Belle, I hear what you are saying and have this to add.

I think part of the problem resides in how the media, mostly advertising sells the human body. You always see attractive slender females selling anything from beer to clothing. Men in advertising goes the other way. You see men for what they really are. Take the sharpie commerical. They show an overweight male with Bob written on his underwear showing like the plumber with his crack showing, but his name is really Dave. Or you see a nerdie guy dancing around in his kitchen eating DiGorne pizza.

It's a consumer market out there and well sex sells more than truth. So the ad agencies use sex appeal to sell items and warping minds on how "we" as a population should look instead of how we really are. Insulting as it is, that is the way of marketing and advertising. It doesn't mean we have to agree with it or like it.

I have been on both sides of the coin. I was once married to a spouse who only wanted a "trophy wife". I was bulimic due to the fact that 120-125 pounds was "fat" to him. Ten years later I wised up and gained a lot of weight while healing. I am finding somewhere in the middle is the best place to be.