why does the media think they have the right to tell us what a perfect body is?

I’ve been so busy lately, that I have barely had time to sit down. I finally found the time to watch the news and wow, did something ever spark my interest…Ashely Judd!

Since I had kids coming home from sport practices and the phone kept ringing off the hook, I had to pause the TV so I could listen with REAL intent (once everything settled down). Evidently, Ashley was ridiculed about her “puffy face.”  Rumor had it that because she had a “puffy face” she had had “work done.” According to Ashley, she had been sick for some time, and was put on steroids. I know from experience, that steroids will make your face puffy.  Ms. Judd is 43 years old, and has beautiful, nearly flawless skin, again, because of this, she was accused of having “work done.”

The one thing that got me was when someone called her a cow because she had gained some weight and went from a size 2/4 to a 6/8. It was mentioned that she was being lazy, and if she didn’t watch it, her husband would be looking for someone else. Okay, people, since when is a 6/8 considered fat? By the way, she is said to be 5’7″ tall.

Our society has gotten way out of hand about everyone’s looks. It really sickens me. It pretty much has always gone on though. I grew up in the 70′s in Florida. I am naturally a very fair blonde, and even though I spent many hours outside at the pool or on the beach, I was not able to get as dark as most of my friends who were of Italian or Native American decent. I was always teased and made fun of for being so “white.” I hated my skin and have always been very embarrassed about it; even to this day.

I grew up dancing, and in the 80′s while in college, I majored in dance. I was quite small, yet muscular at the time; 5’4″ and 105 lbs soaking wet. I can remember that dancers at the time were expected to be very thin, and have extremely low body fat. We were checked periodically to make sure we were below what is now known to be a very unhealthy body fat percentile. I know many of my dance friends had poor body image (including myself). Fortunately, I never turned to bulimic or anorexic practices, but I knew quite a few dancers that did. To this day, I have a poor body image. Yes, I am heavier than I should be. I am 52 and have birthed four children, and I do exercise 5 days a week. Between having the children and now menopause, I have had a hard time with my weight. I feel enormous even though I wear a size 8. Even when I was at a size 4 I felt fat, and I know this has a lot to do with what society feels we should look like.

Just the other day, I was reading an article about how the fashion industry airbrushes. They showed three models all in white bikinis. One looked horrible, almost like a walking skeleton. One of them looked pretty good, but she was considered a plus size. I was shocked. If she’s a plus size, I guess that makes me morbidly obese.

While many Americans are gaining way too much weight, which leads to health problems and other negative issues, I feel that the media may be adding to the problem by how they portray the “perfect” woman. News bulletin…there is NO SUCH THING as a perfect anybody…male or female!