Do you know anyone who suffers from Big Girl Syndrome? You know what I am talking about but may not have articulated it quite like this before.
Big Girl Syndrome, (BGS) is a latent belief that a plus sized girl will not get attention on her own merits so she develops a grandiose, larger than life, personality to compensate. Now this isn't necessarily a problem but I was thinking about it over the weekend... I was thinking about some friends of mine and how sometimes it was exhausting to "try to compete" with them for attention in a group. Yes, yes, I hear you, why would you want to compete with your friends?? Well, see, I am an opera singer and even if I wasn't a big girl I would already have a big personality. And when you're in a room full of other big personalities it is easy to get lost in the shuffle. Never one to like being on the outside, this can cause me a little anxiety. So, I was thinking about my big personality and the big personalities of some of my nearest and dearest and realized that we all had one thing in common: We are all big girls!
So blog-o-sphere, I ask you, have you noticed this phenomenon or is it just me? Do you think that sometimes plus sized women over compensate for some feelings of inadequacy by being loud, funny, crass? Over-dressing or, ahem, under-dressing? Wearing gaudy jewelry and big hair? Being overly accommodating, talkative, or bringing the topic of conversation around to them? I'm sure it goes the other way as well. Perhaps some women shy away into wallflower land. I know I am guilty of BGS and though all of the adjectives above have negative connotations I don't necessarily thing BGS is a bad thing! Without my big personality I wouldn't be the girl am! I wouldn't have achieved all that I have and I probably wouldn't have the confidence to pursue a life on the stage. BUT I think we can take it a little too far sometimes, cross some lines we don't mean to cross, and get ourselves into awkward situations.
What do you think of BGS?
I don't think we are all competitive actually. I don't think it can all be boiled down to weight. For instance on person may look at a full figured woman who is getting attention and will become jealous and competitive another person may be in the same situation and become inspired. I think it depends on the person, not the fat.
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