Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Just heard something on the radio. This woman thinks that a lot of women carry extra weight to protect themselves. She was sexually abused and thinks that she carries weight because it makes her less desirable so nothing like that happens again. (subconscious of course, she did try and lose weight but never really succeeded.)
I wasn't abused or anything but I wonder if that's true. I like getting whistled at and whatever because I think it's flattering, but I do get all awkward and embarrassed because I don't know what to do or say, even when getting flirted with. But I think I mostly like it. Does that ring true for any of you? (don't need to get all oprah if you don't want to though)

7 comments:

Bri said...

uh, no. I'm just this way cause I'm lazy and eat too much :)

Crabby McSlacker said...

Hmm, I do think, for some women, this may be going on.

The unconscious is so tricky--you can really be unaware of all the messed up things you're telling yourself below the level of conscious thought. And for someone who was abused when they were little? Doesn't seemed farfetched at all to me that you'd want to protect yourself from male attention, even if you had no clue you were doing it by holding on to extra pounds.

Really interesting post!

marie said...

Without sharing too much, yes, I think it can be valid in certain cases, including my own childhood obesity.

but it was another situation that woke me and realized that I was taking myself for granted as well.

It's all about being able to realize what we subconsciously do to ourselves and make an effort to change things for the better.

Angela Power said...

Yeah, in a sense for sure. People struggle with weight for all sorts of reasons and I could totally see some people doing it for that reason subconsciously. It's one of those things that each person has to figure out on their own individually and you can't find the answer in anyone else but yourself. I think it's important to look at it this way though because it helps you take a deep look into it.

Re the compliments and attention - When the compliments starting rolling in and people were so enthusiastic (especially when I'd go back home and see people who hadn't seen me through the progression), I'd get huge reactions and compliments. I never really got used to it and it started to border on uncomfortable and awkward for me even though it felt good too.

Carolyn said...

I always love compliments but I guess at the beginning when I still had so far to go, It was kind of awkward getting compliments. Mostly because you know people are staring you up and down and it's a little uncomfortable.

I can see why people would put on weight to make themselves feel unattractive. In my own case, it was just neglect and ignorance that made the scale read 222lbs at my highest!

Candace MacPherson said...

I have watched young girls let themselves go in other ways (greasy hair, slouching, etc) after abuse, so why not weight.

I think, with so many overweight and obese that we could blame it on any number of things. I like to blame mother nature who got took my metabolism and knocked it down a notch somewhere between ages 29 and 30.

Vanessa said...

I think it definitely happens. However, I also think some women will use the "subconscious sabotage" as an excuse for being lazy/not wanting to do the work to lose weight. It varies greatly with the person/situation.

Good post! Definitely something to think about.