To calm you down, even though I cannot say this with a 100% certainty, I do not think being really underweight is that trendy as it was in the nineties.
People are conditioned to see underweight bodies as desirable, the natural reaction is neutrality or even pity and concern. As a thought exercise, what do you think, what goes through your head when you see an underweight animal? Most people say empathy, pity, and this is what people normally feel when they see underweight people without the added labels of: this is what models look like, or: look at that flat stomach.
In modern societies with food security, people have grown taller and larger, so I would say being thin is even rarer.
But maybe I am divorced from "beauty" trends. I would definitely say there are more thin people in big cities, and in social groups with younger people.

 

To calm you down, even though I cannot say this with a 100% certainty, I do not think being really underweight is that trendy as it was in the nineties.
People are conditioned to see underweight bodies as desirable, the natural reaction is neutrality or even pity and concern. As a thought exercise, what do you think, what goes through your head when you see an underweight animal? Most people say empathy, pity, and this is what people normally feel when they see underweight people without the added labels of: this is what models look like, or: look at that flat stomach.
In modern societies with food security, people have grown taller and larger, so I would say being thin is even rarer.
But maybe I am divorced from "beauty" trends. I would definitely say there are more thin people in big cities, and in social groups with younger people.

i suppose that's my issue. im surrounded in spaces where thin or at least fit bodies are the norm. the pilates body type seems to be what i come across a lot. i do like the feeling that celebs get or animals get when they are shockingly underweight. i somehow confuse the attention and concern as positive, that people might want to baby me, coddle me, protect me, love me more. it shouldn't be that way. i know it's just a reflection of the love i need to learn to give myself.

 

with you for the flipside that it also makes it much harder to pinpoint what a body at neither weight extreme is supposed to look like — most of the population where i am statistically fall towards the other side, and then the media focus is pretty acutely on underweight figures

it's not even "what's a healthy bmi?" because size ≠ health status but like... i'm trying to avoid dichotomous thinking and group myself into one or the other

 

i feel you here. i read through your healing journey and saw your why. i want you to know that just by you leading by example and sharing your journey has helped ease some of my discomfort, knowing that it's okay to choose healing and that others are doing it too, and that healing doesn't make me weak or a failure. thank you for being you.

 

I really don't think it is the norm, in the sense that everybody is going for that look. I went downtown today and although I wasn't exactly paying a lot of attention, there was nobody who made me do a double take and say "wow, she's skinny." If anything, I noticed a couple "normal "(maybe toned) weight people, and thought they looked nice.

Are you noticing this trend in real life or in person?

 

I really don't think it is the norm, in the sense that everybody is going for that look. I went downtown today and although I wasn't exactly paying a lot of attention, there was nobody who made me do a double take and say "wow, she's skinny." If anything, I noticed a couple "normal "(maybe toned) weight people, and thought they looked nice.

Are you noticing this trend in real life or in person?

really! i see tons of super thin people irl, also maybe im hardwired to pay attention to them because i think they have something i do not. so i recognize it more or find it more shocking, but truthfully i may not be seeing that many thin bodies. its just the thin bodies really stick with me vs other bodies. i also frequent an upscale neighbourhood a lot and i think people there have access to better food & more gym classes etc so could also be lifestyle related. affluent people tend to be more fit and petite i suppose

 

I think it may be the new norm for celebrities/influencers, but not for the average human. Most people are overweight or obese. It's very rare that I see someone that looks underweight just walking around my town in a store or something.

 

yeah, i think definitely i notice it a bunch on celebs like ariana grande being so thin and then others losing a lot of weight in a short period of time like lana del rey and selena gomez. it also seems like anytime a celeb dramatically loses weight an article is written about it. i don't think most people irl are underweight but i would say i don't see that many overweight people, sure maybe some heavier bodies but it's rare i see someone significantly overweight.

 

i feel like it’s definitely not the norm in my metroplex. i actually went to a party the other night and realized there were a bunch of overweight people, it was basically half normal weight people and have overweight. it made me feel better about being at my current weight. that it’s so normalized amongst the younger crowd around me that you can just accept your body and not do anything to change it