dispute with somebody about if you paid the right train fare for example?  How do you resolve a problem with your neighbors, for example?  

I agree with this totally. In the short time I have spent in the UK, the thing that has made me embarrassed to be an American is seeing other Americans being downright rude to working people: store clerks, train conductors, government workers, etc., whenever there is a disagreement.  I think a lot of it is because they are tourists and never have to see the same person again, whereas I am going to have to deal with the same cashiers, postal workers, etc. over and over again, so I try to make an effort to be polite. (I'm also just by nature a quiet, accommodating person.)

I may have previously mentioned an incident when I was on the immigration line at Manchester Airport, very nervous about whether I would be let through (I'd made multiple visits but didn't have my fiance visa yet), and the only other Americans on the line were a group of tourists who hadn't filled out their landing cards correctly and tried to bully their way past the ECO. I was terrified that their behavior would influence the ECO's opinion of me and he wouldn't let me in.  The thing is, when I told my sister about it, she acted like the tourists did a good thing by "standing up for their rights."  So I guess that often when Americans think they are just being assertive, to Brits (and some other Americans like me) they are being obnoxious.

Okay, they wear UK 16 or so, but they don't care.  They take pride in their appearences and enjoy just being themselves.

ummmmmm.  I wouldn't consider a UK size 16 to be fat.  Or even that much overweight.  OK, not thin, but jeez, I hope that's not everyone's definition of fat. 

I don't really feel qualified to say anything as I am relatively thin but the one thing I did like over here is seeing presenters who aren't stick figures...GM-TV news (channel 3 in London) has a few people who are definitely not US news people thin and I think they look great!  Also I do like the fact that you can wear just about anything around here and not totally stick out.  In London it's weird to have a US accent as most people then just assume you are a tourist...

Definitely give the country a chance...2 weeks is not enough to get to know a place by any means...

ummmmmm.  I wouldn't consider a UK size 16 to be fat.  Or even that much overweight.  OK, not thin, but jeez, I hope that's not everyone's definition of fat. 

Not even close!!!!  I can't believe people would think it is!  But considering how thin some of these kids are on the High Street, I can imagine they do!

ummmmmm. I wouldn't consider a UK size 16 to be fat. Or even that much overweight. OK, not thin, but jeez, I hope that's not everyone's definition of fat.

I'm a UK size 16 and I am not fat and no one would ever look at me and say "man, she's fat" because I'm not.

Exactly Ashley.

As for the clothes sizing... Lightbulb is right, there is some 'down-numbering' in the retail industry but store demographics also change and they need to reflect that. The Gap is not such as teen place to shop (whereas it was when I was a teen). TopShop on the UK high street bases their sizes on the majority of UK teenagers. In the female example, this is thin, about 5'6 and not very curvy. In the US it's probably safe to say that teens of the same age might be curvier even if they are as thin. M&S on the other hand, has an older demographic and their base body shape is not based on that of a teen.

The Guardian did a big article on this:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,,1327333,00.html

I'm a UK size 16 and I am not fat and no one would ever look at me and say "man, she's fat" because I'm not.

It depends on how you define fat. There's a difference between morbidly obese and "she'd be a bit healthier if she lost a few pounds."

It also depends on whether you define "proper weight" as the weight of the average person of your height or the weight that is medically healthiest for someone of your height and build.

For example, I weigh less than 93% of American women of my age and height, and am therefore underweight, according to this:
http://www.halls.md/body-mass-index/bmi.htm

However, according to all the medical charts, my weight is at the middle of normal range.

When I did weight the "right" weight for my height, I looked seriously ill.

I'm not at a great weight now, but I'm usually okay with it.  I'd be okay with it if clothing was made more to my proportions...