Tyra IS NOT FAT!

The news world has been buzzing lately with Tyra Banks and her supposed 40 pound weight gain. She's been featured in tabloids, she's spoken out about on several talk shows (including Larry King Live and it will be the subject of her own show on Thursday) and in People magazine.

Tyra is a five foot eleven inch woman who has spent the majority of her career as a model whose natural weight rests between 136-167 pounds. She claims that she is at 161 pounds which is in her natural weight range. She is a positive role model for young girls around the globe and I think its travesty that the news is making such a huge deal about her gaining weight. Especially when the media knows what kind of influence they have on young girls who suffer from eating disorders. It's utterly disgusting that the media finds it necessary to publish this kind of thing. I'm ashamed.

The media is saying that it's not ok for young women to gain weight and that if you are almost six feet tall that you are fat at 161 pounds. This is a very sensitive subject to me because I suffered from an eating disorder for several years during high school and I still have difficulties dealing with my image. And I know that there are many young women (and men) who are just as image conscious.

In our "healthy" living of today, it is extremely important to not stress the number associated with weight. It's not about the number. It's about health and how you feel about yourself. People who suffer from eating disorders never feel thin; it's part of the disease. They think that they can always stand to lose more weight because they still envision themselves as fat. And when the media stresses weight, instead of health, it makes it difficult for people to get better and to get away from their disorder. It's such a vicious cycle and the media is only perpetuating it.

What the media should be stressing in this situation is the kind of role modeling that Tyra is doing: she is showing the world that it is ok to fluctuate in weight and that fluctuating, is in fact, normal. They should not focus on Tyra getting "fat", because that is not what is happening. She is returning to a natural weight, something that she potentially never achieved in the tough and competitive world of modeling where your size is everything.

In my opinion, Tyra is a beautiful woman, who looks like a woman. She is not a twig. She is not fat. She represents what a woman should look like. She's healthy and happy with her appearance, which is all that truly matters.

Question Everything.