“I didn’t mean to be a role model,” says Margaret Cho. “I just speak my truth.”
Well Margaret’s truth is blunt, brazen, and hilarious, and anyone who’s seen the comedian in action can attest to her role-model-worthiness.
From her humble beginnings in San Francisco to her current mega-success with the TV show “Drop Dead Diva” and her upcoming comedy album Cho Dependent, Margaret’s racked up a lot of life experience. While she’s had her ups and downs with body image and self-esteem, it looks like Margaret has finally emerged on top. And whether or not she considers herself a role model, we sure do.
Check out our interview with the insanely talented star:
About-Face: Are there any celebrities you admire for being strong role models, despite constant media scrutiny? You’ve said that Paula Abdul was a celebrity you admired and that watching the media tear her down about her weight was very traumatizing.
Margaret Cho: With Paula Abdul, that was actually the first celebrity that I recognized people talking about her weight incessantly.
She was the first person I think that made a real impact with her talent and then at some point, was under fire with a lot of criticism that was totally directed at her physicality, and had nothing to do with her talent or her music or anything. And so that’s when I started to see how distorted it was, and how unfair it was.
In terms of positive role models, I don’t think that there are a lot, because there aren’t a lot of images of different looking women in the media. They don’t really exist. And people get criticized when they don’t conform.
I mean, even women who are beautiful, like Jessica Simpson. People are so insane about the way that she looks, and she looks great. I don’t understand.
The cover of Margaret's fifth concert film, "Beautiful"
I think that the way that the Internet is now, and the way that people leave comments about the way that people look, you can be so nasty without ever having to be accountable for it. And I think that kind of environment is really destructive for young women and [their] body image in general.
A-F: What do you hope “Drop Dead Diva” will accomplish in terms of challenging beauty stereotypes?
MC: It’s just about providing images of different-looking people, which I think is important. And you have this dialogue about the body and a way to talk about it. And ittreats women’s bodies with a lot of dignity and with a lot of respect and with a lot of heart, which I think is what our show does a lot.
A-F: As you’ve gotten older, how have you learned to build your sense of self-worth beyond your body image?
MC: Well for me it’s mostly personal. When I don’t eat, when I am anorexic, then I just turn to other things that are far more destructive.
I’m so hungry all the time that I’ll just drink alcohol or use drugs in order not to be hungry. And to me, all of the destructive elements in my life really just stem from my lack of eating and me wanting to be thin. That’s always what it’s about. I don’t have the same kinds of issues that other people have with addiction. Mine totally relate to my relationship with food and my relationship with my body.
So when I’m doing well, that means that my body image is doing well.
For me, I think it’s more about age and getting older and feeling good in my skin, which is really important.
A-F: Was there a moment you realized you were ready to move beyond focusing on your weight, or has it been a slow struggle?
MC: No, I think it was cumulative. It wasn’t really one thing. It was just, after a while, you start to make connections.
A-F: What has belly dancing done for your life?
MC: Well it’s a great art form and it’s a great way to celebrate the body for women, or for anyone.
Also, there’s a lot of bigger stars in Middle Eastern dance – they don’t want the stars to be skinny. That’s just really not the ideal look for belly dancers. The body type is usually voluptuous and bigger, which looks very comfortable. That’s a very wonderful ideal to have.
It’s a great dance form and it’s very traditional. And the aspects that I love, the kind of belly dance that I like, are sort of the more folkloric stuff, which is really beautiful.
But the ideal body is the one that’s much more voluptuous. And also older. There’s dancers that are very famous that dance well into their seventies and eighties, which is really cool.
A-F: I read on your blog that you love Latisse. What is your “beauty line”? How far are you willing to go in terms of societal standards of beauty?
MC: I don’t think I would get plastic surgery. … it never looks right. I just don’t think I would. I mean, I’m kind of curious also to see what it’ll look like. I’m curious about old age.
Margaret's upcoming comedy album, "Cho Dependent"
I use Latisse, which I think is a weird drug because it literally makes me grow eyelashes out of other parts of my face. That’s really weird. But I will do it. I will definitely do it for eyelashes.
A-F: Do you have any judgment on other people electing to have cosmetic procedures?
MC: No, I don’t have any issue with that. … And I have a lot of body modification with tattooing, and to me, that’s the way that I scratch that itch, so to speak. I don’t really have any issues with people who want to do that.
A-F: You participated in the making of a documentary film called Miss Representation by Jennifer Siebel Newsom [not yet released].
MC:I did an interview for it a while ago that was about women and identity and all those body issues and all of that was in there too.
A-F: I read in an interview you said you spent so much of your life trying to be skinny that you don’t remember your 20s. In another you said that living in Atlanta with the “Drop Dead Diva” cast is like reliving your 20s. If you could say anything to the 20-something Margaret, what would it be?
MC: Well I would probably just tell myself to eat something. Which is really, that was kind of all I needed in my 20s, and I really missed a lot of it because I was so concerned with all this other stuff which really ultimately doesn’t matter.
The comic contemplates her next revolutionary move in "Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work."
She’s nipped, tucked, Botoxed, and damn proud of it.
So maybe Joan Rivers is a less-than-likely representative of female empowerment, but the woman has certainly made her mark. The new documentary, Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work examines a year in the life of the legendary comic, and I certainly got more than I bargained for from the indie flick. Like a new role model, for instance.
Sure, many people know Joan more for the ever-progressing plasticity of her face, but the 77-year-old has been cracking jokes and offending the masses for half a century. Whether or not you care for her current repertoire (she’s lately been known to pick on celebs like Lindsay Lohan and Miley Cyrus via Twitter), A Piece of Work underscores the impact Rivers had on a previously prudish American audience.
Regarding one of her earlier risqué routines featured in the film, Rivers said,
I was the first one to discuss abortion, and it was very rough…And I couldn’t even say the word “abortion”…And by making jokes about it, you brought it into a position where you could look at it and deal with it. It was no longer something that you couldn’t discuss and had to whisper about. When you whisper about something, it’s too big and you can’t get it under control and take control of it.
Say what you will about the woman, but bringing an issue like abortion to the forefront of America’s consciousness in the ‘60s was pretty courageous.
Equally audacious was making a joke about Hollywood casting couches and ending it with, “I’m Joan Rivers, and I put out!”
While it seems totally tame for this day and age of gross-out humor, the legendary Jack Lemmon was so revolted by the gag, he declared “that’s disgusting,” and walked out. And while public condemnation by an internationally renowned male superstar might scare some into submission, Joan didn’t change her tune one bit.Not even when all-mighty late night host Johnny Carson abruptly cut their professional ties and had her banned from NBC (to be fair, it wasn’t entirely unprovoked).
So no, she hasn’t led a feminist revolution. And yes, her pursuit of an ever-tighter face has only perpetuated America’s obsession with youth and beauty. But if you’ve ever even mildly chuckled at Sarah Silverman, Kathy Griffin, Roseanne, Tina Fey, Margaret Cho, or Ellen DeGeneres, you have to give some credit to Joan.
She certainly does: “Women come up to me and say I’ve opened doors for them and I want to say f— you. I’m still opening doors.” You can’t argue with that.
Check out the trailer for Joan Rivers: Piece of Work: –Michelle
Yesterday I realized that I am a Susan Boyle in a world of Heidi Montags.
Singer Susan Boyle's decidedly plain appearance has gotten just as much attention as her beautiful voice.
Let me explain. After having 2009’s best-selling album, Susan Boyle has been heralded as much for her glorious voice as she has been scrutinized for her plain, frumpy appearance. Media attention has been as focused on her outward makeup as on her inner gift.
Meanwhile, reality television star Heidi Montag just had 10 plastic surgery procedures in one day in order to compete in what she admits is a superficial industry. The procedures included a brow lift, pinning her ears back, breast augmentation, fat injections in the cheeks and lips, chin reduction, neck liposuction, liposuction of waist and thighs, and a buttocks augmentation. Heidi has stated that she wanted to uncover her “best self,” but has since appeared on the covers of magazines and been the subject of articles and blogs all wondering the same things: Is she obsessed? Is she addicted to plastic surgery? Even Heidi’s own mother is reportedly “horrified.”
When Susan Boyle was laughed at prior to the triumph of her voice, I wanted to hug her and reassure her that she was worthy and beautiful. Likewise, part of me just wants to hug Heidi and tell her to trust that she is a beautiful, worthy young woman regardless of the size of her thighs and the sales numbers of her own album, “Superficial,” which was a resounding flop. I cannot imagine the pressure Heidi Montag must feel to look a certain way, but I wonder: isn’t she part of the problem by giving in?
I am very aware that Heidi is an adult who is allowed to make choices about her body. But I’m angry at her and her willingness to “sell out” so drastically because, quite honestly, it makes it harder for all of us. There are so many Susan Boyles that are talented in their own right, but who are never going to get their chance to shine because they don’t fit into our tiny mold of what is considered beautiful. Am I blaming the victim by being even a little bit pissed off by Heidi’s decision to so drastically change her appearance? If blame can be assigned, who is responsible?
Heidi Montag in high school, left, and today, barely recognizable after multiple plastic surgery procedures.
Ultimately, who gets to decide where a healthy line of reason gets drawn on the subject of plastic surgery and other beauty procedures? The first person to benefit from plastic surgery was a sailor in World War I who suffered from disfiguring facial injuries and underwent a successful skin graft. Jump forward to 2006 when nearly 11 million cosmetic plastic surgery procedures were performed in the United States alone. Haven’t we all seen women who have that now familiar pulled look on their face that signals she got “something done”– and often that something is to ridiculous extremes. Just as Heidi had her ears pinned back, I get manicures and get my brows waxed. Most of us have been there to some extent and we can all relate, but what are our limits?
I think that our boundaries have all but disintegrated in a beauty-at-all-costs/media-obsessed world where everyone ends up being judged harshly and unfairly. Yesterday while in line at the grocery store, I picked up a copy of the Weight Watchers magazine. The man waiting behind me commented loudly and in my direction, “Well, THAT makes sense.” I am a 280-pound woman and apparently this gentleman felt it appropriate to comment on my choice of reading material. I’m not a celebrity, but as a fat woman in a thin-obsessed world, I am always on display as the example of what you are not supposed to be.
Let’s face it: in this world, we are all under scrutiny. I would challenge us all to take a more gentle and loving look at both ourselves and the women around us. Until we stop judging ourselves, how can we expect others to do the same?
I can’t lie. Part of me would love to look like Heidi Montag, but genetics did not hand me that card. However, I am talented, confident, kind, smart, compassionate, funny, cute, loyal and loving. I am a Susan Boyle in a world dominated by Heidi Montags… and I’m perfectly OK with that! I wish Heidi Montag the same peace of mind.
Right now, Karen has a scalpel to her face, and went under anesthesia thinking “When I wake up, I’ll be beautiful.” She’s deeply unconscious, and probably pretty bloody, as the well-reputed and trusted female cosmetic surgeon performs her “art”. She will receive an untold number of stitches and will be bruised for at least two weeks.
Karen*, who is in her early 60s, is my friend Sara’s* mother. Because Sara was my best friend growing up, it’s like Karen is my own mom. I grew up going to her house every day after school, and I saw and hugged her at her daughter’s graduations and wedding. I almost can’t bare the thought that she would want to change her face. Sara is, simply, distraught.
Karen’s face is one of the faces that has a permanent place in my mind, an unchanging, perfect face, just because it’s hers. I can’t even determine whether it is beautiful or not beautiful to others. Today she is choosing to change that face, and I really don’t understand her decision to be on the operating table today.
But really, this isn’t about what I think. I’m writing this piece about, and for, her daughter — my friend — Sara.
When Sara called me, crying, a few weeks ago, to tell me that her mom had her surgery date set for a facelift and eye lift, I felt a shocking jolt in my body. “I’m so disappointed in her,” Sara sobbed. “I mean, she always was my feminist mom. She was always telling me that my looks weren’t as important as my smarts. She’s so smart. She taught me to fight inequality. And then she goes and does THIS… it’s the ultimate ‘giving in’ to our messed-up culture.”
Sara went on, “And what if my mom dies in surgery, and I lose her because of this horrible choice she made? I’m not sure I could forgive her.”
Sara went on to tell me how alone she felt, how crazy she felt, in comparison with Karen’s friends, most of whom had already had “work” done, and are planning to help Karen recover. As if this is a routine thing, a rite of passage for the older generation. Will we, women in our early 30s, give in too?
Sara told me that she knows she’s made plenty of choices her mother didn’t agree with, but Karen supported her anyway, even if it was painful for her. So Sara knows it’s time to be a grownup, to vehemently disagree with but also support Karen’s decision, just because Karen is her mother and she is connected to her and loves her.
Sara asked me how I felt about Karen’s choice, as someone who would understand her feelings because of the work I do with About-Face, and as someone who loves Karen. I said that every day, I see at least one article, TV clip, or magazine cover about someone getting, or who has had, cosmetic surgery. It’s Heidi Montag getting 10 procedures in one day. It’s someone on Nip/Tuck. It’s Kanye West’s mom. It’s everywhere, and it starts to seem like “everyone’s doing it.” It’s become normal.
Except when it’s Karen. Or your own mom. For Sara, it’s especially painful when it’s someone you love who asks for your help recovering — who won’t be able to get to the bathroom herself, can’t be seen in public so she needs you to go to the store for her. Needs you to feed her for the first few days. Needs you to read to her because she can’t see due to eyelid surgery bandages. Needs you to be there when she changes her bandages the first time.
It’s one thing when someone had to have surgery to remove an infected appendix, or a hysterectomy to remove a cancerous uterus, or even cosmetic surgery to remedy facial disfigurement in a car accident. Or even breast reduction surgery due to persistent back pain. It’s another thing when it’s a pure choice, on an otherwise perfect face.
We’re told, and I imagine, that Karen will wake up slowly, swimming upward, to the surface of her consciousness, with her best friend there to greet her. Sara can’t be there because she knows she will cry uncontrollably if she sees her mother that way. Karen’s friend will call Sara to tell her everything’s OK.
But I’m not sure Sara will really feel that it is OK, when thousands more women (mostly white) are undergoing surgery today, for the sake of striving to finally, finally (or once again) be a certain kind of beautiful.
A friend of mine recently sent me this video in which little Sophie, with the help of her mother, sends out an important message via YouTube. The title seems like a big DUH (“Beauty is Not How Skinny You Are”), but it surely is a message we don’t hear enough. The message extends past dissatisfaction with body weight as Sophie asks the audience “Why are you trying to look like someone else?”:
Why are we trying to look like someone else? Why do companies want us to want to look like someone else?
You might think, “I’m not trying to look like someone else!”, but the truth is that social standards of beauty say that we are only attractive if we have certain physical attributes. These physical attributes tend to come from a select pool of celebrities, too.
Just glancing at the magazine racks as I do my grocery shopping, I can’t escape constant reminders that I, too, can get Michelle Obama’s arms, or Cameron Diaz’s abs, or follow Britney’s quick weight loss plan. How do I copy Kristin Stewart’s outfit, or Beyonce’s hair? My complexion is most like Halle Berry’s, and here is a list of lipstick shades she wears! These magazines say that I, too, can be glamorous, and so can you–we just need to alter our appearances to match Hollywood standards.
As technology advances, we are not limited to simply changing workouts or getting new haircuts! A wide array of reality shows about cosmetic surgery inform us that we have new options!
A contestand from "The Swan" after having plastic surgery. Is this the cost of beauty?
Shows like The Swan (2004-2005), which About-Face protested, and ABC’s Extreme Makeover (2002-2007) portray cosmetic surgery as just another makeover. There is also MTV’s I Want a Famous Face (2004-2005), which documents people who go through surgery and makeovers to look more like the certain celebrities.
As rates of cosmetic surgery rise, more and more people request specific celebrities’ features. The most requested celebrity nose is Jessica Alba’s. Women are asking for collagen injections to get Angelina Jolie’s lips. There are people asking specifically for Scarlett Johansson’s eyes. Would you want to go under the knife to look like your favorite celebrity?
With these shows and ads telling me that looking like my favorite celebrity is as easy as 1, 2, 3, little Sophie’s voice pops back into my head: “Why are you trying to look like someone else?”
Little can remind us more of the beauty of our individuality than a child’s voice reminding us that “You are unique.” Sophie tells the viewer that there will never be another person like them, so why would we want to look like someone else?
“Do you want me to look like somebody else?” she asks. Hearing that from a young girl is almost heartbreaking because we imagine that girls as little as Sophie should be free from the media influences that tell them to change.
If we don’t want Sophie to change and doubt her own uniqueness, why would we want to change ourselves? As Sophie repeats the question “Why do you want to look like someone else?”, I find that I can’t come up with a better answer than “I don’t.”
Do you want to look like someone else? Why or why not?
–Tea
Tea is a college student in Berkeley studying Art and Sociology. While working at a café, she realized there was a lot of negative body talk floating around and wanted to encourage women to rethink the roles their bodies have in their lives. She hopes they would embrace their bodies (and minds!) rather than aspire towards unattainable ideals. What good is a body if you can’t enjoy it? When she’s not blogging for About Face, she writes, runs a photography business, and cuddles up with good books.
Part of the Gold's Gym "Cankle Awareness" campaign
“Cankles” is a charming term (like “love handles”, “muffin top”, “saddlebags”, etc.) that describes yet another thing women are made to feel insecure about: having ankles the size of one’s calves.
As reported on Feministing, Gold’s Gym graciously took a step to eradicate this nonexistent problem by declaring July “Cankle Awareness Month.”
Both the Today Show and ABC News report that ankle size is a genetic predisposition. The first solution they offer their news-seeking audiences is liposuction in the area. Popular news sources advocating surgery for a body-type trend? Ankle size is not a medical condition, and yet, it is being treated as something we should rush to talk to our doctors about.
Cosmetic surgery is promoted as a cure for cankles
Cankle Awareness Month is apparently a humorous attempt to get people in the gym, but I’m not laughing. Call me crazy, but I don’t think breeding insecurity among the already body-conscious public is funny.
It is sad to say, but when most women hear the words “beach season,” we brace ourselves to feel bad about our bodies. This is something I have come to expect from women’s magazines and diet-pill commercials, but I didn’t expect Oprah to join in with a swift kick to women’s body image.
On Oprah’s web site there is an article titled Summer Body Shortcuts. As the word “shortcuts” implies, all of the suggestions on the list are cosmetic surgery. They suggest everything from breast implants and tummy tucks to porcelain veneers and Botox. Some procedures aren’t even FDA approved, and still the reader is corralled into thinking “I could use that…”
Oprah Approves Botox Injections
It is disheartening to see Oprah put up things like this on her website. She has an extremely large following of devoted fans who excitedly watch every episode of her show to see the next “must-have.” For someone who has had her own public body image issues, it is surprising that she would help foster body insecurities in this way. I think it is incredibly irresponsible of Oprah to tell women their bodies aren’t good enough as-is.
We need to stop looking at our bodies as something to be fixed and stop listening to people, like Oprah, who tell us we aren’t perfect by telling us how to “fix” our bodies. Instead of constantly picking apart body “flaws” we need to refocus and set our sights on becoming comfortable with our bodies the way they are.
Here are tips to love your body WITHOUT expensive, risky, and unnecessary cosmetic surgery:
Cut out the negativity and make a pact with your friends to only say good things about your bodies.
Write a list of things that you like about yourself (i.e. your hair or sense of humor) and pin it up on your bathroom mirror. Then read it while you brush your teeth in the morning. Reminding yourself of how great you are will put that little extra spring in your step.
When you are hanging out with your friends, notice all of the different ways to be beautiful (i.e. a person’s boisterous laugh or their loving nature). Remember that people are not meant to look exactly the same. Variety is the spice of life!
Go for a walk outside. The combination of the fresh air and the light work out can really boost your overall mood.
Walk around your house in your underwear or bathing suit. This can help you to become comfortable with your body. The more comfortable you are with your body, the more confident you will be when at the beach.
CHALLENGE: Come up with more ways to feel good about your body and share your ideas with the About-Face community by writing them in the comments for this blog!
You can also share your thoughts on the Summer Body Shortcuts article with Oprah by emailing her: click here.
You’re reading the About-Face blog, so I’m gonna guess that you’re interested in the various messed-up ways women and girls are portrayed in media, and how it can really damage our self-esteem and self-respect. Well, now there’s a movie about it! It’s the new documentary “America the Beautiful,” and you should really go see it.
I saw the documentary last night in San Francisco, and I almost lost my s*&# watching the editors of Elle Girl and Seventeen magazines talking about how they need to show the thin body ideal only, or they’re “out of a job.” Really — no care for the fact that you are contributing to eating disorders, self-hatred, and general depression in young women? And the answer: No, really, none at all.
And then there’s Gerren, a 12-year-old model whose mother lets her wear next to nothing on the catwalk, but won’t let her wear a bra to school because she doesn’t think it’s appropriate. Through my work with About-Face, I’ve spoken to more moms than I can count who give their daughters the very same mixed messages.
There are just so many pertinent, poignant bits in this film, one being that the whole thing flows really well and nails the problem of our culture’s beauty obsession in a way that no somewhat-smart woman can deny. And two being that it’s an African-American man who made the film and who includes many other African-Americans who truly have something to say.
If you look carefully, you’ll spot two About-Face posters in the film! (I wish About-Face had been around to be in the movie!)
Really, I could go on and on. But I won’t.
Bring your mom, bring your friends, bring your sister. Hey, bring your brother. Cuz guys need to know this stuff too. (Plus there are quite a few bits about men and their body image too.)
When Lorrie A. appeared on cosmetic-surgery reality show “The Swan” back in 2004, she didn’t know what she was getting herself into.Now she’s scarred and damaged. Have a look at her (very short) interview on E! News from Sunday:
About-Face took action around “The Swan”‘s airing. The result: We sent in about 500 letters to Fox, the production company, and everyone else involved who we could find. Of course we didn’t hear back from them. We wish we’d been wrong about the show’s effects: More and more women feel they are inadequate enough to take a risk like cosmetic surgery, and the women on the show were harmed — just take Lorrie’s story.
What do you think? Was Lorrie duped by the show, or was she simply making poor choices at rock bottom?
(And by the way, please be compassionate and civil — Lorrie is a real person who may just be reading your comment.)
“Mommy, does plastic surgery make you look like a different person?” “No, it just makes you look more beautiful than you used to be.”
From my seat next to her, both of us facing the Starbucks storefront, I balked. Her reflection gave her away: tall, thin, with a tightly drawn face and deep-set eyes.
“Don’t you think Mommy looks better now?” she murmured to herself, pulling out a compact mirror and gently reapplying foundation to her cheeks. Her daughters, around ages three and five, were playing rambunctiously among the tables. When her younger daughter tried to take the compact, her mother screeched, “No! Don’t use it! You have a nice complexion. If you use it, it will clog your pores and give you pimples.”
Later, her older daughter asked if she could comb her mother’s hair, which went smoothly until the comb accidentally grazed the woman’s forehead. She shrieked, “Ow! You hateful thing, look what you did! Wow, it’s really deep! You scratched me! It really hurts! Look at my forehead! I’m going to give your sister a present and not you! You’re not getting ice cream tonight!” This was, of course, followed by 7.5 minutes (I kept track) of non-stop preening in the mirror and tending to her forehead, while she sent her daughter to fetch ice water for her.
Now, I am not a parent, nor do I have much of an affinity with children. However, I was stupefied by that woman’s behavior. I recognize that people tend to overhear parents in their worst moments, but it took all the lovingkindness and humility I had not to reprimand that woman (or slap her last facelift clear off!). Her children were outgoing, inquisitive, and un-self-conscious. They were still young enough to prefer their hair wild and unkempt, their clothing rumpled and comfortable. And by projecting her fears of aging and “ugliness” on her daughters, she was normalizing the world of makeup and plastic surgery to girls just learning to read.
From My Beautiful Mommy
Speaking of which, a book called My Beautiful Mommyhas been getting a lot of press lately. The book, aimed at young children, recasts a musclebound plastic surgeon as the fairy godmother for a post-pregnancy mother as she gets a nose job, tummy tuck, and breast implants. The book claims to explain the desire for cosmetic surgery and ease the fears children have of their mothers going under the knife. Here’s the thing though: the kids have the right idea. While “mommy makeovers” (combo tummy tuck and breast augmentation) may be increasingly popular these days, the fact remains that surgery is surgery, elective or not. I was discussing plastic surgery with a friend who has undergone thirteen procedures to correct a cleft palate, and he silenced me during my moral waffling. “After experiencing what I have, imagining people choosing to subject themselves to it seems selfish and stupid.” I mean, I’ve only had my wisdom teeth removed, and that was enough!
I think the idea of a children’s book praising and oversimplifying plastic surgery is dangerous. If a mother chooses to alter her appearance, it should be her responsibility to explain her reasoning to her child — after all, she knows better than a book. Also, let me just say of the title: Who said my mother isn’t absolutely gorgeous exactly as she is?!
Ultimately, sitting there in Starbucks, I said nothing. I felt too young. Instead, I hoped that the girls would develop a healthy sense of rebellion, thanked my stunning mother for raising me, and went back out into the rain.
What would you have done? Would you have felt comfortable saying anything (and if so, what is appropriate to say)? And to what extent did your parents’ ideas about bodies and beauty influence you? I’m really curious to see some responses.
