The media has a tendency to classify women based on their bodies. An overweight woman may be considered "fat", “unattractive”, and generally undesirable. A woman with an athletic build may be called "butch" or thought of as unable to be feminine. Slender women, however, can fit into any category -- feminine, tomboy, damsel in distress, etc. But regardless of the role she plays, a woman with a slim body can almost always still pull off being the object of desire. More recently, voluptuous has been added to the mix of acknowledged body types. She is viewed as the bombshell, and valued only for the size of her T&A.
Starting at an early age, girls are forced into having their bodies defined for them. It is not uncommon to open a woman's magazine and see a quiz, chart, or words of advice, guiding her in how to look and act based on a pre-defined body type. This leads women to believe that they either have to conform to these guidelines the media has mapped out for them, or risk being negatively critiqued by society. Even worse, if she finds that her body doesn't fit neatly into any one category and there are no more than a handful at best, she may be lead to believe that her body is fundamentally flawed.
Women come in all shapes and sizes and cannot be limited to a select few. They are not pears, apples, bananas or any other fruit-- they are unique in their own way and cannot be summed up so easily.
Not only are women grouped into rigid body types, society assigns them a persona based on the way they look.
Fat- Unattractive, sloppy, unfashionable; often times comedic, center of ridiculous. Not viewed as sexually desirable.
Voluptuous- Always sexy, seductive; can control a man with her curves, valued for body over brains.
Athletic- Boyish, butch, sexually ambiguous; usually cast as a coach, inmate or rough around the edges not sexually desirable.
Skinny- Versatile, always attractive.
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