The Big Fat Conundrum

So it's pretty widely agreed that in order (in most cases) for a woman to get a job, doctor, husband, not be treated like crap by most of humanity in this country, she must be thin.

And pretty, and stylish.

It's also pretty widely agreed that in the US, obesity is a HUGE problem. Pun intended. Note the irony that a nation obsessed with thinness is one of the fattest in the world.

I am not considered thin in Liberal Yuppieland, despite fitting into a size 2 or 4 and being at what medical professionals tell me is a healthy weight/body fat percentage. I am just a shorter, smaller-boned person and always will be. That's my DNA, and there's not even a plastic surgery invented to fix it.

I was about to feel all guilty for not having been to the gym or having done crunches in a week when I ended up going shopping yesterday for new summer clothes.

Nothing in the petites' or the regular misses' department fit me. Misses' shirts are like a dress on me, and the bulk of the stuff in petites starts at size 10P or so - way too big. There were like 4 garments in my size to choose from. Although it is nice of them to mark petites's sizes up so if short women ARE fat, they feel even worse about themselves. Where is there a selection of stuff that fits me properly? Teenybopper stores like Express and Limited Too (where I'm far from the biggest size). Or Saks and Nordstrom, but I can't stomach $300 on one outfit.

My message that I can take away from this excursion: You're not thin enough according to the harsh judgemental society of Liberal Yuppieland (no six-pack and not ALL of your bones poke through your skin.) However, you are not big enough to be able to buy clothes off the rack that will allow you to dress your age.

So, fashion industry: Which the freak is it?!?! Am I too fat or too thin?