Jo Firey wrote:

Personally, I believe that a lot of "overweight" people live virtually in
hiding because of the judgmental way there are treated by society. And I
think its pretty sick that they have to.

Again, the definition of overweight as hardly an absolute.

As for mini skirts, anyone who wants to wear one should. As long as they
are agile enough to keep the bare essentials covered.

At last, a sensible answer! Thank you, Jo. Since when are we obligated
to look good according to other people's standards? People seem to feel
*entitled* to have a lovely view wherever they look, and they actually
feel put out if somebody dresses in a way that they consider ugly, or
they see a bare body part that's (gasp) fat or wrinkled.

Don't like what you see? Please feel free to shift your gaze toward one
of the other 359 degrees in your panorama.

One of my favorite slogans along these lines: "I'm not here to decorate
your world." Hee hee...

Besides, I think we're all forgetting that beauty is not an absolute.
It's totally subjective. So even if you think a woman in low-slung pants
and a bitty top with a big belly is hideous, there are people out there
who think that looks hot. Really, there are. If you don't believe that -
or if you feel the need to label such a person as a nutcase or a weirdo -
try to expand your mind a bit and remember that the world is a big place,
with lots of people who have many different ideas of beauty.

Joyce - relatively modest in public, but I *do* wear shorts even though
I have fat thighs, because my comfort is more important to me than other
people's visual sensibilities. And anyway, I like my thighs.