[BenLurkin]

[laney]

No sane woman wants to be fat and for that matter no man we are an image driven society....

Women have always been judged upon her appearance always have always will...

NO reason to be fat unless you are lazy and eat junk.

[Alia]

I continue to find amusing that "strong, intelligent" women must always find a way to blame men for any "issue" women have, and for the choices so-called "fat" women are making.

Women run the consumer market. Women dictate the market (supply/demand). I suppose some women might find it useful to attribute problems to "gender inequality" in order to lose weight. But there's a problem: Once the woman loses all that weight; hits her weight goal -- what then? She psychologically hits a brick wall. If she's thin, and continues to do the psyche-up of "blaming guys", now what? She's gotta continue to blame-guys in order to maintain her weight, or join the anti-guy brigades of feminism in order to maintain her new low weight?

Or will she begin binging once she realizes it was just the "energy drill" that fueled her to lose weight; not necessarily the mantra of "blaming guys" (oppressive society)? She could have picked "any" mantra.

[meowmeow]

She postulates that women get fat because it means they will be taken more "seriously in their working lives outside the home". If they lose weight, they "find themselves being treated frivolously by their male colleagues".

Hmmmm...Maybe if they didn't act like FRIGGIN' IDIOTS they would have less problems. I'm a petite size 4 and I've done quite well in the working world. Except I can't reach the top drawer of the filing cabinet. But no one has ever held that against me.

[sweetliberty]

"She proposes a vastly more complex thesis: namely, that gender inequality makes women fat."

Then how does she explain all the fat men. Add to that the fact that men have less fat cells and typically, a higher metabolism, and her philosphy doesn't hold up.

I do think there's something to women getting fat to avoid being sexualized. I think there are also men who prefer their women with a little extra wight so that other men aren't always looking at them.

[Smokin' Joe]

...compulsive eating and being fat have become one way to avoid being marketed or seen as the ideal woman," she writes.

No doubt an effective method in most venues..

In other words, what your fat says about you, is: "Screw you!"

sigh

So much for "fat and happy."

[Thombo2]

"Gender inequality makes women fat?"Hardly.The author's arguement is tenuous at best.She attempts to provide a politically correct(blame males!)simple anwser to a complex issue.Why do people get fat?1)Some people just enjoy eating.2)Lack of exercise 3)Stress/anxiety/depression.Overeating is often a response to stress.Food="comfort".4)Metabolisms can differ greatly from individual to individual.Some people just tend to metabolize excess calories more readily into fat.5)Low blood sugar levels.We tend to crave sweets when blood sugarlevels drop.