weight talk in the beauty shop

Last week, I sat in a beauty salon in one of Philly's suburbs, getting my highlights touched up (sidebar: I used to straight up lie to the men in my life about having natural highlights despite spending two hours plus at the salon every six weeks), and listening to the chatter of the stylist and her client next to me. The two were clearly friends, catching up on gossip about mutual pals in between foils in that accent unique to white people from the Philadelphia suburbs and Northeast, where the word "phone" sounds like "phowne" and "ass" sounds like "aye-as." 

I sat immobilized, eavesdropping on these women talk about their friend who had gained a lot of weight recently. Naturally, this turned to the pair talking about their own bodies. One of them bitched that she was always gaining weight in her hips and "aye-as," which puzzled me: aren't big butts a good thing? Am I the only white woman who thinks that a big juicy butt can be a great thing?

They continued, with one of them recounting in precise detail exactly how much she'd weighed at various points in the last few years and the other friend making supportive commentary about those goal posts. Both of them were definitively thin, but were deeply engaged in this discussion about their poundage ups and downs. 

I sat there, face covered with hair, making faces of confusion. Do women really talk to their friends about their weight in this amount of detail? I have almost no idea what any of my friends have ever weighed, and when they did mention it, I've forgotten it. I barely can guesstimate my own weight these days. Are we abnormal for not focusing on this aspect of our lives? Or at least not obsessing over it together? 

Weight talk can be a form of bonding and reassurance, and sometimes very cathartic--telling one of my friends my weight was a very liberating conversation. But I feel that the better thing is to build the confidence in yourself and your crew, and put more priority on the bigger things in life: ambitions, hopes, desires, office gossip. 

Ladies (or men!)--do you know precisely what your friends weigh? Is it a common theme of discussion? 

Much love,

The Sheriff