"The Threat" thing

Thanks Em for raising the concept of "the threat" after reading my last post.

Yes, yes, yes - I know exactly what you mean. This is a new issue to contend with. Actually for me its the remembering of an old issue - I experienced this when I was younger (and thinner) but had forgotten that it existed. Men seem more happy to talk to me these days - and women less so than they used to. Of course, with my new found confidence I am proud to wear clothes that show off my figure, and this doesn't always go down so well with my female counterparts. I'm always careful to do a"trash check" ie - am I showing too much (in my case any) cleavage, is my skirt too short, is my clothing too suggestive etc, but even with all of that in mind - I still get that sort of reaction from some women. The other thing is that jealousy has raised its head in our relationship - I was very surprised by this at first - thinking it had never been a problem for us - except that I eventually remembered that it was an issue before we were married - once again when I was thinner.

So what does this say about how society views relationships with overweight people vs normal weight people? Does it say that the potential for relationships are shallowly judged by appearance, with no regard for the personality of the individual? Or - to stretch the thinking - how much of this is influenced by how confidently people act and how confident they are with their shape and fitness and body image - could this be projected enough to others that it wouldn't actually matter what shape you are, but its your comfort level with it that conveys a level of attractiveness??? I dont know. Are there are aspects that contribute to this? Lots of food for thought...