Bulldozers or Building Blocks?

We are a people who live and thrive on cutting people down. Some of us are plain and simply cruel and mean, we only feel good when we ruin the self –esteem of others. We tear each other apart about all our insecurities. "Have you seen how much weight she's gained?" "I can't believe she's wearing that skirt. I guess she doesn't care if people see her legs." "You know, you could have that removed."

We have created a society where we thrive on pointing out the flaws of others and relish in the fact that he/she is down and out. Take Brittney Spears, a prime example, how many people are really interested in helping this girl who obviously needs help? Weekly gossip magazines, gossip blogs and news channels make more money when Brittney is in the headlines. Brittney sells! It sickens me to know that there are online sites and places where you can go to guess and place money on when you think Brittney is going to have a complete breakdown and when she is going to commit suicide.

Is this the people we have become? We are hungry for all the latest ‘buzz” but more so we want to know when someone messes up. How often do we see or hear about when someone in Hollywood does some good? All those paparazzi swarming Hollywood, its only because so many people live for reading gossip. If ‘we’ did not want or crave this sort of info there would not be that many of the paparazzi out there. All these daily shows that keep us ‘updated’ on what is going on in Hollywood etc, what she is wearing, how she looked in this outfit or how bad she looked in that one, if no one was watching them they would not be on the airwaves.

Then there is this “shame” particularly about our bodies and our lifestyles if we do not perfectly fit the mould of what e should look like or have in order to be happy. Why would we do this? Why all the competition? What are we really competing for? What is the prize? Are we still on the children’s playground competing for popularity? Some people need to ruin someone else’s self-esteem in order to feel good about themselves.

What about people who congratulate and compliment you and you know its done with an undertone of “really, you achieved that?” or “why you and not me”. Why is it so hard to be genuinely nice and kind to each other? Why is it hard to be nice and kind to ourselves? Isn’t there enough pain and suffering in the world without us adding to it? Why cant we build each other up instead of cutting each other down?

Being nice begins with me, it begins with you. I’m not saying that its easy to be nice to everyone, some people choose to be cruel and mean to themselves and to others but why is it so hard to be nice and kind? I don’t like to live in the past but where have the good ole days of where people cared for each other, lived like brothers, respecting one another? Sure things were tough, people did not have as much yet they looked out for each other, they were kind, pleasant and respectful.

Maybe we have lost sight of the things that are really important and need to revisit the good ole days to see where have gone off course. Maybe we spend too much time worrying and whining about what others think about us and how we don’t fit into the perfect mould and will do just about anything including cut those around us down to fit into the mould.

The choice is ours, are we going to be building blocks or are we going to be bulldozers? I choose to be a building block not only to others but also to myself. I’m going to be nice, kind, generous and help to build those round me up. No matter how thin, or blond, or accomplished someone might be, everyone needs someone to be nice to them, someone to encourage them, someone to show compassion to them. Let us be the one who builds others up and soon we will see that by building others up, we are in fact building ourselves up too.

Princess Mette Marit-A Life Turned Around

There has been much discussion lately on girls gone wild. I think it's time to take a look at a young woman who managed to turn her life around for the better.

Mette Marit Tjessem Hoiby though well educated by her parents and a great lover of sports lived a relatively normal life, despite the divorce of her parents.

It was in her youth that Mette like many young girls her age experimented with drugs and openly lived with her boyfriends one of whom would be convicted on drug charges.

Mette also became pregnant outside of marriage and unlike many others this young woman kept her child. During her tumultuous youth Mette did behave as a wild child attending rave parties where drugs were easily available.

What makes Mette Marit different is that she turned her life around, when she found a man she could truly love and who loved her.

Mette Marit truly did meet her Prince, quite literally in Prince Haakon of Norway. These two people fell deeply inlove with one another, and it is to Prince Haakon's credit that he didnt abandon Mette once the press discovered her wild past.

In an interview Mette Marit apologised to the people of Norway about her rebelious youth and asked for their understanding and forgiveness. The people of Norway did open their hearts to this young woman and her young son.

Prince Haakon and Mette Marit were married in 2001 at the Oslo Cathedral. Proving that love can conquer all.

Noone should condemn another because of the mistakes of youth and I am so glad that here is a woman who turned her life around and is now a respected member of the Norwegian Royal family.

This proves that no matter what you do, you can choose to do better and live a life of dignity and grace.

Crown Princess Mette Marit turned her life around, I hope others will follow her lead. The mistakes of youth does not mean you have to make it a lifestyle.

Written by Marie

Classy Chic or Trashy Chic?

Why is it a few decades ago women aspired for a longing to be seen as feminine and classy?

Women tried to emulate the very chic Jackie Kennedy, the beautiful and elegant Grace Kelly or the lighthearted Doris Day. While younger girls wanted to look like Sandra Dee or Gidget(Sally Field).

Fast foward several decades and both women and young girls long to look like Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Anna Nicole Smith or Angelina Jolie.

When did looking trashy become fashionable?

Magazines will tell you they are catering to a certain taste. What taste? How to look indecent and exposed? Do young girls really want everything on show?

The bad girl look is a front. One of the tell tale signs of low self esteem is when a young woman will do anything for attention including going around half naked. This look screams 'look at me, look at me,' but what happens when these displays become so blase that the media no longer follows them? Many turn to drink and drugs.

What is wrong with being feminine and classy and to conceal rather than reveal?

I think as women and especially those who are mothers need to be more discriminating towards the magazines we are buying and to purchase those magazines which give's a woman her dignity.

What do YOU think?

Hating Britney Inc

Hating Britney Spears is becoming quite an industry and a descipable one at that!

It is obvious that this young woman is out of control. To be honest I think the poor girl is in danger of losing her mind completely. Is that laugh worthy? Is it a joke to laugh at a woman who has sunk so low?

This is a young woman who has lived her entire life in the glare of the media, where were her parents then and where are they now?

Britney and her entourage made the mistake that by titillating her audience this would then lead to a viable career. They were wrong. How can anyone respect a young girl if she has no respect for herself? Titillation is no substitute for substance.

To continually demean this lost young woman is a disgrace. What headline is going to tip her over the edge? Or doesnt the media care so long as it sells?

I hope that Britney's parents will step up to the plate, take control of their daughters life and remove her from the glare of the media as she tries to revaluate her life and where it all went wrong.

My fear is that this young woman wont live to see 2009 if something is not done.

I cannot speak for YOU, but I for one am not joining the 'lets hate Britney brigade.' Instead I pray that she will receive the help she so desperately needs.

Women & Fashion Through The Ages

Why is it that women through the generations have allowed society to dictate what we should wear and how we should look?

We often think that only now through the avenue of magazines and TV's are we being dictated too by various editors in a war to make women feel less than who they are.

Yet when we look back at history women have always allowed others to impose their view on how they should look.

Centuries ago women turned their hair almost into an ornament as they wore wigs or twisted their own hair into huge monuments. This craze probably began with Marie Antoinette, but I wonder what health problems accompanied such a look? Surely by carrying such a weight on their heads it would have impacted on their fragile necks? Yet women preferred to neglect their health for vanity.

In the days of the crinoline and no matter what the weather women would strap themselves into these large voluminous dresses with hoops. Can you imagine wearing such clothes in searing heat?

In the Victorian and Edwardian Era's women allowed their waists to be so cinched in that it was a wonder how they could breathe, let alone eat. Which leaves me to wonder if they had digestive problems later in life?

Why hundreds of years later are we still allowing ourselves to be dictated too? Who are these arbiters of fashion who give out the message that if you are not a size 2 then you are not deemed worthy to exist.

No wonder young girls are growing up confused about how they should look. It is time that Mothers help their daughters find a look that suits them and not follow these fashion nazi's who totally demoralize your children.

Let's not follow history. Instead lets learn from it and dress to suit ourselves and not an industry which relies on making women feel awful about themselves.

What do YOU think?

Yesterday VS Today's Stars-Some Fun

George Clooney or Cary Grant?

I did this with female stars from the golden years of Hollywood versus todays stars. Who do YOU choose when it comes to movie stars? Yesterday or Today's stars?

Leonardo di Caprio or Gary Cooper?

Henry Fonda or Mark Wahlberg?

Marlon Brando or Russell Crowe?

What are YOUR choices?

How Many More?!?!

I don’t know if anyone remembers when this happened or even knew about it. These two sisters, both models, Luisel and Eliana Ramos died within six months of each other. Both deaths were as a result of malnutrition.

Luisel,22, suffered a fatal heart attack during a catwalk show in August 2006, having reportedly eaten nothing but lettuce leaves for three months. Eliana,18, was found dead in her bedroom in February 2007, also had a heart attack and her death was linked to her having an eating disorder, anorexia.

Another model from Brazil, Ana Carolina Reston, 21, died as a result of anorexia and lived on apples and tomatoes prior to her death. Ana weighed 84 lbs (6 stone). She died on the eve of a Giorgio Armani photo shoot.

The agency that represented the Ramos sisters said that ‘clearly the death of the sisters had to be genetic and not their diet.’ They found it absurd that people could possibly think that the girls had eating disorders.

The models' deaths sparked an international debate about the ethics of using models who have "size zero" measurements — a 31.5in bust, a 23in waist and 34in hips. The average waist size of a British eight-year-old is 22in.

Madrid's fashion week (2007) did ban some models from the catwalk for being "excessively skinny". The British Fashion Council, the organiser of London Fashion Week, refused to ban size zero models but wrote to designers asking them only to use “healthy-looking girls.”

There is clearly the need for further decisive action and these deaths showed the grave seriousness of the issue. It was yet another WAKE UP call to the fashion industry. But how many wake-up calls does it need to have before it recognizes the seriousness of the situation it faces? How many more models, girls and women have to die before something is done with regards to the social responsibility of the fashion industry where girls, women and men are pressured to literally waste away to be the ‘perfect size’?

The Size Zero Cult?

Who would have thought that zero would have such a powerful impact on the world today, especially women. What is the allure, almost cult like obsession to become a size zero? I only just found out that there is a double zero?!?!

Zero is the ideal status symbol, fueled by a world in which skinny celebrities and models fit right in, where coffee, cigarettes and drugs replace food and you can order a plate of “skinny” sushi – sans rice.

Size Zero is a women’s clothing size in the US system equivalent to a UK size 4, with a waist measurement of a tiny 23 inches, the average girth of an 8 year old girl! If you have thighs that come in more than 34 inches and you have a bust greater than 32 inches you are fat according to their standards.

I have watched America’s Next Top Model and seen girls who are already stick thin be reduced to tears when being lambasted for having the audacity to have a whopping 36-inch hip measurement and told to go on a diet and get into shape. These girls are willing to do anything to squeeze into a pair of jeans with the magic number ‘0’ on the label, no matter the side effects. Experts say that being this thin can lead to loss of periods, hair falling out, dry skin and even thinning bones. Anything to walk the catwalk!

This size zero obsession is not only prevalent in the US but it is a worldwide epidemic. Stores are stocking more size zero clothing because zero is seen as the ideal and only acceptable size today. And if that’s not enough some blink-and-you’ll-miss-them women, some have become so thin that they can squish into the new double zero category, including Desperate Housewives’ minx Eva Longoria.

As the media industry idolizes ever tinier starlets, health experts warn that the super-skeletal trend is an eating disorder time bomb. The numerous ‘diets’, diet pills and miracle products that promise to make you into a stick thin model are empty promises. Not only don’t they work but it more often times than not leads to some sort of eating disorder.

More than 60 per cent of teenage girls use some sort of unhealthy method of weight control. These numbers are frightening and they tell us that we need to help our girls. We need to make them feel better about themselves, not to buy into the lie that the media is feeding to them. We need to teach them to eat healthy and avoid unhealthy weight control behavior. Ultimately, people with eating disorders look to skinny role-models for inspiration, and they have never had so many images to motivate them.

So what do we do? We start by making a stand against the lies bombarding us. We stop buying and looking at magazines and shows that promote the size zero mentality, the ‘you have to do anything to be a zero.’ We teach them beauty starts on the inside and shines through to the outside. Beauty does not have a predetermined size, beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. From the petite to the plus size, we are all beautiful and don’t have to fit into a mould that tells us what size every part of our anatomy should be. We teach them to eat healthy and exercise. we teach them that they can and do look good no matter their size. And most importantly we teach them to love themselves and be… women.

The Truth About Size Zero-MUST SEE!

Last week I watched a documentary called 'The Truth About Size Zero', it is a confronting Expos'e of what a woman goes through in order to reach the perfect size 0.

What shocked me is this young woman was told that in order to 'make it' in the U.S.A she would have to go down two dress sizes. Louise Redknapp is a perfect size 8, but that is unacceptable to certain media elements.

What Louise goes through will shock you and if it doesnt it should. This young woman begins her 'diet nightmare' as an experiment and as she slowly loses weight one can see the affect it is having on all aspects of her life, including her own health.

Through it her family life suffers in that hunger makes Louise not only irritable, she becomes ill. Her own health comes under the microscope through her local Doctor who monitors her progress. He warns her to stop, but Louise is determined.

As her quest progresses her inability to concentrate becomes evident as does her speech which slows down. Her thoughts are totally consumed with food, to the point of obsession.

Finally, she is able to fit into a size 0, but she looks gaunt, she has aquired what I call the 'concentration camp look'. There is no beauty in looking like skeleton, None!

This is a lengthy YouTube programe but I encourage all mothers of young girls to have patience and watch it.

It is now becoming the responsibility of mothers to warn their daughters that the photo's they see of 'perfect models' are air brushed. There is NO such thing as a perfect body, even models have cellulite and little bumps, but the media wont show that.

In order to stop the media war against women it is incumbent upon mothers to teach their young girls that the media lies. Every photograph of the perfect model figure is a LIE.

Once again please have patience and click each link and see for yourselves Louise Redknapp's descent into diet hell. Just click the LINKS below.

The Truth About Size ZERO PART ONE

The Truth About Size ZERO PART FOUR

The Truth About Size ZERO PART FIVE

Remember in Part One she is already considered too large. It is confronting. It is challenging. It is Must See Viewing.

Do let me know what you all think of this effort to be a size ZERO?

Deception, Manipulation and Women

It’s heartbreaking to see young women convinced there’s something repulsive about their own bodies

In our society, adult female bodies are treated like mistakes that continually need correcting. It’s too small, it’s too hairy, it’s the wrong shape, it’s the wrong colour. We’re seen to be badly designed somehow, needing extra stuff to make them okay. Being unhappy about your body is often presented as one of the essential personality traits of women, IF we believe what society tells us!!! We just instinctively hate our bodies, and, we are brought up to believe that’s normal.

Take Bridget Jones and her ilk. Women who are obsessed with how they look, the size of their butt, and convinced they are the wrong shape are an absolute staple of women’s fiction, and Bridget is hailed as representing ‘everywoman’. Of course Bridget is humorous, and exaggerates the obsessiveness to comic effect; but the fact is there is so much truth to it.

It’s almost seen as an essential part of the female experience. If I was to say, if asked, that I’m completely happy with my body and wouldn’t want to change it, I’d be viewed as arrogant. Who does she think she is? What’s the question female celebrities are usually asked in interviews? ‘If you could change any part of your body, what would it be?’ If you think there’s something wrong with your body, change it. If your lips aren’t the right shape, fake it. If your hair is the wrong colour, dye it. If your skin isn’t matte enough or glossy enough or good enough, change it. If your eyelashes are too thin, change it. If your body isn’t good enough, get something done.

Girls who’ve been brought up on the idea that our bodies can be altered at a whim by make-up and everything else, think of cosmetic surgery as the next logical step. I’m not saying that if you wear lipstick you will eventually have a boob job. Of course not!

I’m aware I may sound really radical here, on the one hand I refute the concept that there is an unchangeable standard of beauty and it’s only natural and right that women should try to attain it. But on the other, I’m not suggesting there is anything wrong with having a fashionable hair cut, being interested in trendy clothes, or being bright and colourful. And I can’t deny the fact that makeovers are just - well - fun! Nevertheless, I think that women are seen, far more than men, as changeable creatures.

Nothing demonstrates more clearly that women are seen as changeable creatures than the makeover. The traditional before and after shots; the gasps when the ‘new’ woman is brought out ‘you look amamzing!’, the fact of how completely different they look surely says something about how femininity is a construction. Ever noticed that men who have makeovers don’t look as different as the women tend to do? Does this mean that women are essentially, inherently, blank canvases to be filled in and altered by fashion stylists, make-up artists - or plastic surgeons? I’d like to think not!

There are many, many examples of the makeover factor, and of women being encouraged to change themselves to fit in with what other people think they should be. The coolest character gets made over and is instantly more acceptable and attractive.

At the end of the film The Breakfast Club, the coolest female character who dresses in black, sulks and peers out from under her duffle coat through thick black eyeliner, gets made over and is instantly more attractive and acceptable to the other characters. She’s forced into white, preppy clothes - and gets to wear make-up, which instantly makes her look far better, of course, and allows her to get the guy. In Grease, Sandy only gets to be popular when she rejects her uncool look and fakes it as a raunchy leather-clad wild-child. How many times have we seen that tired plot line?

Many times, in stories like Cinderella and My Fair Lady, updated for modern times by Miss Congeniality, in which Sandra Bullock plays an ‘unladylike’ FBI agent who gets to work undercover as a beauty queen. The trailers showed a male colleague shouting at her ‘Don’t worry - no-one thinks of ya that way.’ Presumably, when she emerges swaying in a tight pink dress, hair gleaming, they darn well do.

So, breast surgery is just a type of makeover for girls who want to ‘look normal’. Nevertheless, some women have claimed that getting a boob job is a feminist act. All the women who get breast enlargements will claim they are doing for themselves, not for anyone else, they’re doing it to empower themselves. Of course they are doing it for themselves. Who else would they be doing it for? But the fact is, they’re doing it so they’ll be happy with their own body, in a breast obsessed society. I find it hard to believe that if they lived in a remote society and had never heard of cosmetic surgery, they’d somehow have an inherent, deep-seated unhappiness with the size of their breasts and want to make them bigger!

What do I think is behind the plastic surgery, weight loss, and fashion industries? I think it is the underlying expectation that women hate their bodies, which becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. An expectation created to manipulate and use women for their greedy monetary gains and nothing else! Is it really any wonder!?!? The idea that women are changeable, able to make ourselves over in a few hours, or by a team of make-up artists and hair-stylists, or indeed, by a few days spent having plastic surgery, add that to a culture obsessed with a part of the female body - the breast at the moment, there you have it.

Jennifer Hudson-Victory Over Prejudice

When Jennifer Hudson was voted out of 'American Idol' there were screams of racial prejudice, I take a different view.

I dont think colour has anything to do with it, my own personal opinion is that Miss Hudson was voted out because of her weight.

Jennifer Hudson has talent, but she broke an unwritten rule, women who have curves must be apologetic. Miss Hudson was not apologetic if anything this was a woman with attitude, the right attitude.

The one thing that a fuller figured woman is supposed to do is to 'cower' to others. Jennifer Hudson didn't cower before the likes of Simon Cowell who made his disdain obvious. This Diva with attitude instead took him on and proved that Simon Cowell and others were wrong about her.

Unfortunately or fortunately this young woman was not judged on her talent alone but on her looks, her weight to be precise but Jennifer had the talent and the courage to step out and believe in herself.

If she had been a size 4, 6, 8 etc she may have missed out on the role in 'Dreamgirls' instead this woman walked away with the Oscar for best supporting actress.

Jennifer Hudson is a woman to be admired in that she didnt hang her head in shame but instead defied her critics by remaining true to herself.

What is YOUR opinion of Jennifer Hudson?

Against Size 0's-YouTube-Be YOU!

Just be YOU. Feminine, curvy, confident, fantastic and fabulous. That is YOU.

Skinny Issues

Why do we think that only plus size women have body issues? Naturually thin women also have body image problems but because they are not carrying extra pounds around different parts of their anatomy we take little note of their own body loathing.

Nicole Kidman while growing up hated her body. Because she was so thin, tall and gangly many boys made fun of her flat chest and her boyish figure. Nicole longed for a more voluptuous body she especially hated the fact that her bust size was almost non existant.

When we look at Nicole it is hard for plus size women to imagine that she would have a problem and yet Nicole did.

Another woman who had body image problems was the lovely Jackie Kennedy. Yet we look at her and see a beautiful woman of extraordinary grace. But the truth is Jackie disliked many parts of her body, she felt her shoulders were too wide and hated the fact that she was also flat chested. It also hurt her deeply that her husband the late President Kennedy seemed to find well endowed women attractive. The late Jackie Kennedy was a woman full of insecurities about her body image she also longed for a more voluptuous figure.

Once again in Princess Diana we see another woman who hated her figure. Diana didnt like the fact that she seemed to have no waist. For a woman of 5 ft 10" her body was actually in proportion but to Diana's eyes, she didnt have that cinched in waist that she longed for. Over the years the late Princess learned how to dress to hide what she felt was the worst part about her figure.

Why do we assume that because a woman is thin, she has no image problems?

Let us hope oneday that all women, plus size and petite sized women can get past the media madness and accept themselves as they are, beautiful, vibrant, giving and talented.

Lose Weight the Right Way-Lifestyle Change

My dear friend Sharon over at her blog 'Violet Cottage' has finally 'got it'. Where most women are still struggling and even more dangerously they are still buying into the 'diet wars' Sharon has realised that diets do not work. Let me say that again, DIETS DO NOT WORK.

Stop dieting NOW!

Instead change your lifestyle. It is not about what you eat but how much you are eating. Remember you are feeding your stomach NOT your entire body content. It is also a good point to make that your body needs fuel in order to give you energy too many 'fats' will make you sluggish and tired, not enough good fats will do the same thing. What is required is balance.

Another good point that Sharon raised is excercise. Now like my dear friend I hate and LOATHE excercise. The only gym we have here in my home town is a Uni-sex one and I'm sorry but there are some excercise positions that men do NOT want to see.

In order to get moving it is absolutely essential that you choose an excercise regime that suits your lifestyle and that you know you can persevere with. The excercise regime I chose was to dance. Not as in ballroom dancing but to simply put in a CD and dance in the privacy of my room. I love it because I can let myself go, noone is watching or laughing at me. I play two fast songs and then put a slow song such as Enya in order to simply sway and stretch and also catch my breath. It works for me. I find it fun therefore it is not a chore.

Do what works for you. Yes the key to successful weight loss is just that. Stop loathing yourself because you will sabotage your efforts to follow the latest 'diet trends'. How many times have you started diets only to fall away and go on an eating bender within a week or so? Many of us. Remember diets dont work.

Be realistic and plan on losing your weight over a year. Dont think you can go from a size 22 to a size 10 in 2 months. You will defeat yourself before you even begin. Throw out your weight scales. Yes ladies, throw them out. Sometimes we dont lose pounds we lose inches but the scales wont tell you that and from that comes disappointment and then an eating binge.

Instead lose weight by clothing sizes, so if your a size 20 plan to go down two dress sizes to a size 16. Dont think in pounds or once again you will lose heart. When you embark on your lifestyle change choose an outfit that is a little too tight and every month try that outfit on and see if it gets looser. That works much better than jumping on the scales only to find out after ALL your efforts you have lost ZERO pounds in 2 weeks. How many of us have fallen off the bandwagon when the crashing dissappointment hits us. You have starved yourself for a month and you have lost nothing? Once again out comes the cookies and icecream.

In finishing I'd like to thank my good friend Sharon who inspired me to write this. You go girl!

Let me know your thoughts on fad diets and have they worked for you?

This Girl Is Plus Size? What The Heck?

If this girl is plus size then the modeling world is truly crazy. Lucy is normal. Did you HEAR that Anna Wintour?

This is a short video so please DO watch it and let me know is Lucy plus size or normal. What do YOU think?

Fat Tax?-Fat Chance!

No! You haven't read the title wrong. A Doctor has made a suggestion that plus size people should pay more tax to cover any medical expenses. It is his august opinion that if a 'fat' person becomes ill then it is their own fault, therefore they get sick at their own expense. Why should 'normal' people have to pay for 'fat' people?

There is something deeply disturbing about this doctors idea's when it comes to medicare and who deserves more help. His whole philosophy is a 'nazification' of the Medicare programe. What is next? That oneday only blonde haired-blue eyed people will receive help, because the rest of us may not fit his ideal of the 'perfect person'? This is obscene and it is dangerous!

Let's face facts. We are responsible for what we eat, but that does not mean we deserve such blatant discrimination.

An entire industry has been built to cure Anorexia Nervosa/Bulimia. There are facilities which cater to those who have starved themselves almost to death. This is a self induced illness. Why, then are they not being penalized for denying themselves the food they need to eat in order to live productive lives? Is this not a double standard?

If food and weight are the problem then why does the Doctor not order a 'starvation tax'? Why? Because that would be cruel and inhumane. Or is it possible the good Doctor would prefer to look at an emaciated figure rather than a fuller figured person?

If we were to start down this Moral slippery sloap, then who amongst us is safe? Should we deny a woman a life saving operation to remove leaking breast implants? Or do we leave her to die if she cannot afford the operation? After all the lady made the choice to have her implants.

This is the conundrum which confronts us all when the decision to pick and choose who deserves medical assistance will be left to future 'Dr Mengele's'.

The emaciated figure on the left would receive help while the fuller figured lady would receive none. Go figure! What do YOU think?

A Fat Rant-YouTube

I decided to reprise this video for those who have not seen it before. What Joy says is true. Being large does not lessen your rights to be treated with dignity. What does it matter what size you are? I encourage all to take time and watch this video. It is excellent! Do YOU think Joy is fat?

The Women Deemed Too 'FAT' To Act!

These are the women that the media has proclaimed too fat to act! One tabloid even suggested that Marilyn Monroe would be required to lose at least 28 pounds if not more! What lunacy! As for Jane Russell they said she wouldn't make it at all! What do YOU think?

As for Sophia Loren. This lovely actress would also have to lose weight. I chose this picture because it has not been 'touched up'. Ladies she has curves, it's not a crime! Back in Sophia's day curves were celebrated! Is Sophia too fat to act?

And now the lovely Kate Winslet is being pressured to lose her 'weight' . I have to ask what weight? Kate has the perfect hourglass figure. When did that become a crime? Do you think any of these ladies are FAT? If your answer is NO! Then why are we listening to the media when it comes to weight issues?

Self Esteem Begins with YOU!

"It's really essential that you love yourself because if you cant love yourself its really hard to accept love from other people."

This is a quote from one of the young women in the YouTube video. What she says is absolutely true, in fact what they all say is true. If you despise yourself and the way you look it will colour everything that you do and all whom you meet. Please watch it and realise that YOU are beautiful as you are.

Sarah & The Toxic Media-How it affects YOU!

Does Sarah look fat to YOU?

I remember watching on TV the emerging romance between Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew. I knew immediately that the poor girl simply wasn't suited to the Royal life. What I didnt expect to see was the viscious way the press treated her.

We think that we dont take any notice of the media and its assault on plus size women. The truth is many women DO take notice and slowly and insidiously the media infiltrates into our minds and the way we view our bodies.

Sarah, when giving her pre-wedding interview stated that she would not take any notice of the way the media were reporting on her dress size. With great bluster she continued on and said that the only opinion she would listen to was Andrew, and he loved her as she is. The sad part is that Andrew did love his voluptuous Sarah, but his Sarah despite her comments to the contrary began to read the headlines and then to believe them.

The media's assault on Sarah Ferguson amounted to mental cruelty, with such headlines as 'The Duchess of Pork' and on and on it went. Through their papers these reporters and editors were bent on destroying this young woman's dignity and self worth. They very nearly succeeded.

Just like Sarah we often think that we dont take notice of the media, but is it a case that in fact we do? Like poison gass we breathe in the fumes of these toxic magazines, papers and entertainment programs by reading and watching them and we, just like Sarah begin to doubt our self worth.

There was nothing wrong in Sarah's curvaceous figure and yet Sarah bit the bait that the toxic tabloids threw at her and believed that she was ugly, fat and unfit to live.

If a member of the Royal Family can be so affected by the media, we need to realise that we are also susceptible. By listening to the media's hatred of plus size women we begin to hate our perfectly normal body and its curves.

Do you hate YOUR curves? If so then the next question is where did you learn to hate your own body?

We are not born to hate our bodies, that is learnt behaviour. Who is YOUR teacher when it comes to your own self image?