Meghan McCain is Latest Victim of Weight Bashing

It looks like even the daughters of Presidential candidates aren’t exempt from public scrutiny of their weight.  The latest victim for our weight-obsessed society is Meghan McCain.  She’s quite the outspoken Republican and even writes for the successful blog, The Daily Beast.  She has been known to speak out against what she believes in taking on Ann Coulter and even members of her own party.  Recently, conservative Laura Ingraham blasted Meghan for gaining weight on the campaign trail and the young Republican decided once again to come to the defense of herself, and many other women in the media - Hillary Clinton included. She writes,

Recently my not-size-0 body has come under fire again by the conservative pundit Laura Ingraham. On her radio show recently, she sarcastically commented that I was “too plus-sized to be a cast member on the television show The Real World” and needled me about my weight with a comment about Barbie’s 50th anniversary. Instead of intellectually debating our ideological differences about the future of the Republican Party, Ingraham resorted to making fun of my age and weight, in the fashion of the mean girls in high school.

I have been teased about my weight and body figure since I was in middle school, and I decided a very long time ago to embrace what God gave me and live my life positively, attempting to set an example for other girls who may suffer from body image issues. I have nothing to hide: I am a size 8 and fluctuated up to a size 10 during the campaign. It’s ridiculous even to have this conversation because I am not overweight in the least and have a natural body weight.

In today’s society this is, unfortunately, predictable. Everyone from Jessica Simpson to Tyra Banks, Oprah Winfrey, and Hillary Clinton has fallen victim to this type of image-oriented bullying. Recent pictures of Pierce Brosnan’s wife, Keely Shaye Smith, on the beach in her bikini raised criticism about her weight and choice of bathing suit—as if the woman should be wearing a giant muumuu to swim in the ocean. After Kelly Clarkson’s recent appearance on American Idol, the first commentary I read on the Internet was about her weight gain instead of her singing.

My weight was consistently criticized throughout the campaign. Once someone even suggested I go to a plastic surgeon for liposuction. Afterward, I blogged about loving my body and suggested critics focus their insecurities about women’s bodies elsewhere. On the other side, my mother was constantly slammed for being too skinny, so the weight obsession of the media and our culture goes both ways. It also goes to both parties. Hillary Clinton has consistently received criticism for her pantsuits and figure. Whatever someone’s party, these criticisms are quite obviously both wrong and distracting from the larger issues at play.

The question remains: Why, after all this time and all the progress feminists have made, is weight still such an issue? And in Laura’s case, why in the world would a woman raise it? Today, taking shots at a woman’s weight has become one of the last frontiers in socially accepted prejudice.

Bravo, Meghan!!  I couldn’t have said it better myself.  As a matter of fact, I don’t think I know anyone who could!  Being on the receiving end of weight scrutiny in the past, I know how it feels and I remember wondering, “Really?  Has it really come to this?!”  Meghan sets a great example and my hope is that more people follow it.

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