‘It would be very different being in a man’s body – I think it would make me act as a man would act. I’d be more “rigid” if I was a man. Somehow I guess I’ve learnt from other women how to sit and walk.’
Anonymous interviewee ‘A’ (age 21, body mass index 22.7)
‘When you’re a woman and you walk into a professional, serious, corporate environment, you know that every woman is working out whether you’re a threat and every man has made an instant decision on whether he wants to sleep with you. You never get the anonymity that men get – I envy them that. You’re always making a statement with your body.’
Anonymous interviewee ‘B’ (age 32, body mass index 26.1)
‘I exercise every day. I run 5k at lunch hours, I go to the gym at least five times a week – spinning, fitness classes – I walk everywhere. I’m never going to be the tallest, curviest or prettiest, so I’ve always wanted to be the smallest person in the room.’
Anonymous interviewee ‘C’ (age 33, body mass index 21.3)
‘I feel guilty about most things I eat. I remember it used to be that everything I ate I thought, “You big fat cow – you’ve got no willpower.” I would feel terrible about myself because in my mind I felt I should have been strong enough not to eat. I used to weigh myself every day – or more often. It would rule my life. But do I ever look in the mirror with no clothes on? God, no. Well – I have done it in the past just to shame myself into going to the gym.’
Anonymous interviewee ‘D’ (age 40, body mass index 24.5)
‘When I look in a mirror I put on my “mirror face” and see someone I know and someone I quite like. If I get “caught” in a mirror, it’s a different reaction – I feel I have a downward face, I think I look like my mother.’
Anonymous interviewee ‘E’ (age 70, body mass index 24.8)