Here's an article on what it's like struggling with weight in a country like Japan where the majority of people are quite skinny. The author, Bernie Low, included a before/after picture in here of Japanese women losing weight that I've been wanting to share myself for a while. It's not this picture in particular, but I've seen images like this in the back of magazines before, where they glamorize losing weight to what I personally consider a shockingly disturbing level.
The second girl in the image, it says, lost 45lbs (20.5kg) in 30 days, and sits at 79lbs (35.8kg) at about 5ft (152cm).
In the first picture it says, "She finally got a cool boyfriend!!"
The second picture says, "Her transformation only took 30 days!!"
http://blog.gaijinpot.com/being-overweight-in-japan/
As someone who has been very lucky when it comes to weight, I do understand what it's like to feel bad about myself when people say things like "She's just a stick, no curves," "She looks anorexic," etc. However, I still think there's a point where being too skinny is unhealthy, and I find images like this disturbing in that they promote an obviously unhealthy body image.
Of course you will find these same types of pictures and messages in magazines all over America. I'm just not used to seeing "ideal" weights being THIS skinny. You will see women this skinny in Japan, and I have had probably enough experiences to count on two hands now seeing women walking around with legs so thin I could probably connect my fingers around them.
BUT this is not a universal ideal, and it's not average, and I've yet to meet any guy (although there could be one out there) who finds this weight to be his ideal. I don't want anyone to think they need to be like this for either their own personal fulfillment or to get a boyfriend. Bernie also links to a video I did a while ago where I read off comments written by Japanese people on what their ideal weight for women is. Some really did go for the extremely skinny, but I think there were some really healthy responses, too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4K-VwyBhb8
-Rachel
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