Letters to the Editor
-
vanity of vanities, everything is vanity
I'm at a perfectly healthy weight for my height (135 on a 5'7" frame), physically active though I don't formally "work out," in good general health, low BP and cholesterol, etc.
I don't have the body of a model. I wear roughly a size 8, (though with vanity sizing, who knows?) I have pockets o'fat on my stomach and upper arms, remnants of when I weighed 165 (which at most is only about 15 lbs over a healthy weight for someone of that height).
My attitude towards these problem areas is, and I quote, "Fuck it." They aren't health issues, they are cosmetic issues, they're really not that bad, they can be easily dressed around, and anyone who's going to see me naked is either another female, my doctor, or a lover, and in the last case he can grow up and deal with it.
You would not believe the flak I got when I wrote about this on my blog. "Fuck it" is an unhealthy attitude to take, a few sit-ups and push-ups would take care of it, most women enjoy working out, why do you think it's OK to let yourself go, don't you want to be attractive, etc.?
Well, of course I want to be attractive, but there's a difference between healthy attention to one's appearance and vanity (in both senses of that word.) Just because something is the norm does not mean it's not disordered.