My father works for a fashion company in China. The company makes clothes for export to the United States, but my father's colleagues are in disbelief that anyone actually wears the larger clothes that they ship out. "How can a person really be that large?" they wonder. When we went to the beach, my father gave me an assignment: to hunt out the biggest people on the beach to take pictures of, so he could show his colleagues in China that yes, people in the United States really are that damn big.
Sadly, I think the most obese people don't really go to the beach. I spot way huger people while going about my daily business. So all of the people in these pictures are really only slightly above average in terms of weight, for their locale. Wouldn't you agree?
I actually didn't take this assignment too seriously. Half of the time I was out swimming and thus without my camera. The other half, I was lying on my towel reading a book. I only took out my camera when we were about to go and I realized I hadn't taken any pictures. So, ALL these people were spotted relatively close to my towel within about ten minutes. Isn't that sad?
I can understand how my dad's colleagues can be confused. I always feel huge when I go to China or HK. I remember once, when I was around 10 years old, my grandmother took me shopping for capris in HK. I didn't have enough not-full-length pants for the summer. We went to Guess, and we ultimately purchased the largest pair of capris they had. We had no choice - anything smaller didn't even make it up to the level of my hips. If they did, they wouldn't zip up. Even so, these capris were painfully tight on me, giving me a muffin top and a cameltoe. I was ten, buying the largest pair of pants from an adult store! I try to not have to shop for clothes in HK now.
I think growing up comparing my size to the size of kids in HK and China all the time gave me a warped mentality. I used to think of myself as average or big, and I would shop accordingly, getting clothes that were mediums or larges. Recently, I've been shopping online a lot more, because it means I don't have to go out and shop (I LOATHE shopping!), and I had to measure myself to find out what my size was. To my surprise, I was a small to medium for the brands I buy from! I was so busy seeing myself from a Chinese person's perspective that I didn't realize how I looked to Americans. My mother even told me that Chinese sizes are smaller than American ones, e.g. a pair of pants that are size 0 here might be a size 3 or 4 in China. So I don't know how I managed to delude myself for so long. To be honest, I don't like this realization. Many other girls would love to be told that they're smaller than they think they are, but I am perfectly comfortable thinking that I am larger than I actually am. I don't want to seen as weak, frail, or unhealthy.
And one last beach picture, of a beached whale that Winne found...
Just kidding, that's me.
True
Comments (129)
Ah yes . . . . the old size comparison. I remember a comedian (Russell Peters) saying how he was Shaq in China when he went to buy clothes.
Russell: "Do you have a size 13 in those shoes?"
Chinese Guy: "Uhhhhh . . . . no. How about a size 10?"
Russell: "How about I can't negotiate my foot size? Ok, well how a size 38 in these pants?"
Chinese Guy: "Size 38 is TOOOOOO BIG!!!! Come back when you're 32, 34 the most! Fat boy!"
@laytexduckie@xanga - LOL. Russell Peters is hilarious!
Well I dont know where you live but thats more like the average large person. Sure there are larger people than those in the pictures here in Miami but they arent as common. Maybe we're just different because we're expected to be beach ready year 'round?
So yea... those fat people you took pictures of pretty much make up the average fat person here in Miami.
uhh yeah, not very many larger people here in australia.
not saying there aren't any. just saying they don't make up majority of the population.
yeah i see much larger people walking around the mall. lol
and that's interesting about the size difference between here and china. i guess part of it is genetics, but even so they must be crazy thin for the clothes to run that small!
i find this blog kinda mean... posting pictures of fat people, and then a picture of yourself in comparison.
Large people make me wonder... Especially the ones who complain about how they look and don't bother to make an attempt to get rid of it.
I think it's because poverty in China means you eat less food, wheras poverty in America means that you are forced to rely on cheap, over-processed food, like McDonalds. It's a trend that is beginning to carry over to every country that has a growing reliance on fast food, not just America.
And I agree... I don't know where you live, but those people are average sized around me.
Oh, why can't we just celebrate our bodies and frolic in the nude?
@laytexduckie@xanga - LOL! so awesome.
i feel you. i've lived in canada for about 13 years, and never really considered myself to be fat because everyone called me tiny. but when i moved back to hong kong, i had such an urge to diet because i was larger than everyone else. it's probably the cultural ways of bringing the children up.
I recently ordered some clothes from Japan, and I finally found some clothes that were American sized (I wear a size 6/small-medium here, even an extra-small in many of the women's clothes at Kohl's these days). Most of the sites I saw had sizes fit for petite Asian frames, and I would've had to get an XL-XXL. It (sadly) brought me back to the days when I was a size 20/2X here. Thank goodness I fixed that problem.
@laytexduckie@xanga - He's hilarious. I love his comedy.
That is insanely rude.
@xa06@xanga - Amen.
@xa06@xanga - I'm with you on that one.
I think it's messed up that someone would go around and take pictures of the "biggest" people on the beach. They're people too. How shallow can someone get? Fucking stupid.
Damn fat americans! But I have heard that Japanese people IN Japan are just not interesting and are very shallow minded. So Americans are fatter but have a personality while Japanese people are tiny with no personality...? I cant say for sure, but I like the way the word Japan looks.
Oh yeah and for all you people, she was COMPARING herself to the fat people. She was just showing the difference between the sizes of clothes. She just happened to be in a bathing suit.
Im so glad I do not live where you live, why would your father, a buisness man give such an outrageous assignment. Learn some manners please.
And that my friend is why I DON'T go to the beach. Good thing too.
Pretty interesting post! I liked it! I think a lot of people here are getting offended for the same reason I was asked why they can't make shirts big enough...... because we're all fat. That's no reason to knack on this gal's post. I mean, I'm fat too... and I'm offended. If anything this is like reverse thinspo.... motivating what NOT to be.
I still say good props to you.
I agree with you. I didn't believe that some amercians could be that large when I was in China.
I was a size M in China, and size 3/4 in Canada.
i agree! and good for you! i will be heading off to china in a week so i will see first hand how clothes sizing works
Yeah, some of those people really aren't that big. I don't know much about buying too many sizes. I just hate when you go in knowing your size only to have to get a larger size. It isn't that you've gained weight or anything though, they're just smaller clothes. Booo
This assignment is not mean at all. It is what REAL COMPANIES DO. You think companies just guess what sizes people wear? Sizes are always changing to fit the figures of the population.
I really wish women's clothing are based on acual measurements and not the unstable 0-12 sizes. Within a few years, my size 6 became the new size 4, and my waist has not changed at all. Only the clothes.
Idk. In LA... there are mostky only skinny girls and FAT girls. I guess if we're talking about fat ppl out here... those would be considered smallish, really.
I'm going to be terrified of people with cameras on the beach now.
@alayshaj@xanga - I meant she *wasnt* comparing herself.