Take a quick trip through just the past month of Never Say Diet’s blogs and it’s Lasik-clear that we’re in serious need of a national Love Your Body Day.
Model Filippa Hamilton was fired by Ralph Lauren for allegedly being too big, at a size four.
Barbie has cankles.
New mommy actresses shed their baby weight in just four days!
Serena Williams thinks her thighs are ugly.
Actually, let’s make that a whole year. Twenty-four hours is nowhere near enough time to cancel out the damage that’s been done to women’s collective psyches. It reminds me of Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. I’m not that bad a person and even I need more than a few hours in temple and eight hours of a growling stomach to adequately repent for the things I’ve done wrong in the past calendar year.
That said, of course I’m a fan of LYB Day, which celebrates its 12th anniversary today, courtesy of the NOW Foundation.
"In my teenage years, I was hospitalized for anorexia," recalls NOW Action Vice President Erin Matson. "I remember a fellow patient winning a modeling contest while she was on a pass from the hospital. The only way to end the glorification of unhealthy beauty stereotypes is to stand up proudly for real women's bodies."
That anecdote, in a nutshell, summarizes why we need help. Maybe that PL model will get rehired once her BMI dips below 15. Perhaps new moms should start losing the baby weight during their third trimester, just to get a good jumpstart. Elite athletes might do well to stop strength training – all that bulk simply isn’t conducive to sexy uniforms.
Let’s all try to steal at least one moment – maybe right now? – to whisper something positive to ourselves. Or scream it out loud. Or change your Facebook Status Update to something happy. “NeverSayDiet is…one hot mama!” has a nice ring to it.
Check out NOW’s 2009 Love Your Body Day poster contest winners.
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