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Read other letters about this article
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.
