I've learned a couple new terms this summer. Today I heard of cankles for the first time and a month or so ago I became aware of muffin top.
Cankles is a combination of the words calf and ankles. If you can't tell where your calf stops and your ankle starts, you may have cankles.
Muffin top is the description given to the bulge of flesh hanging over the top of your jeans. (I thought those were love handles!)
There may even be new terms for cottage cheese thighs and thunder thighs. Cottage cheese was the definition for cellulite in the 70's because those hated ripples, dips and dimples in the thighs, hips and buttocks resembled cottage cheese. Thunder thighs was a term for a person with large thighs, alluding to the sound of thighs hitting against each other. (I remember being at a comedy club in Des Moines one night when the comedian was pulling people out of the audience. He asked one young woman her name and she said, "Thunder Thighs". It got a lot of laughs.)
Of all these terms, the only one I've heard of men using about themselves is love handles and not always in a derogatory way. Women are much more conscious of their faults - or perceived faults. Especially when they are young. Somehow we got the message that we were supposed to be perfect. Even before advertising and movie stars, women were judged by how attractive they were. Think of all the billions of dollars which have been spent on cosmetics, hair products, diet aids, plastic surgery and liposuction; all because we care about how we look to others.
Eventually most of us learn it is more important to be a good person on the inside than a beautiful person on the outside. Aging has much to do with the acceptance of self (there's only so much a person can do about wrinkles and age spots). We learn to know and accept ourselves as we really look, not the way we wish we looked. It's easier some days than others. I know that I have cankles, a muffin top and cottage cheese, but if I just lost some weight ..........
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