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Is there such thing as a perfect body?
Yes 25%  25%  [ 10 ]
No 75%  75%  [ 30 ]
Total votes : 40
18 Aug 2008, 2:31 pm

I don't think there is such thing as a perfect body. Why?


Because there is always something people don't like about their own body. I have seen people with thin bodies who didn't like their own body because they think they are fat or too skinny

Someone can have breasts but they think theirs are too small or too big while other men think theirs are perfect.


My boyfriend thinks my body is perfect but it's not. I have stretch marks and will probably get more when I get pregnant, my skin on my thighs look loose because I had lost weight in them. My butt is too big, and so are my thighs. Also my breasts are big, I wish they were smallar. I'd rather have 34 B breasts.



Xanderbeanz
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18 Aug 2008, 2:40 pm

im pretty sure that the pursuit of "perfection" is infinite, if you change one thing youll notice something else you want to change and so on...i'd say, as long as your partner is happy with your appearance, you should be happy to :) do not under estimate how much photoshop work goes into the average magazine model advert <3 x



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18 Aug 2008, 2:48 pm

Spokane_Girl wrote:
My boyfriend thinks my body is perfect but it's not.

Lucky you! There are many women whose significant males can't seem to find anything right with the way they look, and here you complain that he thinks you're perfect!

Spokane_Girl wrote:
I have stretch marks and will probably get more when I get pregnant, my skin on my thighs look loose because I had lost weight in them.

You've lost weight? Another good point!

Spokane_Girl wrote:
My butt is too big, and so are my thighs.

Too big for what? (Nudge-nudge, wink-wink, say no more!).

Spokane_Girl wrote:
Also my breasts are big, I wish they were smallar. I'd rather have 34 B breasts.

Well ... if you're getting backaches, grooves in your shoulders from the straps, and black eyes every time you go jogging, then I might see your point.

Be grateful that someone appreciates you. Some women go their entire lives never knowing if they're even "good enough" in someone else's eyes, and here you have someone who thinks that you're "perfect."

Rejoice!



Juniperberrygirl
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18 Aug 2008, 4:39 pm

Most important is for you to boost your self image Girl.

Think about this, it seems that you don't really see yourself.
Your boyfriend says you are perfect to him.

What is beautiful to one person is not so nice to the next person.

Of big importance is real love and true trust. They lead to happiness



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19 Aug 2008, 6:41 am

what is perfect to someone is not perfect to someone else.
this may sound cliche but beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

I agree with the last post.

It annoys the hell out of me the way women and girls are bombarded with images that show them they have to be a certain weight or height or have big boobs or whatever to be considered "beautiful". i hate that because all it does is make women feel bad about their bodies.



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19 Aug 2008, 11:25 am

An alternate view, complete with reference to self-help book (sort of).

In Supervixen, bodybuilder Negrita Jayde describes the seven essential curves of a woman's body. You see, it's not the body parts that make a woman's body stand out, it's how they flow into each other. And you can improve your body's symmetry with moderate weightlifting and stretching and proper diet (eating right, not starving yourself).

The seven essential curves (some of which I do not have right now, but I know if I had enough money to live on and eat right, I could get a lot closer): chest (stretch out that rib cage); lumbar curve (lower back); butt; waist; thighs; inner calves; hamstrings. It's not about how stacked you are or how small your waist is but about how they all fit together into a whole. (I actually have most of these curves now that I think about it but I'm overweight so they're buried in fat - the muscle is there, though.)

And my experience is that exercise and bodybuilding in general make me feel much more comfortable in my body, making me feel much more attractive.

So yes, I think there's such thing as perfection, technically defined, and I think it's possible for anyone not actually physically deformed and with enough resources to eat and exercise right to attain it, if they want it enough to do the work. And I don't think it's that much work - learning the system is probably harder than doing the actual exercise.

It is true that we women scrutinize our bodies so much it's easy to get confused about what to think. And looking good isn't something that's really taught much in the English-speaking world. We're pretty much slobs, which doesn't help. Don't know what that's about.



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19 Aug 2008, 2:26 pm

I feel beautiful but I am not perfect.

I walk into edges of door frames and am sometimes very bad tempered, an example of me not being perfect.

About weight issues, it is about health not looks (quote from my boyfriend) as long as you are healthy don't worry about weight.



Last edited by Juniperberrygirl on 20 Aug 2008, 4:23 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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19 Aug 2008, 4:15 pm

There's no such thing. We're easily persuaded that there is such a thing, that it corresponds to whatever stereotype is fashionable at the time, and that achieving it will make us happy, when what will make us happy is really very individual and personal. Striving for 'perfection' (and this is in any area, not just beauty) takes our time, energy and attention away from the things that really matter.

Two quotes I find useful and inspiring in this context:

Advertising takes away your self-esteem and sells it back to you for the price of the product.
(John Berger - paraphrased - from Ways of Seeing, which has a whole essay on this and is well worth a read)

Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.
(Baz Luhrmann - I think someone else said it first but I can't remember who)

You love your boyfriend. Trust his judgement. :wink:


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ChristinaCSB
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19 Aug 2008, 4:34 pm

No there is no such thing as a perfect body, but many women and girls including myself fail to pick up on that and starve themselves to try to achieve it.



Fnord
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19 Aug 2008, 7:27 pm

If someone calls me 'handsome' and she looks like a troll, then I feel troll-like. If she looks angelic, then I feel special. I guess it not only depends on how we feel about ourselves, but how we feel about the person who gives the compliment.

If your boyfriend calls your body 'perfect' and you still feel otherwise, then what does that say about your feelings - your true feelings - that you have for your boyfriend? When he calls your body 'perfect' and you deny it, then you are essentially calling him a liar. Are your true feelings mistrust or suspicion when it comes to your boyfriend? Do you really think that he would intentionally deceive you?

Then again, maybe you should dump the lout and hook up with someone who will call you 'fatso' whenever he looks at you ... but only if that's what you really want, of course.



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19 Aug 2008, 7:36 pm

I think there are people out there with perfect bodies. I don't think it's mine though. I have some really bad scars that are very unsightly...I manage to hide them under clothes. I also carry too much weight/fat...more than I'd like. My parents also tend to focus on the extra weight & fat & make me feel like an old fat cow when I'm around them. When I was young, my mom had me abusing my body using eating disorders. Yeah I was young & stupid & I so wanted her approval. Something I've never really gotten.


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19 Aug 2008, 10:13 pm

I voted "Yes," but not because there is 'one' perfect body.

I have seen so many men and women who are perfect with the bodies that they have. This may be just the way I think, but I believe that the perfect body perfectly suits your needs.

As far as perfectly beautiful I would also say that there are a great number of perfect bodies out there. I am willing to bet that many of you reading this would qualify.



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19 Aug 2008, 11:59 pm

Not one objective one for all people, no.

However, there is a perfect-for-me one, which is what I am. I know how to be me more than I know how to be anyone else, so I wouldn't want to change how I am just to fit another ideal that is not my own. If other people don't like it, then that's too bad - they don't have to live in it! I've fought hard to keep mine the way it is, the way I like it and am comfortable with it. Might be a bit wonky, but it works well and does everything I want it to.



Anemone
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20 Aug 2008, 1:59 pm

Fnord wrote:
If your boyfriend calls your body 'perfect' and you still feel otherwise, then what does that say about your feelings - your true feelings - that you have for your boyfriend? When he calls your body 'perfect' and you deny it, then you are essentially calling him a liar. Are your true feelings mistrust or suspicion when it comes to your boyfriend? Do you really think that he would intentionally deceive you?


I had a boyfriend who catalogued all the things he liked about my body (nice ass, etc.). I got a good rating. (He was biased, naturally, since I was his type, and it was near the beginning of the relationship.) It did two things. First of all, it made me feel like a collection of parts rather than a whole person (I'd been happy about my body before he got me thinking about it like that) - it made me feel a bit disconnected from myself.

Secondly, it gave me performance anxiety. What if I lost my figure? Would he still like me? It was interesting how what was supposed to be a compliment made me anxious.

I think you're supposed to compliment a woman on how nice she is, rather than on her body. I don't know if it's possible to compliment any woman on her figure successfully, unless she's in a high achievement period with respect to her appearance, in which case it's a comment on her skill in taking care of herself. I wonder if there's anything in the Mars/Venus books on this . . .



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20 Aug 2008, 2:15 pm

Anemone wrote:
... it made me feel like a collection of parts rather than a whole person (I'd been happy about my body before he got me thinking about it like that) - it made me feel a bit disconnected from myself ... it gave me performance anxiety. What if I lost my figure? Would he still like me? It was interesting how what was supposed to be a compliment made me anxious.

Ouch! I hadn't thought of it that way!

It always seemed to me that looks were the most important thing to women - all that primping, preening, and obsession with appearances ("Do these earrings make my butt look big?" I heard one woman say).

So I see your point. A woman is not just a collection of art pieces on display, but the entire theme and context! Not only that, but she is the writer, director, and actor of her life's performance, and should be appreciated for all that as well.

Thanx for the insight.



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20 Aug 2008, 5:09 pm

ThatRedHairedGrrl wrote:
There's no such thing. We're easily persuaded that there is such a thing, that it corresponds to whatever stereotype is fashionable at the time, and that achieving it will make us happy, when what will make us happy is really very individual and personal. Striving for 'perfection' (and this is in any area, not just beauty) takes our time, energy and attention away from the things that really matter.

Two quotes I find useful and inspiring in this context:

Advertising takes away your self-esteem and sells it back to you for the price of the product.
(John Berger - paraphrased - from Ways of Seeing, which has a whole essay on this and is well worth a read)

Thanks for that, I often think this.
ThatRedHairedGrrl wrote:
Do not read beauty magazines. They will only make you feel ugly.
(Baz Luhrmann - I think someone else said it first but I can't remember who)

That came from the song "Sunscreen", Baz produced/created the track/song. The lyrics/lines were read by some famous voiceover artist/announcer guy (dunno' his name but sure it's Wiki-able).
The words themselves originate with someone completely different: a woman who gave commencement speech at a graduation, and it got such great reaction that it made the internet rounds. I quite like most of the sentiments/advice (from the song, as that's only place I encountered the words).

Yes, I agree that "perfection" doesn't exist as a standalone objective quality (though can be perceived as present within a specific context for a particular purpose), and that "perfection" (as with many features) is in the eye of the beholder (self or another).


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