I love my radish legs

I forget who Neil was talking to, but he mentioned something about people of Chinese ethnicity tending to possess ‘big calves’.

“Like me,” I interrupted.

“Yeah,” he responded, without missing a beat.

I remember whoever it was he was talking to was a little surprised that I didn’t react in some way that involved beating Neil repeatedly over the head with a stool, and the conversation continued.

According to this article, Endoscope-assisted calf reduction in Orientals,

In general, Oriental women have shorter legs and thicker calves than Caucasian women… However, liposuction does not solve the problem of muscularly prominent calves, because the shape and size of the calves are determined mainly by gastrocnemius muscle rather than by subcutaneous fat. The authors have devised a method of contouring the calf by partially shaving the calf muscle.

It scares me that women seriously consider doing something so drastic to their bodies. I’m a skinny person (and sufficiently flat-chested to prove it — it’s great for exercise, no discomfort in the boobital area) and I have muscular calves. I see that as a plus. I LOVE my calf muscles, the way they make my legs look balanced when they’re relaxed, and how they bulge when they’re flexed.

Maybe I’m a freak. I don’t understand when people aspire to have legs as skinny as runway models, because they look more like people who are wasting away. You can’t really help the genes you’re born with — you may not like the hand you’ve been dealt, but I strongly believe that if you mess with your body in some major way, it will react*.

Not that I’m full of self-confidence about the way I look. If Nature could bestow straighter teeth (I’ve already done the braces), give me a better-proportioned torso, and make me a few inches taller, I’d be ecstatic (and then find something else I’d wish was different). I believe, in the end, that if you want to look good, you need to eat well (this is the main area in need of improvement for me) and exercise, exercise, exercise. Your body will settle into your ideal weight and size. I think most people are too obsessed with attaining a certain weight and dress size, and not paying attention to their fitness level, which is so important to help prevent diabetes, cardiac problems, osteoporosis… loads of conditions I hope I never have to endure.

(The term ‘radish legs’ comes from the article, Some Korean Women Are Taking Great Strides to Show a Little Leg. I run to maintain my link to root vegetables.)

* But hey, if it makes you happy, it makes you happy. Whatever.

• 6 Sep 2006

• Thinking