ATTN: “You look great! Have you lost weight?” is not a compliment. I know it has been the go-to praise-route towards many women since the inception of puberty, but I’d like to put an end to it. Why do I hear this like a broken record every holiday?
Some alternatives:
- You look great! How are…
The only thing I think when someone tells me that I look like I’ve lost weight is, ‘how hideous did you think I looked before?’ As a result, I have a strict personal policy of never commenting on anyone else’s weight. Which, strangely enough, I think sometimes comes over as a bit rude, oblique, or at least unobservant.
On a related note, this is an interesting post on body image and women by Clementine Ford (both of these links via Rachel.)
