Oprah and impossible weight expectations

This is copied from a blog I wrote last night on Blogher. Why it is coming out white, I do not know, nor do I know how to fix it. Hmmm?

We all do it, look at magazines that tout the secret of losing baby weight in weeks and how Heidi Klum will do it after her fourth child. And we say to ourselves that if all we had to do was have someone cook for us and work out with a personal trainer, we would look great, too. Then we read about Oprah Winfrey, one of the most successful women on earth and her struggle to keep the weight she loses off permanently. She has a personal cook. She has a personal trainer. She works out and has even run a marathon. If she can't do it, how can we?

I read a heartfelt essay by Oprah in O magazine in a waiting room. This time she would really make the connection. This time it was a spiritual quest and she would succeed. No she won't. I do not wish her ill, not at all. She won't succeed in creating the body image she is looking for because she is not built that way. She has tried and tried to live in a body that she manipulates into looking a certain way and time after time her body reverts to what is right and natural for her body type.

Mma Ramotswe, the heroine of Alexander McCall Smith's Number One Ladies Detective AgencySeries is a "traditionally built" woman from Botswana. She is much, much heavier than Oprah will ever be, but Oprah is traditionally built, too. She has a bosom and a booty and is all curvy. I think she is beautiful. Her ancestors aren't from Northern Europe, or tall rangy African stock. I am nearly five foot four inches tall with a twenty eight inch inseam. I cannot be long legged. I can have shapely, muscular legs and appreciate them. I can be in the best shape for my shape. I can be healthy, and you know what? I can be happy, too.

Oprah! Please listen to me. You are a wonderful woman who has done so much for yourself and others. Being heavy is not a spiritual failing. Being mean and selfish is a spiritual problem and everyone knows how generous you are. You strive everyday to live a life with intent and you inspire others to do so. You eat healthy foods and exercise. You try to have balance in your life. It is time for you to accept yourself as the beautiful, healthy woman that you are. Don't make yourself miserable trying to maintain an artificially thin body. Enjoy this life, curves and all.