Oprah's Sizing

I am not a fan of pop culture. Not because I hate it or anything, I actually think it produces a lot of good art, and I think it says a lot about the zeitgeist of the times. I don't like it because it's part of groupthink, buying into it, talking about it, criticizing it (as I am right now) is all a part of it. So, typically, I ignore it to the best of my ability.

But I saw something that really pissed me off today. Arguably one of the wealthiest, most powerful black women is on the chopping block again because she's gained 67 pounds. This is disgusting, it's woman who did the interview, and it's largely women who are reading it. Get over yourselves. Almost all of the powerful men in the world are rotund. You'd never hear a peep about one of them. Unless they were morbidly obese, like President Taft. This is part of the culture I'll never understand. My honey watches these TV shows with thin women parading themselves around and then hates herself for being normal. Do I give a rats ass about Oprah's weight? No way. In fact, the fact that she's "ashamed" of it makes me respect her a lot less. I know this is a typically male perspective--but it's the kind of thing that I see all the time. And my sex will get the blame for it. But I don't care, except to say, don't waste my time with it. I read the gossip pages because it's a 45 minute ride to work, and there's only 20 minutes of news in the daily. And I feel guilty if I don't take a paper from my newslady in the morning.