Why can't I say a girl is big?

You know what? Dumb comment by me. I've exercised like a mad man and not lost weight or even gained it because I also ate like one.

I'm just always surprised when I see as many out-of-shape girls and women as there are competing in basketball (and, even more so, softball).

 

Well, there's big and there's out of shape.

The pitcher of our softball team in high school, who struck me out on three pitches once to win a bet, was 6-2 and I'm guessing about 210 and I don't know if I would have called her fat. She was a big girl, but I wouldn't want to say she was out of shape.

 

Isn't it a given that if there is a "husky" chick on the team, she's the first baseman?

 

Whatever you do, don't use a euphemism. It's insulting, and it's a judgment call based on your own biases.

Just state her height and weight (ask the kid if you don't know - it will also reveal whether or not she's self-conscious about it), figure out WHY it's an important detail, and -- based why you think it's important -- put it in context for your readers.

If her size gives her the ability to play like Shaq, then give the stats to prove your point.

It's cool that you're sensitive, but it doesn't have to be complicated.

 

If you are advocating walking up to an obese 16-year-old girl you don't know and asking her to tell the world how much she weighs, you have lost all contact with and sensation for the human world. Go make some friends who aren't in newspapers.

 

Had an in-shape girls goalie once tell me after a tournament game that she told her teammates to shoot low on the opposing goalie because "she's a big girl. watching her in warmups, i could tell she wouldn't be able to get down" Both goals were scored that way, but I didn't use it.

 

You can't say a girl is big because if you do, you'll sleep by yourself. If you have a wife or girlfriend, call her big and see what happens.

 

Instead of asking her weight, ask her if she's a size 14:

 

Yep. Do it respectfully and if she doesn't want to say, that's her prerogative and it will signal to you that maybe it shouldn't go in the story. It's better to deal with it directly than smirk and write that she's a "the big girl" or "zaftig" -- wink wink nudge nudge ho ho ho.

Remember, we're talking about athletes, not your boss' girlfriend. Athletes are usually pretty confident about their bodies. If they play sports, they know they'll be suiting up in shorts and/or Lycra and people are going to see them. It's just part of the deal.

 

Hard to imagine it took three pages to get to this:

Yeah, I called ya fat.
Look at me, I'm skinny
It never stopped me from gettin' busy ...

 

"Is she a great big fat girl?"

 

I once wrote this, in the second or third graf, to describe a big, dominant girl:

No matter what the fifth-ranked Mustangs did, La Pine’s woman-child of a center, Kassi Conditt, had everything her way. Triple teams didn’t slow down the Hawks’ 6-foot-1 player who was described as a “beast” by HV’s Katie Figoni, while helpside defense did little more than anger the giant.

“Yeah, I figured it out after a while,” said Conditt, who finished with 26 points on 12-of-13 shooting from the field. “I told my point guard to give me the ball, and I’ll take care of us for a while.”

Never heard a peep. Not saying it's perfect, or even great stuff, but athletes and coaches are pretty reasonable when you ask questions in a non-mocking manner. (There also were more quotes highlighting her size later in the story.)

Thanks for your time. I'll go back to lurking now.