R.I.P. Joan Rivers and Female Body Image

The world lost an amazing spirit today in the passing of Joan Rivers.  She was one of my most favorite comedians ever.  I most remember her critiques on the red carpet, roasting celebrities who did not have the right advice about what they were wearing plus her quick wit.  I also learned this woman was very good friends with Fred Foxx and learned a lot of what she knew about comedy and laughter from him.  She is a legend and will be missed.  My condolences go out to her family during this difficult time.  Joan WE LOVE YOU!!!

But that prompted me to write this post because as I was listening to CNN and Wolf Blitzer, he played back an interview between Joan Rivers and Joy Behar from The View where Joan talked about how her industry requires women to look good so they are compelled to go under the knife and anesthesia (the closest you can get to death and still live) on a regular basis or as much as needed.

That troubled me because of course I morphed this into whether this blog promotes positive female body image or does it contribute to this  possibly destructive thought process (celebrity or not) of having to look a certain way to be considered beautiful, healthy or acceptable.  It is striking how young the girls are when they begin to worry about their physical appearance and body size.

I will state this emphatically, no woman is the same and we all should embrace and LOVE our body, ourselves.  Sounds corny but we really need to.  Regardless of what society says we should look like, love yourself, appreciate the body God gave you and do your best to maintain it the very best way you can.  You only get one.

What I like so much about Monte Sanders of Sanders Optimum Fitness, he talks about focusing more on your inner, mental and spiritual health and NOT just the physical.  That is so important to emphasize and if you don’t get that same message on this blog, then I have work to do.  I don’t mind putting in the work if it will create positive change to you, my readers.

It is sad if women feel like they have to look a certain way to be accepted, even if you have a “visual” job where appearance is emphasized.  There is no target body size that is better than another.  Now you may say “But Dee, you have had contest reducing weight and monthly challenges, etc.”  This is true but what I have tried to get through is this blog is focused on EXCESS weight that creates an unhealthy environment for your body to thrive.

Not just losing weight for weight sake.  So as part of this article I went looking and sifting through photos of various women and body images considered healthy.  I wanted to challenge that status quo.  But in my pursuit of that, I realized I was doing what I accuse others of doing – vilifying certain body types.  So this post won’t contain photos of that nature because we ALL are beautiful just how God made us.

If some of us seek enhancement, that’s cool.  If some of us seek none, that is cool too.  Let’s just support every woman who works hard to be healthy inside and out and shake off the notion one size fits all.  It’s literally KILLING us.

Peace and blessings.

What is your most favorite memory of Joan Rivers?