I hear, as most of you say, that the Taiwanese are pretty fat-phobic and are weirded out by people who weigh over 50kg…
Well isn’t 50kg like 110 pounds!? How am i supposed to weigh 110 pounds? Currently i weigh 170 and i only have a small bit of belly fat, but i’m currently working it off.
I’m a pretty tall kid and when i get to my desired weight i’m still going to be like 160…
So… how skinny is skinny in Taiwan. If you have even a LITTLE bit of belly fat will they like beat me with bats and yell at me or will they overlook it since i’m white
Unless you have bone showing, you’re fat. And they seem to delight in letting you know that over here for some reason.
I’m pretty tired of this so these days my response usually shuts them up. I really can’t understand how I am expected to lose face by taking insults like this, as harmless as it may be to the person saying it. Just say something like “Yea Im a little fat, but why are your teeth like a chainsaw?” etc etc.
I really hate being put in this situation and get no joy by lowering myself to do the same, but in my experience there seems to be no other way to stop it. Sad but true.
There’s PLENTY of fat Taiwanese people around, so I wouldn’t worry too much. The difference is that people don’t have the same taboos about saying that others are fat. I definitely wouldn’t worry about weighing 170 pounds.
[quote=“Springfield”]I hear, as most of you say, that the Taiwanese are pretty fat-phobic and are weirded out by people who weigh over 50kg…
Well isn’t 50kg like 110 pounds!? How am i supposed to weigh 110 pounds? Currently i weigh 170 and I only have a small bit of belly fat, but i’m currently working it off.
I’m a pretty tall kid and when I get to my desired weight i’m still going to be like 160…
So… how skinny is skinny in Taiwan. If you have even a LITTLE bit of belly fat will they like beat me with bats and yell at me or will they overlook it since i’m white :P[/quote]
While it’s true I’ve seen plenty of Taiwanese that would put Orson Wells or Marlon Brando to shame, many a time I’ve seen 34w men’s pants also bearing the tag XXL.
All that matters is you are over 50kgs. In their eyes you are a great fat pig, and they will tell you so. In their minds it is no different than telling you you have blue eyes, but it is mighty tiresome after hearing it several hundred times.
You’re only here for a few weeks. Grow a thick skin, suck it up, and enjoy the good things Taiwan has to offer you.
Ah yes, I know exactly what you mean! The girls here think skinny is sexy and that real women don’t have curves. Somehow I’d rather be my ‘fat’ self (I weigh around 55kg at the most) and have some shape than be a Taiwanese stick insect. Some girls look like they’d snap in half if you so much as breathed in their general direction. :s
Incidently, I remember having to go through the humiliation of this weight thing when I was in hospital here recovering from an emergency operation (at New Year, no less). The nurses somehow persuaded my mother and I to get on the scales and proceeded to gawk at the fact that we weighed over 45kg. To which my mum replied ever so eloquently (in English) ‘Yes but you’ve got no tits or anything’. Indeed…
I weigh around 60 kg, and I am a foreign female, so I know that the body image stuff here it can definitely mess with you. I just keep in mind that I can run non-stop for at least an hour and am an overall rather healthy person. Why else would the mosquitoes like me so much?
I wonder why there is no taboo against it. Taiwanese people don’t take being told they are fat as a compliment. Most Taiwanese girls are mortified by the thought of being fat.
So, it isn’t like culture is saying that “it’s okay to be fat” and “you are as you are, so accept it and find peace.” It’s saying “HaHa!”
Come to the defence of the fat calling if you will, but I believe now that directly saying negative things about someone else is just another aspect of Taiwan culture that sucks. Like selfishness on the road, chabuduoism, and jumping lines.
I believe there is a historical basis for the acceptability of calling people fat. It’s true that at one time obesity was a sign of wealth. You had to be well off to afford to be fat. So, telling someone their stomach was large was a compliment. But that is no longer true and what was once a compliment is now used as a source of amusement. It is not usually an intentional insult, but it is thoughtless, without concern for the emotions of the person this is said to.
(Pre-emptive defensiveness strike) Now you can say I have no right to get all morally superior, but then is there something wrong with me believing in an absolute set of values? I believe there are some absolutes in human behavior and that for a given situation one action can be wrong and another right. The degree to which society condones such behavior is quite often irrelevant to the innate correctness of that behavior. If you judge my way of thinking as unenlightened, then think hard on what you are doing yourself.
Now, I am not overly sensitive about my weight. I am somewhat thick-skinned and and realize people don’t mean to be rude. But I know that even after I explain that talking about someone’s weight is rude to Westerners many people continue on poking fun. There is such thing as “tough love”, but most of the time that isn’t what is occurring.
I hope Taiwanese people can get clued in that what they are doing when confronting an overweight person with their weight is in poor taste. With foreigners it is likely offensive. With local Taiwanese it is most likely a little blow to their ego. There are tactful ways to go about helping someone lose weight, if that’s your intent, but making barbs about their weight ain’t it.
That’s not likely to happen any time soon judging by some adult classes I’ve taught. The subject of making small talk with people one has just met is quite revealing of how clued out Taiwanese are.[/quote]
I totally agree. I was teaching my students ‘small talk’ the other evening, and their idea of opening lines included ‘Are you full?’, ‘What’s your name?’, and ‘Where are you come from?’.
[quote=“Dr_Zoidberg”][quote=“Springfield”]
You’re only here for a few weeks. Grow a thick skin, suck it up, and enjoy the good things Taiwan has to offer you.[/quote][/quote]
NAY! I’m going to be here for about a year. But yeah i’m going to need to grow a “thick skin” i guess.
I’m gonna be sitting in a high school classroom for many hours… for many days… and i’ll have to deal with ppl telling me i have blue eyes, picking at my leg hair, And calling me Da To (big head) like 100 times a day.
Anyway, even though i’m over 50kg i don’t think i’ll be called fat… I mainly weigh 170 because i’m Tall… so i have more bone/muscle/and body or whatever to give me more weight… but whatever.
In some cases, people here saying “You’re fat” is a way of saying “I’m concerned about your gain in weight. You should consider losing weight.” (As if we need to be reminded, and as if saying “You’re fat” would inspire us to act rather than remain complacent out of spite.)
The problem is that saying it in that way (in the West, at least) doesn;t inspire people to take action; it only encourgaes people to stick to their bad habits. Here, however, it may be different. Parents here are notorious here for haranguing their kids about their drawbacks. For example, a father here telling his kid “You’re ugly” or “You’re stupid” or “You’re fat” may be trying (in his mind) to inspire them to change their ways (take better care of their appearance, study harder, exercise more, etc.).
Son: “Dad! Dad! I got a 99 on my final!”
Dad: “Why the hell didn’t you get 100? You’re gonna get an ass-whipping, you miserable failure!”
[quote=“Chris”]
Son: “Dad! Dad! I got a 99 on my final!”
Dad: “Why the hell didn’t you get 100? You’re gonna get an ass-whipping, you miserable failure!”[/quote]
LOL, i can imagine that.
I’ve actually seen a picture of my Host-Family. They look really nice. They don’t live in an huge house, but the dad owns a factory (some plastic mold factory for motorcycles… it’s certified and everything) and the house is right on top. The family look like a toally average but lovable people. The dad looks like a big Teddy Bear. Seriously, thats what he looks like. He doesn’t seem (from the picture i saw) like he would beat me or anything :P. I saw a family picture and they look incredibly… uhh… disorganized.
It doesn’t matter what you wiegh. I weighed around 45 and people still called me fat. I think it was because my rib cage was larger than a 2 year old’s.
I think it’s just impossible for women with ‘Western figures’ (if there’s such a thing) to be as skinny as the average Taiwanese woman without doing serious damage to their health. If I were to lose the 10 kgs that separates me from the Taiwanese norm and my own weight, I would no doubt end up anorexic. I have bony arms and elbows as it is. There’s nothing remotely attractive about ribs and clavicles poking out at all angles…
I wonder if their opinion of what’s hot is based on the trashy Z-list celebrities such as Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie. After all, the Taiwanese seem to worship anything American and maybe they think that’s what American women should aspire to. :?
Not every Taiwanese girl cares the weight so much.
I ,um,am about 47kg.people say I am a bit skinny? :ohreally: But I am not tall(about 160cm).
Anyway,I was 55kg few years ago.At that time people say I was fat.But I never had the idea to lose my weight.Regarding the healthy issue,I took the doctors suggestion.I started to learn yoga.I keep 47kg till now.
It’s exaggerating.
Being fat or not depends on your skeleton, in line with your height.
I admit that Taiwanese have a stricter standard of fitness than westerners do but not everyone here is that crazy about it (unless you happen to be surrounded by that kind of people :help:).
I don’t think Taiwanese would criticize others for being fat to their face though they may speak “ill” of them in back.
If you don’t care, just ignore. They are just playing dumb.
If you feel like “playing” with them, come up with something (just like what you said) and talk back for fun.
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