The "myth" that Asian girls are naturally slim

This is one of my number one pet peeves.  It's NOT TRUE (I am a walking example of this, I have struggled with weight since oh you know, birth).

Females in Asia are consistently pressured via media, parents, men, etc to stay skinny.  Celebrities usually weigh less than 100 lbs and a size L in Korea is the same as a women's size 7/8 in the USA.  Diet products and plastic surgery abound.  The social stigmatization of girls who are "fat" is brutal; therefore Asian women starve and purge their way to thinness.

If you want further proof, look at Korean adoptees in the USA.  It's all about WHERE you are, not ethnicity.

For the last five weeks I was in Irvine, CA which is like the United Nations of Southern California and there are lots of Asians from several different countries.  They pound food at restaurants and boba drink shops (?!!) but they were slim, nery a chubby one in the lot, but they do exist.  But I can say as a good example, if you eat loads of food at say, a pho restaurant, it's super filling but actually pretty healthy for you.  Loads of broth.  Some pasta in there, rice-based.  A tiny bit of protein for flavor.  I sloshed out of the restaurant after all that but didn't have that sick-full feeling that other foods can give if you over eat.  And then I was hungry two hours later.  Korean food is really great, I could never get enough of that.  Hold the kimchee though!  Nancy

I'd like to counter on Asians having smaller frames. Some do, some don't. It's like saying Europeans are tiny, and then flying into Copenhagen, or Berlin, or Moscow, and seeing the population. It really depends, and I think the stereotype about Asians being smaller feeds into these pressures on women. It also is somewhat racist. I've met Buddhist monks that towered over my 5' 8" frame easily, Mongolians girls that could kick your butt easily, and generally, a real mix of people from different places that defy stereotypes.

I find this thread very interesting because I truly do believe that I fit the "Asians have small frames" stereotype.  I've always been very skinny and yet all my friends can tell you that I eat like a pig.  I used to be very active and so the reason why I don't look like a skeleton now is from all the muscles I've developed from intense swimming and weight training.  Even now, though, I am considered slim (5'6.5" and 120 lbs).  Personally, 120 is the highest I have ever been and I really really hate it.  I feel disgusting and bloated all the time (I just discovered that I had binge eating disorder), I'm lethargic, I've developed a double chin, and I jiggle every time I move.  To most, my height/weight would be ideal or even underweight but for me, I am definitely at least 5 lbs overweight!

It's all about the individual

I cant help but laugh at the "how many asian countries do you know are NOT considered a 3rd world country, and has foods available to them other than the usual fish and rice?" idea.....

Sorry, but I'm 100% Asian and I'm from Hong Kong...i can't believe there's still people believing that Asia is all about poverty and undevelopment....lol.....it depends on which part of Asia you're talking about too. I mean, I'm sure Japan, Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong, have everything you can find in a normal Western supermarket. If you're referring to Vietnam and Philippines, then maybe different....

Back to the topic, yes, most local Asian have small frames. But there's exceptions too. I'm an example of exception hehe....(poor me)

i swear everytime i watch a Japanese drama.......it's not the girls that motivate me to workout.....it's the freaken guys. their freakishly skinny and have figures that i envy.lol. is that weird?

i know what you mean. I'm from an asian country, and have male friends who are about 100lbs even though they are taller than me (i'm 5'6~7 ish), and it's just crazy.

Just the other day, I had a male classmate tell me that this other girl in our class 'used to be fat'. Apparently she was 5'4" and about 125lbs?  And oh. According to the same person, I am still 'somewhat fat'--any female with a BMI of 19 and above (and is not a bulky athlete) is technically 'fat' in our social lexicon. No wonder so many high school kids end up struggling with EDs nowadays.

I think it's all about culture and where someone comes from.

Asian girls are skinny, but that's because they don't have crazy portion sizes like Americans. Asian people also walk a lot, compared to Americans who drive every where.

But obviously not EVERY Asian girl is skinny. If you happen to take a Chinese girl and confine her to McDonalds for 5 months, chances are she will get fat.

its definitely still a struggle to keep weight down

unfortunately i'm not so that's a myth or i'm not asian. 

I'm asian too! :D

I'm a healthy weight, but I love around a bunch of asians who are stick thin. Makes me feel bad.... Anyways, I think the only difference is lifestyle. Last year, my family and I took a trip to Japan. We were there for only two weeks and I ate A TON more than normal and guess what...I lost 2 pounds. The food was healthier and we walked a lot more. That's all there was to it.

This is a myth! I was overweight as a child. We have our share of unhealthy foods too. Believe it or not, many of our dishes are fried or have a lot of lard/ghee in them.

Although Asian girls are said to be naturally slim, I think they have a lot of fat.  Although they visibly are quite skinny, if you actually feel their arms, they have NO muscle whatsoever...hence, your body fat % would actually be lower than theirs, despite the fact that they weigh less.  I'm Asian, but have some degree of muscle and would say that I'm at a lower fat % at 5'3" and 118 than my friend who is 4 inches taller than me and weighs only 10 pounds more (and looks like she's incredibly thin!!!)

honestly, about 80% of the girls in Asia (particularly countries like Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea) have an eating disorder. the thing is.. they don;t recognise it as an eating disorder. if someone loses weight till 100lbs or below, they are admired and praised. if you can't fit into an asian S, you're considered "not beautiful". eating disorder awareness isn't widely publicised nor are the people educated about them.

ridiculous diet plans are introduced in all media sources. just in singapore alone, you can see hundreds of slimming centres and advertisements in the streets, on the radio and tv, in the newspapers, on buses, at train stations. it's ridiculous! Many people take slimming pills or teas.

in taiwan shows, fat people are always the butt of jokes and as long as the girl is above a size 3/4, they are ridiculed. the ideal BMI is 16. urgh. celebrities go on talk shows boasting that they survived a week without eating anything. widely popular pop singer, Jolin tsai only ate boiled veg and water for the past few years. and yet she is deemed as "healthy" and a goal to be followed. unlike America, there are NO reports on celebrities having eating disorders or getting too skinny.

girls are made to believe they would not get a guy if they weren't skinny. girls with muscles are called manly. and eating over 1000calories a day is considered horrifying!! those who admit they have an eating disorder will probably invite gossiping.  Asian girls "pretend" they eat alot (because if one can sit and maintain a slim frame, they are probably worshipped as a goddess!), but many actually either throw up their food, engage in other forms of purging or go to slimming centres, take diet pills, etc. asians have a big thing with being "kawaii" and being "kawaii" means having to look thin, or you won;t fit THAT image.

I'm Asian myself and am 5'2 and about 123-125lb, am planning to lose 20 lbs to return to my original weight, pre-bingeing on junk food. at this weight, I can hardly find clothes that fit my size. I even wear XL smost of the time!! even when I was 20lbs lighter, I was often laughed at for having fat thighs and such. it was horrible. you walk on the streets and you see all this stick-thin, and yes, I mean stick-thin asians. and how horrible does it make you feel, even when you're at a perfectly healthy size.

the media in asia always promotes a heathy BMI as 18.5. but come on, almost all Asian girls have the notion that a BMI of 16 is the minimum they must be at.

This is one of the "cream of the crop" that really disgusts me. celebs like her in Asia look anorexically thin, and yet the media glorify them. note: looking like THIS = being a beautiful Asian female. how screwed up is that!

 

 http://image.baidu.com/i?ct=503316480&z=0 &tn=baiduimagedetail&word=%CD%F5%D0%C 4%C1%E8&in=11683&cl=2&cm=1&sc =0&lm=-1&pn=104&rn=1&di=26885 73776&ln=2000

http://image.baidu.com/i?ct=503316480&z=0 &tn=baiduimagedetail&word=%D1%EE%D8%A 9%C1%D5+2008&in=32556&cl=2&cm=1&a mp;sc=0&lm=-1&pn=100&rn=1&di= 2157762696&ln=1391

don't give me **** about metabolism, small frames or lifestyle. I'm a true-born 21 year old Asian, and this is the **** I have to face with everyday. Asian people in this forum who have "stick thin friends who can eat alot and stay skinny" let me tell you, there are many things going behind closed doors.

I'm ready to move out of here anytime! someone save me.

there is one of the female celebs I actually admire in the taiwan entertainment circle. she's called 小甜甜 because of her size she is often ridiculed and called a pig/alien on shows. she is often made to perform the role of the monster which no guy would want to be seen with. yet she still remains true to herself. and to me, this is real beauty. in the first place, she isn't even obese to begin with, but some many Asians "hate" her because they deem her an eyesore having to see such a "pig" on screen. how superficial are Asians!

Original Post by jas_cuzzie:

ridiculous diet plans are introduced in all media sources. just in singapore alone, you can see hundreds of slimming centres and advertisements in the streets, on the radio and tv, in the newspapers, on buses, at train stations. it's ridiculous! Many people take slimming pills or teas.

This is happening in Malaysia as well. My cousin, who is Malaysian, drinks slimming teas. She is not experiencing the side effects yet because she has not stopped drinking them. I worry for her but my family is just letting her do what she wants.

Original Post by jas_cuzzie:

honestly, about 80% of the girls in Asia (particularly countries like Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea) have an eating disorder. the thing is.. they don;t recognise it as an eating disorder. if someone loses weight till 100lbs or below, they are admired and praised. if you can't fit into an asian S, you're considered "not beautiful". eating disorder awareness isn't widely publicised nor are the people educated about them.

...

i love this girl though.

http://image.baidu.com/i?ct=503316480&z=0 &tn=baiduimagedetail&word=%D0%A1%CC%F 0%CC%F0+%D0%A1S&in=252&cl=2&cm=1& amp;sc=0&lm=-1&pn=16&rn=1&di= 4247642&ln=32

 I totally agree with you, you just pointed out every single thing that i wanted to say.

I'm 16 and i came from China about 4 years ago. I've always been chubby when i was young, and people did not ceased to make comments about my figure. I was probably 4''10 and 98 lbs, compared to girls around me I was bigger, but goodness I was only 10, and had baby fat while i actually ate for the sake of being able to grow! Thank goodness my mom never made any comments, if she did, she encouraged me to go out and do exercises instead of starving myself. I would say that my mom's an untypical asian mom and i thank god for that.

I came to the states and gradually came into frequent contact with the asian media by going on to chinese forums. When i was 12 i was so concerned with my weight that i would grudgingly pinch my stomache fat and exercised at 1am while reducing my food intake. I lost weight and became 4''11 at 90lbs. There was a korean girl at my school who would looked at me admiringly and asked me all the time, "omg how are you soo skinny?" while staring at my skinny arms.

I became about 110lbs at 5''1 last year, and i lost weight over the summer by starving myself at 800 calories a day until I was 100lbs. I hate the fact that I'm so concerned about my weight, but sometimes it seems like I cannot help it. The disgusting view of being skinny = beautiful had rooted in my mind, and i'm struggling to change for the better. I'm about 104 lbs now, and I want to tone myself by exercising instead of being too concerned with the fluctuations on the scales. I still go on chinese forums, and it's disgusting how many girls are starving themselves to lose weight. They have no conscious of being healthy whatsoever. There was a post about anorexia and there were about 30+ replies from girls who complain about how much they want to be anorexic so they would "get rid of their horrid appetite".

I love my culture, but the view of beauty in asia bothers me a lot. I had a friend coming over from china, who was around 100lbs and 5''5. She complains about being fat.

OMG! I thought I was the ONLY person with a crazy PRO-ED mother hahahaha

Guess asians really ARE harshly insane. Careful... they might take over the world soon. Imagine what it would be like! Tsk tsk all these skinny people running around getting straight A's and becoming lawyers or doctor

 

Personally, some of the views of beauty in Asia do scare me a lot, when I went to Taiwan, a lot of the girls I saw on the streets were tiny (like short and skinny) and I could only fit into a L over there.

But truthfully, I don't see anything wrong with most of the girls in Asia now.

It doesn't really matter how skinny they are, just as long as they are healthy. And yes, I DO have "stick thin friends who eat a lot a stay skinny" Want proof? My sister. I am, to a lesser extent, somewhat like that. The point is, despite all the lard/ghee/oil in our food, it is still healthier than American food. The serving is smaller, and there's less frying. There's the hawker centre food stalls, which serve cheaper food that are healthier than fast food, depending on what you order, of course.

Even my normally-immune-to-weight-gain sister gained 10 lbs in the US. It's just hard not to, considering that a lot of the commuting is done by car in the US, and the portions there are huge. When she came back, she lost all that 10lbs just by staying here. No exercising, no nothing. Just eating and going out with friends. I'm pretty sure they don't have mass puking sessions when they're together, and since she just bums around at home when she's not out, I can safely say there was hardly exercise involved.

I'm not saying everyone's like that. In fact, I think me and my sister are really lucky. But I know a lot of girls who ARE like that. And I know a lot of girls who exercise. And I know a lot of girls who are simply normal. I did know 2 people who had anorexia (but one of them recovered :D ) but I don't know, it far outweighs the amount of friends who are "normal" i.e not suffering from distorted perceptions by the media or having a ED.

A lot of us grumble about how we'll like to lose a pound or two, but most of us don't do much because we know we're okay as it is, so the motivation is not there.

Anyway, I find it strange because while I do know people who had EDs (my friend, but she recovered and she's perfectly healthy and full of awesomeness. (: ) I don't see any of the slimming teas/fad diets things going on. Maybe it's because I am still a teenager and weight is just easier to lose when you're younger (also because we are all broke and have no money to spend on slimming teas or whatever.) but yea, none of that is happening for me.

Can't say for the adults though, since I'm not exactly one yet and my mother is way past the "worried-about-weight" age already. heh.

 

 

I live near San Francisco, which has an extremely high asian population, and know a few asian girls who are thin to the point that it is unhealthy. They're literally swimming in their size 00 jeans! A few months ago I was with on a walk with my father and we saw a girl who was so thin that we had to wonder if she had cancer! It was scary! I know that the culture in asia puts an emphasis on being small and cute, so I would see how such problems would arise. I notice that there is definitely a difference between what my asian friends eat and what my caucasian friends eat. My caucasian friends generally eat some sort of pasta/ rice thing or a sandwich with a few cookies and some chips. My asian friends bring tiny containers of vegetables with a small portion of rice. It makes sense that they would be so thin! Although I am not asian, my father has very similar expectations (Straight A's, admission to an Ivy League college, and THIN. He put me on my first diet at age 6!) so I can sympathize. At least my friends can tell me to ignore him! It would be terrible to live in a society where such demands where the norm!

well I am an Asian ... Indian to be specific and unlike other regions of Asia there isn't much of ED here... YET ....

I have lived here all my life and can say this... its mandatory to eat home food (kids bring food from home to school rather than eat in a cafeteria ) till you finish school (minus the rare occasional fast food binge).. then when we set foot in college that's where the weight gain hits us... fast food joints and cafes are where we spend most of our time between 17-24 ...

unlike other parts of Asia India isn't swarming with size 00 but thanks to home food (for initial 17 years ) and the fact that most of us are vegetarians (plus the sad fact that most of us are brain washed to believe that we HAVE to be thin to get a good spouse - mostly used on girls) 

But the weird thing about Indian diet is how people stay skinny (and by that I mean you can count their ribs ) and gain 100 pounds within 3 years of their marriage ?? Maybe they feel that now that they have married they can eat, eat and eat ... I guess they just let their guards down totally 

For good or for bad ... everything is changing here at a very fast pace... and I guess in a couple of decades the youngsters will be obese and when they hit mid 20s they will get obsessed with being healthy. But then again this is just my opinion. 

Each and every friend of mine who went to USA to study/work gained at least 10 pounds in 3-5 months ... and lost the same soon after they got back (just diet change no exercise - my friends are really lazy  ) ... One of my friend went on an ice-cream binge for 6 months in America - now that's just her fault and has nothing to with American diet... she gained 30 pounds in 6 months (her excuse was India doesn't have such a wide range of ice creams to chose from ) 

Like every other country I guess it all depends on individual will power and lifestyle choices... and hopefully all of us (from any and everywhere ) will learn to be healthy before our bad choices kick our butt 

I'm an Asian female raised here in the US and I totally understand what you mean.  As I grew up, my mother constantly told me to watch what I eat or else I wold get fat. I always felt like all of the other Filipino girls I grew up with were all so tiny compared to me.  I was always self conscious about my body image and developed an eating disorder.  People constantly come up to me and said things like..."your so lucky to be asian, this is why your so skinny"...I'm thinking to myself, I'm skinny because I hate my body and I starve myself, ha.  And you know what else bothered me, people always thinking Asians were super smart.  My parents never gave me those genes.  I worked my ass off in school!!!