Dear Cary,
Currently I'm dating a man who just won't leave my consciousness, not for a moment. I think of him all the time. He's pretty special.
My problem is this: This wonderful man with whom I've shared some amazing moments and do share a phenomenal connection ... he's overweight. He's not merely out of shape or a hike and a swim away from fit, he's fat.
I've made a conscious effort to look past it ("it" being my own stupid, shallow, superficial, counterproductive reaction to the weight), but there it is, all of the time. In bed, he's attentive, very strong, wonderful -- we enjoy genuine chemistry -- but even when the lights are out I find it difficult to navigate his flesh. I'm a smallish person stature-wise; it's difficult for me to wind around a man with what little leg I've been given, never mind a man the size of one and a half men.
Worse yet is I fear being a selfish lover, because I don't fantasize pleasing him the way I would ordinarily with a slimmer man. I'm intimidated, daunted and generally unprepared for certain activities.
I don't know what to do. It's a turnoff. And worst of all, part of the reason it's a turnoff is that I see myself with a head-turner when the lights are on. I've always been with striking men -- not pretty boys, but men who had that quality; after all, it's that quality which turns my head in the first place. And this man just doesn't light my fire in that way. I'm attracted to nearly everything about him but his size. So he doesn't light my fire, and doesn't feed my ego in the company of strangers. I hate myself even for admitting it; it's just so superficial.
Am I trying to convince myself that we have a future together? Is there any way I can get past my bias and enjoy this person for who he is in total?
Weighing in, in Washington
Dear Weighing in,
You haven't gotten this far by pretending. You've gotten this far by being straightforward and honest, and I suggest you continue being straightforward and honest.
This is harder, of course, because we are freaked out about fat. It is one of our crazy things. It goes deep. It has its paradoxes and corollaries as well -- we are freaked out about skinny, and we are freaked out about food, and the planet, and the body and money and exercise and power. We are a freaked-out culture. We are all freaked out.
The fat man knows this.
If you are a fat man in America you cannot help noticing that people are freaked out about fat. People will suggest exercise bikes. They will feed you lean portions. They will say to each other, "It's his fault, and it's disgusting; he must have no willpower; he must eat the wrong things; he must be repressing something; he must not respect himself." And what does the fat guy say? He says, Yes, thank you for that astute observation, I have indeed noticed that I am fat.
So I suggest what you do is go in your backyard and sit quietly and meditate on the fact that you are not turned on by this fat man. Meditate on the fact that you like him very much but he doesn't turn you on. Wait for something to come to you. Accept the answer that comes. If you come to the feeling that you have to end it, then end it. If you come to the feeling that you want to stay with him for a while more, then stay with him for a while more. If you come to both, then put each on an apothecary's scale, weigh them and choose the one that weighs a little more.
Don't try to reason it out and don't guilt-trip yourself. We don't know why we are the way we are. It's not our job to know. Just meditate on it and wait for an answer.
Maybe you meditate on it and the answer that comes is that it's just not right for you. OK. Make a tearful goodbye. Or maybe you meditate on it and it continues to intrigue you and so you stay with him for a while. What's the harm in that? Maybe you learn something new. Maybe you have sex and it turns out to be good. Maybe it's just some learning you have to do -- maybe you are not used to having sex in ways that are not automatic; maybe there would be some learning at first and then it would be automatic, just as it always was. What can it hurt to find out?
And by the way, why are you in such a hurry lately? Two or three dates is not all that much time. Human emotion goes slowly. Insight is a complex computation; it can take days on our little computers.
Besides, consider: The sex is great in the beginning lots of times. This you no doubt know. It doesn't always stay great. It might dwindle down. It might be great at first with some guy you don't like that much otherwise. It might dwindle down and then what have you got? A guy you don't like all that much anyway whom you don't like to fuck much either anymore.
Some things are painful and sad and wrong but nonetheless true.
We are the way we are for reasons unknown to us. You needn't feel guilty if it isn't working out. Quiet your mind and wait for the answer to come to you.
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What? You want more?
Shares