Say "No" to Fat

An alarming trend, and one that seems to be growing, is the general acceptance of obesity as the appropriate condition for women over a certain age. It all started with Oprah, way back when: She was fat and everyone loved her, so fat must be fine, the thinking went. Still, even Oprah didn't like being fat and so she made several very public stabs at dieting, once losing quite a bit of weight and looking fabulous, but eventually gaining it all back. Now that she's over 50, who cares; isn't every woman over 50 the size of a trash bin?

The answer is clearly "Yes," at least on TV. There are several sitcoms with fat leading ladies we are supposed to find sexy and attractive despite their girth. The worst offenders are those home shopping shows which are popping up all over the dial. Watching QVC, my favorite way to decompress, is nothing short of hysterical, with the hosts hawking the lowliest t-shirt as if it were the world's most miraculous find. They natter on like they were selling antiquities from the tomb of Tutankhamen, rather than some cheap garments churned out in a Sri Lanka sweatshop.

But I digress. The point is, many of the models on these shows are cows, I mean "plus-size," and they look bad despite how much we are told that they look good. I mean really, how sexy is a "fun little black dress" gonna be in size 3x? I guess I'm old-fashioned, but I believe humans, regardless of age, are not meant to be fat and should not accept it. Fat is a choice; make a better one.