Case in point, Lady Gaga recently posted pictures of herself after gaining 25 pounds and was immediately criticized for it. She's admitted to struggling with eating disorders most of her life and publicly announced it on her website http://littlemonsters.com/ with photos of herself in yellow bra and panties showing her more curvaceous body.
Now, we are used to globally famous celebrities being picked at especially about their looks but now we are beginning to see a trickle down effect of sorts to our local celebrities.
News anchor Jennifer Livingston of WKBT in LaCrosse Wisconsin recently publicly confronted a letter writer that criticized her for gaining weight and told her that she was a poor example to our daughters as a public figure.
She confronts this issue directly in this statement.
The question is, are these women the sum of their looks or their accomplishments? In the media unfortunately the former is the rule.
These women are successful and talented in their respected fields and should be admired for them not whether or not they conform to the unrealistic standard of beauty created by the media and mainstream fashion.
As the issue of body image continues to create news, we must now more than ever reinforce positive self image to our young women.
It is reassuring to see women such as Lady Gaga and Jennifer Livingston stand up for themselves publicly and reassure their fans that they are happy with who they are.
