​Lowering Standards

By Michael Anchors, MD, PhD

​In the office I often say, “Late last year I took an important step that tremendously improved my rate of success. I lowered my standards. I decided I am not trying to make women skinny anymore. There is no reason to do it. Men don’t want women to be skinny. GI Joe doesn’t want Barbie to look like this.”
I show off a Barbie doll.
“Or like this.” I show off six copies of SELF magazine.  “Men hate this. None of the women on the cover have boobs. None of the models inside do either. All eight editors of SELF magazine are women, and I can tell you they are anti-breast. Compare that magazine with a man’s magazine.”
I show copies of the SPORTS ILLUSTRATED swimsuit edition. 
“Notice the difference? These women have curves. Admittedly I’m not sure what sport is being illustrated here. So you don’t have to be skinny to be attractive to men. The whole focus on being superskinny is something women do to themselves and to each other.
“You don’t have to be skinny to be healthy either. Look at this study by Flegal at al. 2005. The group with the longest lifespan is not the skinny people; it is the overweight people, BMI 25-30. The words “normal” and “overweight” have been misused.
“So I am not trying to make women skinny. If you want to do that, that’s on you. I told you how to do it–the Ten Orders. My goal is simply to make women at a lower weight, and to make them know true things, and to put value on things that are truly important. I want my patients to enjoy moderate portions of good food at mealtimes. And to have conversations and hobbies, good friends and great vacations. I want them to stop damn focusing on food and diets. I want them to be happy.”