European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - October 3, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes Friday october 3,1686 letters readers reply to letter criticizing appearance of army wives a. L. Or Iii on. Eim Niv. Not Anlo Are wives overweight so arc Sor you re Here to serve Aren t you so write that my wife said As she Lay on the Couch Lik Cleopatra my with my wife it s hard to Etc Tat am writing m Munse 10 the recent letter complaining Aboul m Hli in military wives. If the writer docs l like the Way my wife act or dresses then she should mind lick own business. I like my wife just the Way. Sre is pm she i nightly plump foul big Deal so Are the l it my wife Jan i Lwi i like this. When we first met she was working a i the local Burger House and she looked Jum i i unfortunately she was fired for Eal my 011 the Edh Semi that they were missing a few sides of had big Cal since then she has Kepi her figure and milled a fact. Her measurements are76-2 la Jii ii her Oihi a leg is the same. I Misi a thai the Day i dragged her Over the threshold Wai us no Ilir Besl Days of my life. We have a Happy marriage to in if we have 10 Deal with the army system and people who write letters. Just the other Day we went to the commissary and they did i have any hamburger Helper. How Are Segoine to Cait pm wife asked the manager. My Chil Dren arc going in starve and besides you re Here to serve me some the time Wewcel to the emergency room because one of he kids Cut his leg. This Cut is Only w of a Inch Long and it s very superficial the doctor said Why did you bring him Here so you could look at him what Are you getting paid for my wife said. You re Here to serve us. Some general said thai on an so serve mentioning an made my heart skip a my wife s biggest source of unhappiness and consid ering the size of my wife that s a Heap of unhappiness. On the scale of starvation in Ethiopia or a Slock mar Ket crash last week we were in front of the lube and a 5,000-mile Stock car race came do they have so Many car races on this Chan Nel they re Here to serve us what kind of service is this actually i have a fond place in my heart for car Raees. Afler my Mother had the stroke about the Only thing she seemed to understand on to was car races. She could sit for hours watching them. I guess that s Why they have Romany of those things on to. A Public service for stroke victims or some i like that. Maybe other people s rela Tives like golfer Neucom you can see that it if weren t for those a comic incl people Al cafes an or people writing letters about my wife we could get along just have Only one other complaint Aboul service. Thai housing office has just got to gel us another Ger Man apartment. Out Landlady hardly can speak English at All imagine they lost the big one have us Over Hereford Over 40 years and they still can t talk american. One Day my wife sees a cockroach in the Kitchen an starts trying to stomp on the thing. So the vibration Shook the place up a Little big Deal. It s nothing to get excited Aboul this in t California with those big Earth quakes and All the Landlady comes up the Blairs Yel Ling and screaming something about a Hub Schrauber incur apartment we figured she wanted to borrow one like real Quick but we could t find a Hub Schrauber inthe cafes Catalon anywhere. Whal kind of service is name and location withheld whal you look like on cd outside has nothing to do with what you Are As a person a lol of Young wives whose husbands Are in lower ranks do not have Shemoney to buy fancy clothes and be the picture of femininity like someone who has been a the army for 18 years. A husband who really loves his wife does t mind the extra pounds because you Are the person he fell in love with not a piece of name withheld Var Helm Germany to wife of a pro from Heidelberg writer of the letter military wife urges others to show Pride most people Are nol professional soldiers when they first enter the service and marry. They Are ik-Lo-20-Ycar-old americans like any others in the Gen eral population who fall in love and happen to be inthe army. Since soldiers and their spouses Are people and not Barbie and rambo clones it follows lha Tihey make mistakes and even sometimes commit the unpardonable sin of getting fat or otherwise using poor judgment. I m Mitt curious at what Range on the height and it Vigil Idle adultery is justifiable in your eyes. Therein More in most marriages than the size of a woman s rear end. Or a Man s belly. Are you this unforgiving Aboul Only fill people or should we also police up Alt these Lacey women with size 32 a bosoms an sentence them 10 a Nautilus machine until they reach the Noriar j4-36 a. We poor examples of femininity Are simply people As Are our spouses. Not All people Are capable of or perhaps even concerned with. The thin Jia other people s Greal you and your husband have such a Good partnership. A lot of us do Loo. But ours is not yours necessarily. We Are individuals. Anne Holdorf Giessen Germany i am also the wife of a my husband has been in the military for 18 years. I have been in the military for 14 years. 1 am also one of those Over weight of Lei s say it fat wives. It has Laken Many years the love and edification of my wonderful husband and the Grace of my god to bring me peace with my appearance. Being fat docs nol make me a better or worse person. I am who i am in the eyes of those who love me. What a shame it is that in mos military workplaces the Soldier s capabilities Are judged by his wife s appearance and not just by his performance on inc would now like to address the other women and men who read inc letter from wife of a continue to do the Best you can with whal you be got no one on Earth should judge us. We must do what we Are called to do to the Besl of our excess weight is a danger 10 your health then please lose it. If excess weight ill fining clothes or imperfect hair will make inc difference Between Fidel Ity and adultery for your spouse then please seek marriage Counselor not a diet plan exercise class or beautician. What 1 want to say is please realize thai no one has the right to judge you. That is up 10 god he knows your heart and its ways. Amy d. Thomas Karlsruhe Germany. Forgive me if 1 am wrong but Are military wives a personification of Barbie dolls do male Mil itary personnel fail in their careers if their commander should Infortuna Lily bump into an overweight wife ,. Under inc pressures of patriarchal Socie a it is women who generally become victims of anorexia Crosa or bulimia not men although i a agree obesity is unhealthy so is an obsession with weight. Criticism by a slim woman is nol the Way 10 help a obese one. Fal women Are not a harassing things they Are women first fat second. Angry medium sized English woman Wiesbaden Germany i heartily agree with the writer s original Point. Military marriage is certainly a partnership necessarily so to withstand the Many stresses inherent in Mili tary life. That s As far As my agreement with her goes marriage is built not on Pride least of All Pride of appearance Bui on Mutual respect with a healthy Tash of humor. On this foundation. I need never fear my husband will look with envy at the Young things around i need never worry Aboul wha people May say or think about my appearance. I am not chained to the cosmetics Section of the exchange1 can spend time with family and friends rather than doing my nails or having my hair styled weekly. I can feel free to be me to be a caring human being kind and considerate to help others when i can to raise my children to truly believe Beauly is Only skin deep. To have a High Standard for your own appearance is Fine to try to impose your Standard on others even by letter is she is so overweight As to Border on the disgusting perhaps she s coping As Best she can Wither problems without resorting to actions much worse such As child is no excuse for despising your fellow human beings instead reach out your hand and help them. Holly j. Shall Heidelberg. Also am the wife of a pro and have a lol of Pride in my husband and two children. However inv u -u.jlc-1 1-r.b Urt ism film fit Jill Phi 1 Dill Oil us of t of � r a a Home fires burning for 19 you know that one of the symptoms of de pression is overeating and of course i m sure you know what happens when a person overeat. Maybe the wife May just need a Friend nol a wonder if your letter caused some wives to be come depressed. It certainly did t help me. Insulted pro wife worm Gennity ,. Only some men in inc army. To make matters worse some of the men who Are overweight Aren t even making a Effort to lose weight. Reasonably Good physical shape think again not Only i bul other people i know Don t care what other people think of us. As thai saying goes it $ Inich Eye of the beholder. I do have Pride in myself and it shows i am my own person. My husband says he s proud of me. That s All thai matters to me. Theresa Gordon grate Woehr Germany. If my husband s commander is a Man of integ Rity he bases his judgment of my husband s pc for. Manic on his ability and not on my appearance. Believe it is every individual s right to choose their own style of dress or hair. What distressed me most about this letter was the Altitude Aboul overweight people. It s Lime we dispelled the myth that overweight Ropoc Are Lasiy. Have no Pride and Are disgusting obesity is Nolche sign of a flawed character. It is a medical problem with Many causes including physical and emotional. One of the greatest Joys of being an american is the Freedom to be this includes in Freedom to have Blue hair Wear red is retch pants when you re 65 or be overweight regardless of whal others May think Linda re celts i Lahn a Germany i agreed with her on the two Points curlers and rubies should t be worn in Public. Bul when you started in on us larger ladies jump Back the Skinny is in trip is a farce. Doctors arc Ted ing that weight tendencies Are just As hereditary Aszlue eyes Orl Ilond hair. So if if in your genes you either live an unnatural life of starvation accept yourself As you Are. Yes being overweight can be hard on your body but so can fad diets and just Plain dieting if you lose and gain lose and gain it puts More stress on your body than just maintaining a steady weight. I am nol saying that we Queen sue ladies should t try to lose the extra pounds bul to suggest we have no Pride is a Gross injustice. Cathy Warden Grossen Linden Germany there Are times when i m Loo tired or Busy lob other getting fixed up to buy ground meal in the know Many women in the Community who arc just too Busy taking care of their Home and family to worry about sewn dog a amount of Lime in front of the makeup Mirror. Do by Ingen Germany at first i agreed with your Lelir and expression of Pride a an important military family team member since i Loo am the Witeof a career ioi1ier and Mother of three Young children. 1 enjoy my duties and taut them parted company when your letter digressed into a tirade against your teammates who Are Over weight yes i am and i m trying to Deal Wilh the i do not however Wear curlers smell bad or dress in filthy tatters nor do i know anyone who quite As bad As you describe. By the Way affordable attractive larger sizes Are often difficult 10 find even in inc states. Have you volunteered to teach sewing through army commit nity services or the recreation Center our Small port has no Beauty shop have you Raj. Unte ered to teach haircut lung or styling or makeup use we can t find even a paid aerobics teacher would you watch my children while i went to Aero bics if you can t Lead it a team player location withheld did you take a Survey of husbands who look another women my own Mother told me if a Nan did t look at women who passed by he s Milne blindfolded or dead lady it s human nature. Nol All men Are attracted to the cover girl look. Thai s Pineir t you have simply stated look presenta ble your pledge to help your husband and be by his Side was an attitude we All should share the real of your letter showed Lille compassion toward others. By the Way if you were so proud of being a wife Ofa pro Why did you leave your name oui Muench Weber German
