Mid Day Diatribe

So I'm at my desk shoveling down some yogurt for lunch and scanning CNN.com for the latest bits of news. An item catches my eye about Jordin Sparks, the teenage girl who recently won "American Idol." This statuesque and absolutely stunning young girl was the target of some criticism lobbied by a group called The National Action Against Obesity. A spokesman with the unintentionally funny name of MeMe Roth made direct comments about Miss Sparks suggesting she was the very portrait of unhealthiness, a magnet for diabetes and hypertension and should be categorized as "obese."

WTF?

Miss Sparks is tall (I'd venture 5'10" or so) and a size 12. That's considered obese? The average American woman is a size 12, last I checked on the nation's statistical average. And at that height, I'd consider that a healthy size. For whatever good intentions Miss Roth may have had, this messaging is only reinforcing female insecurity and worthiness associated with one's own Body Mass Index. So, thanks for encouraging teenagers to further strive to be size 2s. We appreciate the additional cases of bulimia, anorexia and unhealthy dieting that may result. Great job on creating self esteem issues that years of therapy will have to undue. It's hard enough to be a woman these days and deal with self worth vis a vis body issues; it's a real bitch to be a teenager and handle this kind of cruel denunciation. However well meaning this messaging was intended (and I know it was intended with a focus on future potential health issues), how it will be interpreted by the wider audience is this: as accomplished as you may be every area in your life as a woman, if your BMI is above 20, you don't stack up. That's a bullshit message to feed to women (especially impressionable young women just coming into a sense of their selves). Miss Sparks probably has a lot of young fans and this is not the message they need to hear. So, yeah, thanks Miss Roth, for fucking up another generation of women.

*sigh*

I totally agree that people need to take responsibility for making healthy habits essential parts of their lives. Exercise. Diet. Vice in moderation, blood pressure managed and the whole shebang must be practiced. But to come out swinging at a beautiful young woman who appears to have a stable healthy lifestyle (esp. for a teenager) and undermine her based on her natural size is a low blow. Size does not always equate health and no woman should be sucked into buying the one size fits all mantra.

Alright. I'm done ranting. I have to get back to work.