Are We Becoming a More Tolerant Society to the Plus Size Woman?

I have spent most of my life overweight. I have been on diets different times, lost weight, and then regained it. I am now the heaviest I have ever been. Even though there is health risks associated with obesity, I have to admit that the health risks have always been the least of my worries when it comes to being plus size. I feel now that I am older I am more accepting of myself and I no longer care what other people think in regards to my weight. Would I like to be thin? Of course I would. Am I going to do radical, crazy and dangerous things to be thin? No way.

For the past several years extremely thin has been the "in thing". Over the last decade the high fashion models have been getting thinner and thinner. I have seen fashion magazines where the models are so thin they literally look like you could break them in two; to me that is unhealthier and looks less attractive than someone who is overweight.

I have taken notice lately to there being more of an acceptance to the plus size woman. This revelation came to me when I was watching the Tyra Banks show in March 2007 where she announced her "So What!" campaign that I wrote about in an article for Associated Content. Tyra was declaring to women that it was okay to not be the weight society expected and to love ourselves and to develop a positive body image no matter what the scale says.

Over the summer I received an invitation in the mail to purchase a subscription for a new plus size woman's magazine called Figure. It's a magazine that focuses on the plus size woman, real women, and all of the models in the book are plus size. There is now a magazine that caters to the majority of American women. The magazine features clothing tips, beauty advice, health tips, and showcases successful, plus size women.

In January 2008, Lifetime Television for Women will be premiering a new show, How to Look Good Naked, hosted by Carson Kressley. This ground-breaking new show for Lifetime will focus on teaching women, regardless of their body size, how to love themselves. Carson is going to show these women how to achieve a positive body image without the extreme dieting and without cosmetic surgery. The commercial for the show on Lifetime features a row of plus size women walking behind Carson Kressley in their underwear. When do you ever see that on television?

It is about time the majority of women were catered to rather than the unrealistic minority you see gracing the covers of fashion magazines. Maybe, just maybe, the world is starting to accept us just as we are.