Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Voluptuous - I love the word

Posted by Jude Mason

According to Microsoft Bookshelf 2000:


1. Giving, characterized by, or suggesting ample, unrestrained pleasure to the senses: Voluptuous sculptural forms; a voluptuous ripe fruit; a full voluptuous figure (Sounds sexy as hell to me)


2. a. Devoted to or indulging in sensual pleasures. b. Directed toward or anticipating sensual pleasure: voluptuous thoughts. c. Arising from a contributing to the satisfaction of sensuous or sensual desires.
Synonyms: Sensuous, pleasurable, pleasure
loving, luxurious, thrill seeking carnal, fleshy, sybaritic

Phew, all righty. Voluptuous sounds pretty damn hot to me. It also means well fleshed, curvaceous and lush. All good things. Don't you agree?


Now, when I went online and did a search for voluptuous women, I was shocked by some of the pictures I found. Thin as a rail waifs who couldn't have weighed more than a hundred pounds soaking wet.

Another showed a beautiful Jen Hunter, curves in all the right places and then
a scandalously frail Jen who looks as if a stiff breeze would knock her over and possibly break her bones.

As you can see, in the picture to the left, she's a vibrant, healthy woman with the well fleshed curves of an attractive young woman. The picture on the right, in my opinion, is terrifying. She's frail and looks as if she's been deathly ill. I'm sorry, but if that's what the young women of today call attractive and the pinnacle of what they want to look at, I'm glad I'm long past it.

When I think of a beautiful woman, and as a bisexual woman I think about it quite a bit, LOL, I picture someone with curves. A woman with a little padding and lush breasts, well rounded hips, and thighs that uh... someone can hang onto.

The amazing picture to the left simply caught my breath when I saw it. The woman isn't fat, but she's got ample curves. L
ovely curves, in my opinion. To me, she's more along the lines of what a beautiful woman should look like. Yes?

It seems ever since the fashion industry gained such recognition and women had access to seeing what some designer thought of as beautiful (and I still think it was a man how disliked women) we've allowed them too much power over us. Models are waif thin. I swear if many of them became ill they'd have no resources to fight it off and many of them would perish. They don't have periods, their bodies don't have the resources to allow it. They damage their health, and their possible future as mothers. How sad is that?

Remember Marilyn Monroe? She was the epitome of what womanhood should look like in the years she was in Hollywood. Now, she'd be dieting constantly and ashamed of her body.

Blink!

From what I've heard, she was heading that way, in a hurry just before she died. Her looks had become so important to her, to her 'public' that if she gained or lost a pound, it was in the papers.


Can you imagine living your life like that? Such a tremendous waste of talent. ( I tell you, I would have given my eye teeth to have a figure like hers, at any time!)


Pick up a woman's magazine today. Pretty much any of them, and you'll find weight loss aids, diet pills, powders and meals to slim down by. You'll see stick thin models wearing size 2 clothes that few women will ever be able to wear. And to be completely honest, wouldn't want to fit into if they were thinking with their brains and not some misguided delusional mind.

You'll see men, who are also in this terrible travesty. Slim yes, but with chests bulging with muscles and abs that look more like a washboard than anything human. What a horrible time to raise children. Girls 9 years old dieting. Boys not much older worried they won't cut it in the circles that count at school. They don't have enough hair on their chest/genitals. Their voice is too high. They aren't well endowed enough. What on Earth are we doing to our children?


All righty, lets have a look at some incredibly sexy women. Yup, a tad well-padded, but yowssahs!

From the pages of Hips and Curves, a lovely site that offers some awesome clothing for the Voluptuous women among us. Check them out if you like your women a little more lush, a lot more sexy. The url is: http://www.hipsandcurves.com/

She's a witch... and she's amazing! Wouldn't you love to have her trick or treating at your door, or in your bedroom? Cast a spell on me, please.

The woman to the right, she's dreaming of the lover who left her earlier that morning. She's flushed and her chest heaves with her desire for him...or her.

She's amazing, she hot and her breasts are pressing against the cups of her lingerie. Her cleavage begs a tongue sliding along the delicate cleft. Her thighs are warm, abundant, and draw a hand toward them, to cup and caress.

And then there's little Miss Innocent below, who teases with a smile--draws you close with a wink and could ruin you with the
crook of her fing
er I'm sure.

She dangerous, she'll eat you alive, and you'd lo
ve every damn minute of it wouldn't you?

Wouldn't you love to come home to this bundle of smoldering heat? Even if you knew she'd eat you alive the moment you didn't live up to what she thought of as her rights to pleasure. You'd die trying. LOL

Answers: I wish I had some that I could guarantee would work for everyone. I myself was one of the lucky ones when it came to weight, I was too busy with other issues to think skinny or not skinny enough. I had curves and that can be its own problem. My remedy wasn't to lose the curves but to run from the situation.

My own daughter, she and I always managed to talk about important things when she was growing up. Keeping her head on straight was one of those goals I set for myself and together we managed to do it. Talking, I mean really talking was huge. It doesn't always work though and I know how incredibly lucky I was.

I guess reinforcing, from the age of 2, how important health is rather than beauty. That's gotta help.

I hope you enjoyed my little sojourn into what I think of as sexy women and the importance of not letting someone else dictate what beauty is.

Thin is only one body shape. God has made many others and they are all amazing.

I'd love to hear what you have to say, experiences you've had or your thoughts on the topic.

Hugs

27 comments:

  1. Lovely pictures! I think you said it right- thin is only one body shape. There are lots more out there. When someone feels good about herself (himself) and is healthy, I think that should be enough.

    Amazing! Well, yeah! Wonderful pictures and post, Jude.

    Hugs,

    Jamie

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  2. I agree with your comments on Jen. She looks frighteningly ill in the thin photo. Very scary how people can do this to themselves and not even realize it. And how many families don't see it, either?

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  3. Again, Jude, a very insightful post! And what a frightening picture of Jen! As a voluptuous woman, I'm glad I'm not stick thin. I saw a picture of myself in highschool when I weigh what they said was my ideal weight...I looked awful, like I was sick. Never again. :)

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  4. Great post, Jude! This is something I've worried about for years (not that I've ever had the problem of being too thin...the opposite in fact). But what floored me was the day I was at a family Thanksgiving dinner and I saw my neice had a slice of turkey and a roll on her plate. That was it! I asked her if that was all she was going to eat and she said yes. "I don't want to get fat." She was SIX YEARS OLD!!! She told me her friends talked about it at school at the time! OMG I didn't even notice stuff like that when I was six! Within two years her facial features had distorted so much that she had to go to the doctor to get vitamins (which she argued about taking...)
    Last check-up for my five year old? I took him to get ready for kindergarten. They took his height and weight. The doctor told me he was 7-10 pounds overweight for his height. Again -- OMG!! I wish I could attach a picture! When he lifts his shirt you can see his RIBS! He is NOT overweight. My kid runs all the time. He's five, that's what five year olds do. Who is making these charts??
    Okay, so you touched a nerve...I'll get off the soapbox. Thanks for bringing this up. It's extremely important!!
    Laura

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  5. I agree the watch nature dictates should be the norm, not what some guy in a magazine decides. Never tell a child they are fat. I a parent is concerned, then change the eating habits of the whole family and never say to anyone why.

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  6. Man oh man, Jude. you opened up something with that one! I've never been smaller than a size 12. Right now I'm a size 14. Marilyn Monroe was a size 14. I'd be happy with myself anyway even if I didn't know that fact. LOL. I come from a very long line of pleasingly plump women; and wouldn't have it any other way!
    As for kids and school, my 7 yr old keeps lifting his shirt & saying he's "fat". I'm thinking "OMG, what thje hell are they teaching him at school?" His ribs show, and that boy can eat!! I'm afraid to send the littelest to kindergarten this fall after hearing that. He has both my and his fathers genes. He's a big kid. God only knows how cruel this stick-figure mentality generation will be to him. Going to hush now, or I'll never shut up about this. Thanks for the topic. Very timely!

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  7. Wow, I am touched by the posts here. Jamie, thank you for stopping in. Oh, that picture you sent me yesterday, you'll never know how close it was. *G*

    Thin is definitely just one body shape. There are so many more that are lovely, striking and amazing. Why put limits on beauty? Healthy is so much more important.

    Hugs

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  8. LuAnne,

    I couldn't agree with you more. How many families don't see the slow changes of weight loss and weight gain? Yet, how has this issue gotten to be so huge?

    Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving a comment.

    Hugs

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  9. Hiya Jude,

    I love hearing this argument. It makes me giggle when I hear men gush over a magazine model. When you look at their girlfriends they look nothing like the model they're ogling. "Chunky" girlfriends with big tits, big asses is what the majority of them want but they feel as though they have to drool over the skinny chicks to be considered manly or something.

    I am 5'8. I used to weigh 105 lbs. I couldn't gain weight even though I tried until I had my daughter. I shot up to 160 and now I'm down to 138. I think I look fabulous. Big tits, big ass and my husband, before we separated admitted he prefered "chunky Allure".

    My boyfriend, who is much younger than I, has admitted that he never liked skinny girls but didn't think much about it until me. Now he is attracted to the same body type as me. The women he thinks are pretty resemble me which he didn't consciously pick. His mom asked him one day: "Since when are you attracted to fat girls?" Yeah, she doesn't like me much. Haha. He was shocked that someone my size would be considered fat since...I'm really not! I'm just not thin as a rail.

    Men know what they like. I never defend my size. I feel good and I look great and if someone is looking for skinnier I don't hold that against them. I don't feel bad about myself either. It's like a man who prefers a brunette to a redhead. It's a personal choice.

    Nice pictures on the site. Some sexy women there and you don't have to be bisexual to see it! ::winks::

    All my best,
    Allure Van Sanz

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  10. Maurya,

    Thanks so much for stopping by. This struggle to be thinner is such a horrible thing to force upon our children, it's (to my mind) a form of abuse. I hope you're happier and a more satisfying weight now.

    Hugs

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  11. Laura,

    You know, I'm really glad I don't have young children now. I would not put up with dieting at an early age. I remember when mine were young and we did all the doctor check ups and weight/growth chart stuff too. My daughter was always classed as overweight and my son underweight. Both are healthy, happy adults now and their weight is what I'd call normal. I remember my son would get plump and then he'd shoot up inches within a month. That's how kids grow! Or mine did.

    Yeah, I could rant for awhile on this one too. Putting together the post took me most of the afternoon. There are so many heart breaking stories about the topic and I really didn't want to go there. Accepting yourself is so huge right now and I really think we have to focus on that. Our children have to know they're all right, they're beautiful no matter what size they are.

    Jumping down off soapbox.

    Hugs

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  12. Saroya,

    You got it lady. It's up to the parent to dish out the food they feel is right for their child. Alter their diet and exercise and bingo, you'll alter their weight. Teaching by example is also a good plan and in a perfect world it'd all work. LOL

    We're just going to have to show our children lots of love and acceptance.

    Thanks for joining in on the conversation!

    Hugs

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  13. Mae West was another voluptuous woman who I think is the epitome of beauty. Marilyn Monroe is too.

    That gal in the blue undies set is drop dead gorgeous. Wow!

    I agree about the stick figure issue being so terrible. I think it all began with Twiggy and snowballed from there.

    I'm a tall woman with wide shoulders, boobs, hips, and a butt with padding. If I lose too much weight, I look like death warmed over because my frame is too big. Weight also depends on one's body size, but society and Hollywood have brainwashed everyone.

    Fantastic blog, Jude!

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  14. Healthy is what my husband calls women with weight on their bones. I find the pics of the women with nothing on their bones but dried out skin repulsive and a waste of natures gift to the female body. When fashion designers start the fads for women, they probably snicker behind their white bony hands at the fools killing themselves. It is my belief they[male designers] love it when women appear less than attractive to other men. I could be wrong, but right now, I want a sandwich.

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  15. Myst,

    I wish I had a magic wand and could make this weight issue just vanish. Showing your kids love and acceptance has got to help. Also, showing them the damage that unhealthy eating, whether that's dieting or overeating, has also got to help. But, this peer pressure to look like the models. I mean even the big movie stars are pressured to be thinner. You'd think they'd simply tell the press to stick it. LOL

    I really wish you all the very best with your little ones. Tell em they're special and make em believe it.

    Hugs

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  16. I love that picture of Marilyn Monroe. So strange to think she was so self-conscious of her weight. This was the woman who launched her career by posing nude, wasn't she?

    What I realize, looking at the picture of her, is how good her dress looks on her. There's just something about 50s clothing that enhances and celebrates a curvy figure. In the 60s, we got Twiggy (the first super model if I recall correctly), who more than lived up to her name, and sadly we got the fashions to go with it.

    I so badly want some retro clothes. I'd look good in that dress Marilyn is wearing };)

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  17. Allure at 5'8" and 138 pounds, I'd class you as slender. Anyone who thought you were fat needs to have their eyes checked. Jeeze!

    Me, I'm short. I have a long body, wide shoulders and hips, and boobs for two. LOL I have been very thin, just before I was married I was ill and lost a lot of weight. I looked ghastly. I mean really horrible.

    At the moment, I'm bigger than I like to be, but I'm not killing myself trying to be skinny. I'm exercising and eating a healthy diet. Menopause does a number on a woman's body, and it's taken me time to get used to it. Sigh! I feel wonderful, and if I don't lose a pound, I'll be okay with it.

    Zaftig sounds good to me.

    Hugs

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  18. Faith,

    It's wonderful to see you here! Hope life is treating you well.

    Yeah, I had such fun looking for pretty ladies yesterday. I did have to wade through one hell of a lot of skinny chicks before I found the lovelies I posted here. The woman in blue... yup, very nice.. but I adore the wicked witch. Yum!

    Thanks so much for stopping in and commenting.

    Hugs

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  19. Helen,

    You know, that dress would look amazing on a few women I know who by today's standards are classed as chunky. It shows off the curves that a woman is supposed to have. I can't see one thing wrong with having curves.

    Yup, Twiggy did a number on us. She was naturally skinny and the rest of the world suffered for it, if you let it. I'm glad I was a rebel. LOL

    Hugs

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  20. AC Katt says: I'm afraid that I'm climbing on the soapbox Laura just got off. I think that we (God I hate this appellation --The Baby Boomers started all of this nonsense. We grew up saying not to trust anyone over thirty and have been trying to avoid looking like anyone over thirty ever since.

    My Mom was a bit overweight. She wasn't obese, just a little more than a handful. I saw Marilyn Monroe mentioned, what about Sophia Lauren, Jayne Mansfield, Elizabeth Taylor, Judy Holiday, Gsreer Garson, The Gabor Sisters, I don't remember reading that anyone threw them out of bed.

    Yet today we have young girls trying to be thin enough to do a back flip in a straw, that it makes you heartsick. Are any of us any healthier for all of our avoidance of "bad foods?"

    I don't think so. Women, who are as a group more obsessive about weight are also more given to autoimmune disorders such as Lupus, Crone's Disease, Multiple Sclerosis,Diabetes, Asthma and Allergies. Empirical evidence could suggest a possible link to our worship of the God of Thin.

    Just as an example of this mania, we could use the internationally renowed and successful TV Hostess Oprah. She is beautiful, successful and from what I've heard, Healthy. Why does she continue to put her body's systems through Torquenada type torture to look like Cheryl Tiegs when she can with little effort bring down the house as an well endowed woman like Ursula Andress, or Gina Lolabridiga.

    If you look like a bowling ball or even worse, the Good year Blimp, I can see a cause for concern. However, I remember Connie Stevens being quoted when asked about her her weight. She said a little extra weight when you age was a good thing, It smooths out the wrinkles. Frankly, I'd rather be pleasingly plump tnan do a face or body double for Joan Rivers.

    Frankly, it is disgusting, we are beginning to worship the body shape of a prepubescent teen and then wonder why there is so much child abuse.

    I think Julia Child said it best when she suggested that anything could be good for you when taken in moderation.

    I'm not suggesting we should all look like the late Mama Cass, however, the beautiful voice of Karen Carpenter was lost to this particular brand of idiocy!

    I wear a size twelve, and sometimes up top, a fourteen. I'm not a candidate for Omar the Tent maker but if would be lovely if the world didn't think I should look like a refugee.

    The current trends which point toward humans avoiding nature, being frightened of dirt and forbidden to eat the kind of sensuous food served when we were younger, leads to sensual deprivation. And that my friends gives us overindulgence,and dissipation, the demon we originally intended to duck.

    We breed dogs whose puppy's heads are too large to fit into the birth canal. Are we doing this to our women? What about the laws of unintended consequences. Are we breeding skinny narrow hipped women who will not be able to bear children? Or men too pumped up with cortisone that their equipment shriveled and useless, you tell me. How far is too far?

    We pimp our children to look like beauty queens, selling sex on a stick and then when they mature and begin to develop the type of body that a houses a women rather than a sex kitten, we dress her up in androgynous clothing so she looks like her brother and then complain she is running with a bad crowd, and turning into a lesbian.

    It seems to me that the government should keep its nose out of the bedroom and the body fat ratio of a ten year old. If they have to be somewhere maybe they could stake out the boardrooms of GM, Chase and AIG. Personally, I think that they need more guidance.

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  21. My friend and I were just talking about this topic yesterday. We were saying how girls now look like boys or what used to be called tomboys but today's girl starves herself to the bone then stuffs her chest with implants that look ridiculous on a too thin girl. I actually worked with anorexic girls when I was getting my Master's Degree in Counseling Psychology and SAW GIRLS DIE from this dreaded societal disease.
    I am voluptuous and love my body but even I at times think I should be THINNER. There is that much pressure on women today. I loved all the pictures you posted. Such beautiful women, women like me, with hips and tits and an ass. I remember a few years ago I was suffering from gallbladder disease and for the few weeks before I chose surgery, I couldn't eat any fat or I would get this horrible attack. I lost 20 pounds in three weeks. Even my lips were thinner. I guess I would have been considered IDEAL by today's standards but I was miserable. All the good stuff went away. We have to embrace who we are, in all our many beautiful sizes, both for ourselves and for the young girls staring at their bodies in the mirror. Love yourself first. It's a message I would want to teach every girl coming into her own...Thanks for the inspiring post and the beautiful photos...Mary Kennedy Eastham, Author, 'The Shadow of a Dog I Can't Forget' and the upcoming novel, 'Night Surfing - A Story of Love & Wonder in the Waves of Malibu

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  22. I agree with AK's views. Nice blog, Jude. All the women in the pics above are beautiful. It's just sad that society can't see beauty without a woman being paper thin or muscular and toned.

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  23. I'm a man and the comments about the way the "Beauty" industry is targeting men now hits home with me. Now it's not enought to be clean and smart, you have to smell like a ladies boudiour, have gelled hair and cultivate the designer stubble. Of course the latter is no problem for me, though it tends to be stubble on my head rather than my chin.

    I totally agree with all the comments on the stick insects that our models seem to have become. Women are meant to have curves! Thank goodness most of you still do, I'd certainly miss being able to admire form. It's an old saying but true, "Just 'cos I'm on a diet, I can still look at the menu". Like you, Jude my children are grown up, and like you,I'm glad they have. We seem to have sexualised our children (mainly girls of course) so early that they don't have chance to enjoy the most basic of human rights, that of a carefree childhood

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  24. Hey Jude!

    Good post. And thank you for the pictures!

    Garce

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  25. Jude the pictures are lovely, except forthe skinny picture of Jen. What attracts me in a woman is no fat between the ears. I go for the gray matter. My motto has always been, I have no truck with ignorance.

    I agree that the fashion industry laughs at women. One of you mentioned fashions of the 50s. I remembr the Sack Dress. Why did women pay good money for something they could have ought cheaper at the local feed store and wore after the contents were gone.

    Most male fashion critics have about as much taste in what looks good as a book critic who hates readers has for books. What do they have between their ears.

    Ray

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  26. Beaitiful pictures Jude. Hipsandcurves is great - it's fantastic to see models who look sexy, healthy and maybe most importantly of all - happy!

    Kim Dare.

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  27. What great comments! I love Ray's about fat between the ears.

    Sumptuous photos, Jude! I'm still licking my lips and fantasizing.

    Hugs,
    Lisabet

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