Align Pilates® Minneapolis

Aside from the inane stories about what kind of dog the Obama family should get (do we care? really?), few things in the media get my blood boiling. When I see some bit of “news” that irritates me, I can usually accept the fact that it bugs, but then push it away. I know that there’s no use in getting my undies in a bunch about something that I can’t change. Chalk the calm nerves up to lots of yoga…and a sturdy helping of Merlot. But I digress.

My composure was contained until this piece of gossip hit the airwaves: Is Jessica Simpson Fat?

Obviously this ticks a lot of people off, including myself. As far as weight goes, I am not big and I am not small. I am somewhere in the middle—a place that perhaps Jessica is at right now (she is a reported size 8). It’s not a bad place to be, in fact it’s average and human. But what irks me is that this fodder makes us focus on the womanly figure in such a negative way—Jessica’s “fat” pictures and story are plastered all over different media sties. And this is a slippery slope, one that only fuels an already inflamed fire. Although the media may pretend to sympathize with Jessica, at the end of the day, they are exploiting her and anyone else who, heaven forbid, has a stomach roll.

On TV, the internet, and the newsstands, one message comes out loud and clear: weight = bad. This kind of spin can make one afraid to walk out the front door, or to let our daughters so much as glance at the magazine rack at the grocery store, lest they pick up on the negative vibe and start forming their own whacked opinions about what is a “good” weight and a “bad” weight. We know that there is no such thing. If you’re happy and healthy, the number on the scale or trouser tag should not matter.

So maybe we need to quit fretting over whether it was Twinkies or Chicken of the Sea that has Jessica adjusting her belt, and adjust our own individual focus and priorities. In other words, let’s reel it in people.

Okay. I’m done now. Another glass of Merlot, please.

Tags: body bullying, Jessica Simpson

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009 at 11:31 am and is filed under :: Word on the street. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.