This thread has, through its twists and turns, brought out the underlying truth of body image and the damge that narcissum can do. I am convinced of the link between body image and dieting and how this is exploited by the dieting industry.

But it equally applies to cosmetic surgery, hair loss clinics, fashion etc. etc.

Body image, how we see ourselves, how others see us, is almost at the heart of our daily lives, whether we are being interviewed for a job or buying a new pair of designer trainers.

If it moves on to rule, or even ruin in the case of eating dissorders, then we have entered the realm of psychological dysfunction. Vanity is the nastier flip side of body image and implies a conscious, even morbid, pre-occupation with self image. Powerfull nevertheless.

Wa'il's post above illustrates clearly the many permutations of why someone chooses to remould their body, and what motivates them to continue. Our perceptions of self are rarely at one with how others regard us. We are the ones that look in the shop windows at our own reflection - the man walking the other way is not thinking "doesn't that bum look big in that dress"

Thus my little muse on being undertall, it is all in the eyes of the beholder.

I think it was Kipling who wrote
As a man walked down the road, down the road walked three:
The man you see, the man he is, and the man he would like to be .