The perils of being fat, female and French

Link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-25215641

The perils of being fat, female and French
By Joanna Roberton
Paris

(excerpt)

"Fat women are seen as stupid. Their lives must be out-of-control, they are judged ugly, weird losers," explains Sonia.

"Women have come so far in France - we have a political voice, good childcare, access to work - but instead of being more confident we are increasingly obsessed with our weight and shape.

"Coco Chanel freed us from the corset more than 80 years ago - but we have fallen for a mental one instead - a silhouette of supposed perfection that is unattainable and leads to eating disorders and misery," she adds.

Everywhere one looks in Paris she is there, that idealised French female, pouting glamorously from buses, billboards and metro stations; petite, fragile and very slim; advertising anything from lingerie and lipstick to discount car-insurance, even food - ice-cream parfait, perhaps, or a rich French cheese poised tantalisingly just beyond the reach of her gorgeous, half-open mouth....