General

I can say that about men too.
I'm not complaining mind you.

I guess you being only 21 you haven't been around long enough to know that the media has been talking about the obesity epidemic for 30 years.
Its nothing new.
Fast food and junk food advertising, GMO foods over indulgence in beer and soda too.
Its really pretty obvious.

I see a lot of obese women around besides me.
People in general have gotten a bit chubbier.

We have all heard about it.
I hoped that answered your question

You would have to ask them to really get an answer.

They can be yes just depends on their body shape. How they carry their weight and what kind of clothes they wear.
Same goes for guys too.
A big fat guy in a spiderman t shirt or StarWars t shirt wouldn't be attractive to me.

Chubby is fine.
You asked why don't girls want to slim down and I will answer that from my own take on it.
I have been skinny in the past and over 400 lbs as well and I would choose chubby over skinny any day.
I am happy being 340ish currently and have no desire to lose weight because I am confidant in how I look.

Being skinny and having no curves isn't good if you are a female.
People talk about you if you are really skinny just as much as if you are overweight.
Like I said I would rather be fat than skinny and there is no "how come" about it really it just is for me.

I would have to agree with a lot of what you posted alelectromigration.

With over 40% of women in the US now being overweight I think it's a trend that feeds itself. Women are now surrounded by overweight and obese women; younger women have grown up this way. It's not a special "oh my god, did you see how she blew up!" kind of thing anymore; is't part of the new normal.

My wife's friends are mostly overweight, some obese, so it doesn't make her the odd one out.

With being bigger and fatter normalized, the goal posts are moved too. If a large number of your friends are around 200 lbs, you don't feel you're big at 180-190, even though you're well on your way to being fat.

Of course women's bodies are also optimized for fat, which is why more women than men are overweight.

I find it all very encouraging