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[Type 4] Type Four and Body Image: Are we waifish?

StarFollowed

Stardust
Joined
Jul 12, 2016
Messages
79
MBTI Type
ENFP
Enneagram
4w3
Instinctual Variant
sx/so
(Disclaimer: My post is not meant to cause offense. I’m just stating my observations.)

I don’t believe I’m extremly tiny, but people tell me all the time that I’m going to “blow away in the wind” and that there’s “nothing to me”. My BMI is around 19-20, and although I live in an image-conscious city (in NorCal), what I tend to see most is skinny-shaming anyone who is either short or slender or both, as in, certain sizes are deemed to be less acceptable (0,2) if you’re over a certain age regardless of height and build. For some reason, my family members, and even strangers and friends, think it’s okay to tell me to put on weight because of my size or because “women look better with more weight on them.” When I was a teenager, and still living with my parents, my mother would point out people who were around size 4s and size 6s and tell me that they looked better than me, or that a “fuller face is always more attractive.”

I have a theory that once a type 4 takes in body image and health and size into the image that fits within their ideals, they will work hard to maintain it unless the ideal, for whatever reason, changes. I understand that body weight is not an enneagram type, but I can’t help but wonder if:

1. Type Fours tend to be image and health conscious than the average population

2. No matter how overweight we are, we will still appear tinier than people of the same stats.

I also have noticed that with myself, as a type Four, I’m very prone to judging people who don’t share my ideals in terms of fitness or body size. For instance, I’m learning that just because I value looking a certain way, it does not mean that everyone else will. Still, deep down, I don’t believe it’s okay for anyone to get fat.

Any type Fours out there who have noticed similar trends? [MENTION=6561]OrangeAppled[/MENTION]
 

Snow as White

ƃuıǝǝs | seeing
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471
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sx/sp
I’m gonna go with: genetics and environment for 600, Alex.
 

Qlip

Post Human Post
Joined
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Messages
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sp/sx
Yeahh, no, there's no phenotype/dietary correlation. Not my my 4 experience. I've got a few 4s in my life, they're of somewhat average body type.
 

neko 4

New member
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sp
For most of my life I was a small four; I've gained a lot of weight in the last few years unfortunately.
 

Froody Blue Gem

Necromancing Scapelamb
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I'm not a core 4, but i've got a 4 wing, 4 fix, and oodles of 4 drives. Eh... my appearance is the opposite of that, average-short height but I'm kind of bigger built let's just say. And my metabolism doesn't help and that I love food too much.

I am very image-conscious though and when I get my exercise in, I think to myself what I want to look like. I don't like clothes shopping because I don't like the way that I look and I have to focus on my body in certain clothes which I despise. If I see nice things, I enjoy it but if it's an unsuccessful trip, not so much. I also get wrapped up a lot in comparing the way I look to how other people look, and worrying about not looking good "so and so looks better than me."
 

Maou

Mythos
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I am body image conscious, and overweight.
 

Polaris

AKA Nunki
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Before I started taking medication that causes weight gain, I weighed 118 pounds at 5'7'' as an adult male. Right now, I'm in the average weight range, which, given my history of being very thin, feels like being massively overweight.
 

Animal

So carnal it's spiritual
Joined
Mar 9, 2013
Messages
650
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SeFi
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4
I've noticed more of a trend with skinny head types, especially sixes and fives. They think so much that it burns calories. Seriously! :D They're anxious and tightly wound, so just sitting in place they're all tense. Their legs are rapidly moving up and down, their eyes looking about... and it shows in their bodies. Fours are heart types with a line to 2... in older age, the emotional hearty nature catches up. Although, 4w5 obviously will be more disembodied and likely smaller.

As for health conscious and judging people who let themselves go? Well, I can't deny it. I don't usually go around judging people, because I'm too self absorbed and I only really give thought to the people I care to think about. But someone who just gives no shits about how they come off, it's a big turn off and a sign that they're not from my planet.
 

Schrödinger's Name

Blessed With A Curse
Joined
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Messages
1,693
I don't think it's healthy or a good idea to start attaching 'body types' to enneagram types. Why would they have anything to do with each other? Okay, maybe some people from x type like physical stuff more, working out and that kind of stuff but I don't know. It doesn't feel right to me.

But yes, I happen to be a four and I am underweight and 'muscular'.
I am conscious about my health but what's more than average? I don't know how much time other people spend on their health. When I am in a bad mental place I will become more interested in health to search for signs if this will finally be my end. :') I know what's good and what's not, depending on my mood I might do the complete opposite of what I am supposed to do. So I guess in my case it's knowledge vs consciousness.
I know that drinking 2L of Ice Tea is bad. Does that stop me? Nah.

I (usually) don't judge people for their looks. (Yeah okay, if someone has greasy hair and it's almost in my face, I won't like that no. But for body image, I don't care that much) Probably because I am kind of self-absorbed and occupied in my 'own world'. I never understood the question; "When you are walking down the street and you see x person, what do you think?" Am I supposed to fucking think or what? Oh crap. Just stop assuming that I would think something about x person. It's so annoying and there are more fun things to think about.
It's none of my business how other people try to take care of their body or what they look like.


I know what I want to look like and that's what matters. Though I might become jealous from time to time when I see another muscular girl. I want to be like them. And to be the only skinny muscular person in the room, because that's what used to give me attention. :shrug: Don't take away my source of attention, that's rude.


What I've noticed (from myself) is that when I become less healthy (mentally) is that I will 'praise' myself for being underweight. That even when the world is burning down, when everything is crumbling at my feet, at least I still have my muscles and my unhealthy weight (though it's not that unhealthy since it's never given me any health issues). Even though I know deep down, that my muscles are actually not that great as I try to make myself believe sometimes. They could look better if I started working out more often.
Focussing on my body distracts me from the fact that it feels as if everything around me is crashing down. Because I can still in some way control my body and what it looks like, or I use it as a confirmation of how bad everything's actually going, and that it's visible, not only in my head. (Though I really don't have the persistence to maintain a certain lifestyle/diet or whatever. I guess that works in my favor too.)

This is also why I think that it's not a good idea to start idealizing body types or how slim someone is (based on their type). I think it's pretty toxic actually. Or it is at least to me. Every time I receive a comment about 'how skinny' I am it motivates me to loose more weight (but as I wrote earlier, I am not persistent. I will say that from now on I will only eat once a day and the next day I've already forgotten about it). And that's not something to be proud of, really. Though I sometimes am.
 

Earl Grey

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The only body type I'd fit is my gut type and there is no way that is my core.

It would be as varied as there are variations of people of the same ethnic groups who even have similar diets.
No personality trait (or type) dictates body type.
 

Siúil a Rúin

when the colors fade
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I don't know if there would be any correlation, but I've tended towards being skinny because of anxiety and perhaps other factors like protein depleted diet when young. I grew up in a food insecure environment which probably had some effect. In my 20's I was around 100 lbs at 5'5" (95-105lbs). After each divorce or breakup I lose 20 lbs in a month, but I have gotten as high as in 130's lbs. Right now I'm at 113, but did get as low as 107 after my most recent breakup.

Being really skinny is how I see myself and what feels right. I feel like I look really weird with any weight at all, and I think some women are beautiful heavy. I have skinny ankles and wrists, skinny neck, thin face, so it looks weird to have weight. I still have anxiety, but do avoid eating sugar and carbs because I want to stay thin now just to feel comfortable.

Now I live where almost everyone is heavy, so there have been little incidences where I feel I'm rejected because of being so thin.
 

Saturnal Snowqueen

Solastalgia 𓍊𓋼𓍊𓋼𓍊
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I am tiny height wise(5"2), but I'm chunky. I'm a foodie after all. I try to focus on my health, both to look good and have energy, and I have an ideal look I want in the future. I am pretty image conscious and I enjoy having a signature look-mostly my bangs and curls, plus I take pride in my shortness. I do that with my clothes too, having a personal sense of style.
 

Peter Deadpan

phallus impudicus
Joined
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Messages
8,883
I think 5s and 4w5s tend to be the most waifish. Avarice in consumption leads to a lack of excess fat, and avarice in activity leads to a lack of muscle tone. Envy + observation of others certainly could compound this.
 

Venus Rose

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sx/so
I don't pay particular attention to my body type aside from unconsciously kinda just keeping it "normal" I guess
um, I don't think a lot about it I guess
could possibly also be an SP thing (I am SP last)

not that I have never had any appearance anxiety issues at all...but yeah

edit: I am not waifish either

idk on kibbe i think though i have been typed romantic I am considering soft natural, i certainly have enough of what he calls the yin flesh/softness
 

Morpeko

Noble Wolf
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I'm a 4 fix. I'm not quite "waifish" but am naturally... petite. Since I was twelve years old, I've been able to fit in the same clothes (size 2-4) and fluctuated from around 100-110 pounds, no matter my eating habits. I've even tried putting on weight through muscles and it didn't have much of a drastic change on my appearance. My size is not type-related. I definitely do have body image issues, but I also don't really think it's type-related.
 

Opal Star

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I do not see how body type can correlate to an enneagram type or an MBTI type. I do not see how visual identification (V.I.) can be effective.
 

Pessimistic Hippie

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My BMI is very middle-of-the-road but I look a lot smaller than I am, yes. And I work fairly hard to maintain it/I do have a definite fear of gaining. THAT part is purely superficial for me.

I don't really look down on anyone else's weight but I don't agree with "fat acceptance" as a societal concept (I only agree with not bullying someone over their weight,) and that has nothing to do with me being a 4.
 
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