Perspective Plus discussion

This topic is for people who, while not plus size themselves, at least have a clue when it comes to accepting yourself at whatever size you may be. These are our allies in the search for harmony and equality.

To start off in a possibly odd place: Lady Gaga. I just saw a news item that said she recently gained 25-30 pounds after having battled bulimia for years. Despite some rather snarky words directed at her, she maintains that everyone should be happy with themselves as they are.

As one news article says: "To all the girls that think you're ugly because you're not a size 0, you're the beautiful one," Gaga shared a quote of inspiration on Twitter. "It's society who's ugly."

Yup, she gets it.

Yes, she does in more ways than one. I stand by "Born This Way" as the anthem for all of us who are not the typical social mold of what is "acceptable". The media went nuts over Flockheart and her skeletal look saying she needed a cheeseburger, but when some one is a a healthy weight, they get flack. We need more Gaga and less blah-blah.

O.K. so this isn't about fat people (for now) but this kid gets it! I saw this story this morning on Yahoo! and I love this kids attitude.

http://games.yahoo.com/blogs/unplugge...

I found this today. I really have to say that I like what this mother is thinking. She is on a good track.

http://gma.yahoo.com/blogs/abc-blogs/...

While I agree that her heart (and, apparently, her booty) is in the right place, I'm not sure that outlawing the word 'fat' is quite the way to go. There should be a way to get her message across to her kids without 'fat' becoming such a bad word it can't even be said. I don't know...

I took it as banning the word to keep her kids from being worried about how they look and see others, not as "bad word". You give me something to think about, but I still feel that she is on a good track, even if her execution needs a little work.

Check out the video for "Brave" by Sara Bareilles. Not only is the song empowering, but the video shows people of ALL shapes, sizes and ages DANCING and it is beautiful.

Leonard Nimoy. Yes, Spock himself. In addition to being an actor, he is also an accomplished photographer. One of his books, The Full Body Project, features larger women. He has said publicly that women of all sizes are beautiful. In the afterword to The Full Body Project (secondhand quote, as I have not yet had the opportunity to see the book directly), he said "If I meet God, I hope she's female. I'm touched by the power of women. I'm married to a feminist. And I'm troubled by the fact that women in our culture are congratulated most for losing weight."

Amen.