A person’s weight has always been a touchy subject. Movies, television shows and, sometimes, commercials portray women obnoxiously asking their significant others (imagine the following said with a “valley girl” accent), “Does my butt look big in this outfit?”

The men follow this question with either shoving their faces with Twix candy bars (as in the clever commercial) or with an over exaggerated “Nooooo” followed by a heavy compliment.

But the real question isn’t how a woman’s butt looks in an outfit. The real question is, “Do I look fat?” She’s digging for that confidence found in another person’s reaction. Think about it. Girls, how many times do you ask your friends how you look in an outfit because you know, no matter what, they’ll say you look great?

It’s that constant reassurance from the ones closest to you that fuels part of your confidence. Weight, it seems, plays a very large role in how people feel about themselves. That goes for guys too.

Now, I’m 166 words in and people might question what the hell I’m writing about. I’m not here to tell anyone to be comfortable in their own skin or embrace your curves or your awkward stick figure, although I do support all of that. I am a woman, of course.

But right now my counterpart on this page may be discussing how guys shouldn’t joke with their gals about their weight, among other … topics. While I do agree with this, for once, I think there comes a point of comfort and confidence in your mate where you can joke about appearance without any real substance or seriousness to it.

Some of my closest guy friends always joke about my ass. One of them constantly yells, “Shake that ass!” if I happen to be walking behind him, but I don’t find any of it offensive. Annoying, yes, but not offensive.

Guys need to have a little bit more confidence in their gal’s confidence. Not all girls are sensitive time bombs ready to explode at the drop of one joke or insult. Get over yourselves. I know a gaggle of guys who are (gasp!) sensitive creatures and vainer than most girls.

My question is, who cares? Who cares if your inner thighs rub together a bit and may cause some chafing? Or if your arms flab when you wave?

I’m getting off topic, but the point is, yes, don’t joke about your girlfriend’s weight until she’s comfortable enough to fart in front of you.

My counterpart over there may be covering an extensive list of topics at this point, but I’m tired of typing the word confidence so I bid adieu and hope that people will soon realize that the opinion page is for opinions, in case you didn’t catch Thursday’s “Our View.”