Apparently, size does matter

The average clothing size of women in the United States is 16.

Marilyn Monroe, the most prominent sexual icon in the U.S. to date, was a size 14.

It’s a far cry from the rail-thin images we’re all used to seeing plastered on magazine covers and television screens.

So, my question is this: Why exactly is that?

Why do we put ourselves through absolute torture in the name of losing weight to look like people that, quite frankly, aren’t real in the most tangible sense of the word?

We are a very vain culture, and I can’t decide what makes me angrier about that — the fact that we actually allow a plastic world to determine our self-worth by whether or not we can fit into designer clothing, or the fact that we actually buy into that garbage as though it were gospel.

I’m sick to the teeth of seeing shows like “America’s Next Top Model” flashing girls up on the screen as plus-size models in a size eight, telling them they need to lose weight.

The last time I checked, size eight was NOT in the plus-size section of ... well, anywhere.

And we wonder why our kids end up with eating disorders. We wonder why people are stroking out and having massive heart attacks after choking down a bottle of diet pills.

You know what? Life is too short to be so hung up on appearance. How many Barbie dolls do you see walking down the street on a daily basis, anyway?

Hopefully none. If Barbie were a real person, she’d be so malnourished she couldn’t have children, and she couldn’t walk anywhere because her spine proportioned with her chest size wouldn’t allow her to stand upright.

Barbie would be rather grotesque when you get right down to it.

Yet, we’ve been shoving her in the faces of little girls for more than 50 years. Well, guess what, kids? Ken suffers from ‘roid rage and anatomic anonymity.

Maybe it’s time we stop letting the cult of thinness dictate our lives and start getting realistic about things.
When was the last time you looked in the mirror and liked what you saw? If you’re anything like me and the people I know, you can’t remember, either. Until we change the outlook on beauty, what true beauty is, we won’t be able to.

Barbie’s house is broken, kids. It’s time to build your own.