For Jess Beckett

Hey Jess - I saw this commercial (which I've searched for incessantly on Youtube and still can't find!!) today that made me think of you. I'll keep searching and let you know if I find it, but until then, I'll just try to explain it.

It began with a woman stepping onto a digital scale, covering her eyes and saying timidly, " Ooh I hate scales!" Then she uncovered her eyes, looked at the display, and instead of it showing a number, it boldly displayed, "COURAGE." Another woman stepped on, and her weight was, "PRIDE." This continued with another couple of women, and I was intrigued. I thought this was a really empowering commercial. Although knowing your actual weight in pounds can be helpful in cases where health is a concern, why else does putting a number on your weight really matter? Shouldn't it just matter that we feel healthy? This also brings to mind some other commercial I saw in which women say things like, "I want to weigh HEALTHY" and "My goal weight is HAPPY..."

Of course, the commercial ended up being a Special K commercial, attempting to empower women by making them feel like they should want to lose weight and encouraging them to do so, which I thought sort of contradicted the original message...but the important part, and the part I wanted to share with you, was the beginning. Thought this might be helpful.

When you go to the Special K website and look at the part in the near-center, displaying pictures in which women are holding up signs saying things like "Moxie," "Stength," and "Delight," I guess that's sort of like what the commercial was doing...but those cards they're holding up also say, "I will gain _____ by losing weight." I think it's more apropos to say, shouldn't we feel stength, delight, and moxie (this word makes me giggle) just by accepting our bodies for what they are? HMmm..food for thought.