Last night we went to this little place called "Quench" in Bandra for a drink. Aside from the fact that I was over-dressed and chose the wrong wine, I enjoyed myself. We were meeting this couple friends of ours who had moved to Singapore about a year ago. We were surprised to see how much weight they had lost. They blamed it on the fact that they didn't own a car anymore and walked or used public transport all the time. The guy had always been slim, but the girl was suitably curvy earlier, but now she was thin. She claimed that she was depressed the first few months of being in Singapore because she felt really big compared to all the women there. Apparently girls there dress skimpily even to work. They wear dresses or skirts that are so short that the slightest of movements could reveal their panties. But somehow it doesn't look so bad coz they are all really petite.
I wonder if our friends lost weight by association. They claim that they never exercised or dieted but still steadily lost weight. It's possible that sub-consciously they aspired to be thin because everyone around them was.
My friend says that she has stopped wearing shirts and trousers because at work women look at her strangely as if she is a lesbian or a woman wanting to be a man. The women are so obsessed with their skin that they are always applying sunscreen and fairness creams and eating foods that taste disgusting but are good for the skin (chicken feet come highly recommended). Dresses mostly come in size "Small" and you would be hard pressed to find a nice looking one in "Medium". For a country that has a higher female population, I find it rather regressive. A person is judged purely on looks. Now, this is my opinion purely based on what my friend tells me and I will find out the truth only if I live there long enough to experience it myself.
Speaking about appearances, my friend Jenny speaks about the same thing in her post "Girls night out" on her blog. Don't we all long to be young and thin again. I know I do. I wonder if my mom's generation or my grandmom's generation thinks that way too. When did we change?
3 comments:
Ooohh! I loved this post Seema. I did NOT know this about Singapore. I am currently overweight and battling fibroids, a kidney stone and what not in addition to stress. The fat cells love me. I just am never able to come to the right size and weight. My mom was never thin, she was always rather plump. I often thought she was more beautiful than most filmstars.But now I have this pressure to look good and thin and a sexy hot Momma. I don't like it very much. And these days, I am thinking about my weight a lot.
I didn't know you were blogging regularly again! I have comments for all the posts I've read but am having trouble posting comments from my phone.
While on this topic of aspirational images, I always wonder if girls don't feel offended they have to wear shorter clothes every season but the male of the species hasn't really moved on to the backless shirt or trousers with slits.
I am not too sure I want to see men walking around in slit trousers or backless shirts. Women are usually commenting about men's butts but that story is for another day.
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