« Screw the Goat | Main | Insane McCain? »

May 01, 2007

Heterosexual Love Makes a Woman Thinner

Do you remember that study that found that married men were healthier than single men? Not much publicized was the part of the study showing that happily married women were also more healthy (and thin) than unhappily married women or single women. They were thinner, gained less weight over time, and exercised more. Now we have a new study that has found that lesbians are twice as likely as heterosexual women to be overweight. I don't find this surprising in the least, and my reasoning fits in with the earlier study.

I think women who are happily married tend to want to please their men, and generally, men tend to like thinner women. Hence, the happily married women work harder to stay thinner. Single heterosexual women are still trying to catch a man, hence they stay thinner, too. But unhappily married women no longer give a damn, and neither do lesbians care what men think of them. And since women's bodies tend to store up fat reserves faster than men's bodies so they have enough for the nourishment of their developing and nursing babies, when nature alone is the guide (as opposed to men's desire for a slender mate), women naturally get fatter.

No doubt the reader will know of exceptions to this theory of mine, and they are certainly valid. In fact, I like to think of myself as somewhat of an exception. I've been thin all my life, but when I hit 40 it started being more difficult to maintain my weight, and this last year has been just awful. I've gained 15 pounds despite endless dieting and I'm very happily married! So go figure. But studies look at general trends, so I'll stick with my theory.

One interesting point in the study is that it concluded that despite being more overweight, "lesbian women have a better body image than do heterosexual women.” As a woman whose body image plummets in proportion to her increase in weight, I think I understand at least a part of that phenomenon. Heterosexual women are the perfect counterpart to heterosexual men. Men like to look; women like to be looked at. So when our bodies become less of what we perceive as attractive to men, our body image takes a hit. Lesbians don't have to worry about pleasing a man. Their bodies reflect their lifestyle choices, and if they're satisfied with their lifestyle, they're probably going to be satisfied with their bodies. And their mate is likely to be very understanding about it.

I'm glad I am healthier as a result of being happily married to a man and wanting to please him, but I have to say there are times when I'd trade a bit of that away for the better body image.

Posted by Becky at May 1, 2007 01:10 PM