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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
It's great that some readers don't obsess about their weight -- congratulations -- but don't trivialize the struggles of others, because it's a serious problem for a lot of women (and some men). I think that to tell weight-obsessed women to "get over it," or to point out that weight doesn't matter, you're telling us what we already know. We all know that we shouldn't obsess about weight. That doesn't mean we should just shut up about our feelings.
Ayelet Waldmen is not an "apologist" for neurotic behavior or for anything else. She is just expressing how she feels, which is good for women, especially on a subject where so many feel the same way. We will never get anywhere on these issues if we can't be honest about what society/patriarchy/consumer culture has done to the body image of women in this country.
We know it's stupid to obsess about weight. That doesn't make the obsession, or the depression and the diet problems, any less real.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Once seen as a lunatic fringe, reactionary anti-women groups are courting respectability
Salon headlines in your mailbox
