Insult or compliment for a woman?

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-29-2007
Insult or compliment for a woman?
12
Sun, 06-10-2007 - 11:32am

I met a really attractive and intelligent woman at a party a few weeks ago. It was a public event at an art gallery. We had been talking for a good half hour and really seemed to be hitting it off. Then, things suddenly went downhill. I commented that she had a nice, full, hourglass figure. I thought she would take it as a compliment. Instead, she became deeply offended. She snapped, "Oh really....well perhaps I should do some plus size modeling!", and then she slapped my face and walked away. Needless to say, it was not my proudest moment ;-)

She had the classic figure of a 50's pinup - large bust, narrow waist, shapely hips/legs. I guess she had interpreted "hourglass" as meaning big/overweight/full figured. I just thought it meant shapely and well proportioned. Also, I'm wondering if she may have been hypersensitive about her figure to begin with. She was part Vietnamese and most women of that ethnic background tend to be petite. She may have always felt awkward about being so voluptuous.

My buddies had watched the scene unfold and were laughing hysterically. When I told them what I had said they shook their heads and said it was never a good idea to comment on a woman's figure, even if I thought it was complimentary. What are your thoughts on this?

Pages

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-30-2006
Tue, 06-12-2007 - 8:58pm
"Even if done "femininely", hitting someone isn't appropriate behavior." -- agreed and the same holds true for men and let's throw in throwing drinks on each other while we are at it.
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-30-2006
Tue, 06-12-2007 - 9:10pm

The term you are looking for is voluptuous. (caught a typo here, sorry, I type too fast)

If you say "thick" to a woman you will insult her again because she will equate that to "fat". I will disregard your estimated measurements because I'm sure you don't know what 36dd-26-36 looks like.

Do you have any males in your family who could give you a crash course on how to talk to a woman?




Edited 6/14/2007 10:40 am ET by snafu2006

Pages