I recently logged into my Twitter account, and was immediately presented with the following “Promoted” Tweet:
The actress Gabourey Sidibe is now “skinny”, and, it would seem that my jaw will drop. Having presumably summoned all my might to elevate my jaw from the floor, I trust that I should agree that skinny is best, and that somehow she is to be admired because of this.
I certainly do admire her, but that admiration is neither prompted by nor conditional upon her physical size or shape. Rather, I wonder why it is that I should only be considering her beautiful now when there was absolutely no reason not to be of that opinion before.
Moreover, who are these people to award themselves the position of deciding what is beauty and what is not, or what we should or should not be?
I cannot see anything positive in that.
All I see is bullying.
(the above image was found via Google Images, and comes from the Los Angeles Times at http://lat.ms/2cBckS0. Photo credit: Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times).
John Andrew Carruthers 