OK, I do have to give Ms. Tyra props on her body, all things considered — there’s some serious curves going on. Perhaps there will be some positive use of star power after all. But it doesn’t start and stop with Ms. Banks, ladies.

Now that I’m a work at home couch potato (kidding, kinda), I watch a lot more television. I caught part of a talk show that was talking about family members who were worried about their loved ones being too big. Fat’s a constant theme on these types of shows, but I noticed a few things:

Thin vs. fat vs. healthy: It shouldn’t be a matter of size, it ought to be a matter of health. Feeling good about yourself is part of that, but I don’t think “thin” should automatically be the standard we’re looking at. I have a good feeling about our future though — we’re going to get healthy. We’re going to get smarter about the little stuff.

I pray that our children can simply buy a pair of jeans, without worrying over what the tag says.

I pray that when we ladies go to lunch, that our weight / height / size / dress size wouldn’t be the primary topic. We ladies are taking over colleges, businesses, government, and professions that are still trying to adjust to our presence. Why should our weight/height/size constantly be an issue? Is that really the entirety of our character?

When I hear young women screaming, “I want to be thin”, many would assume that it’s merely those with eating disorders that say that. “That’s not my issue, that’s not my problem.” If that’s our attitude as an industry, then we’re way off base.

I’ll go into plus size stores and hear ladies saying the same things, “Oh, if I could just lose weight, I’d fit into this dress.”

Ladies, read my lips: our lives cannot revolve around what we can fit into. The dress will wait. The blouse will wait. Those jeans will wait. Reminding ourselves that fashion is a tool (albeit a splashy and fantastic one at that) goes a long way.

Your loved ones will still love you at any size — if they can’t, then their love is quite superficial. Know that.

This post is jumbled because body image woes, agonies and problems isn’t organized in our minds. Honestly, it can’t be organized. If our goal is health, then I’m going to be posting my take on health, including the stuff I do for myself (hint: I’m a complete organic fiend, so be prepared).

But if our entire agony surrounds this odd dream of fitting into 32″ jeans, then it’s not just about the pounds.

Tags: body, image