The media was the main focus of discussion around social pressures to be thin, however several women also described occasions where male partners or friends made negative comments about their weight. For example, Rachel (62 year old lesbian) described how her ex-husband referred to her body shape during arguments: think he did use my body shape, er, you know, at ‘I times when he [...] it was more like a taunt that he could use if we wanted to… humiliate me were having a row or year old lesbian); and Holly (69 year old gay something’ (Rachel, 62 woman) recalled being teased by a male of them said I was far too big. He used to friend: ‘one call me when I dieted, that was the A small number of “pear-drop bum”. That’s reason why’. women also thought that their heterosexual friends talked about their body size and appearance more than their non-heterosexual friends. For example, Pat (27 year old lesbian) recalled how heterosexual friends often discussed their body size/weight but she had a similar ‘hadn’t ever conversation with lesbians’. Such comments suggest that interpersonal pressures often originate from predominantly mainstream (heterosexual) sources. However, the source of such comments did not diminish their harmful effect. Jolim (27 year old lesbian) described how she was bullied because of her weight, and how her weight was the most salient source of stress: always going to get bullied for being a if ‘You’re big girl, doesn’t matter you’re gay, straight, bi, anything, you know. People see you as fat, they will call you fat. My weight has always been my, my one prime concern.’ Critiquing mainstream pressures Over half of the women were explicitly critical of mainstream idealisation of thinness. These women were particularly angry about the emphasis on slimness, and, in direct media’s
The media was the main focus of discussion around social pressures to be thin, however several women also described occasions where male partners or friends made negative comments about their weight. For example, Rachel (62 year old lesbian) described how her ex-husband referred to her body shape during arguments: ‘I think he did use my body shape, er, you know, at times when he wanted to… humiliate me [...] it was more like a taunt that he could use if we were having a row or something’ (Rachel, 62 year old lesbian); and Holly (69 year old gay woman) recalled being teased by a male friend: ‘one of them said I was far too big. He used to call me “pear-drop bum”. That’s when I dieted, that was the reason why’. A small number of women also thought that their heterosexual friends talked about their body size and appearance more than their non-heterosexual friends. For example, Pat (27 year old lesbian) recalled how heterosexual friends often discussed their body size/weight but she ‘hadn’t ever had a similar conversation with lesbians’. Such comments suggest that interpersonal pressures often originate from predominantly mainstream (heterosexual) sources. However, the source of such comments did not diminish their harmful effect. Jolim (27 year old lesbian) described how she was bullied because of her weight, and how her weight was the most salient source of stress: ‘You’re always going to get bullied for being a big girl, doesn’t matter if you’re gay, straight, bi, anything, you know. People see you as fat, they will call you fat. My weight has always been my, my one prime concern.’ Critiquing mainstream pressures Over half of the women were explicitly critical of mainstream idealisation of thinness. These women were particularly angry about the media’s emphasis on slimness, and, in direct
Huxley%20et%20al%202013%20JHP%20WRAP%20Final%20MS.docx