Oprah's Body Shaming

Rather than acknowledge herself for shaping history, the world's most powerful woman instead focused on the shape of her body, dedicating her December 2008 issue of O to the tired subject of...her weight.

After making it through a trying year, battling thyroid problems and helping to elect America's first Black president, Oprah Winfrey gained (gasp) 40 pounds. Never mind the bad timing of a holiday season weight-related issue. As I line up for second helpings of egg nog and Christmas cookies, I'm not ready to be reminded of creeping scales and tight waistbands just yet.

But it's the screaming headline --  "How did I let this happen again?" -- fanned across O's cover, that disturbs me the most. It's as if the world's most powerful woman is somehow both a victim of her out-of-control body (how did this happen?), and a bad person who needs to publicly shame herself. "I felt like a fat cow," wrote Oprah about skipping a Las Vegas taping with Cher and Tina Turner because of her size.

Everyone who hasn't lived under a rock for the last 15 years knows that Oprah's human-ness really shows up the most in her struggle with her body. She's had chefs, trainers, psychological epiphanies, spiritual awakenings...all courtesy of a first-class fleet including Bob Greene, Eckhardt Tolle, and other heavy hitters. Yet never, at least to my eyes, has she had that singular moment of true body acceptance. Her self-love seems to shrink with each pound she gains. A true Oprah triumph would mean loving herself "through thick and thin," being able to separate her value as a person from her dress size. If she had that, it's lost.

After vowing in 1991 "I'll never diet again!" Oprah went on a long journey to transform her mind and body, taking on a healthy lifestyle that inspired many women to do the same. I'm all in favor of that. However, life happens. Stress, sickness, public scrutiny, other priorities...it's completely normal that these factors would lead to weight gain. Any woman could understand that. Oprah's self-flaggelation mirrors the hateful beatdown I've given my own reflection when pants get too snug, or love handles creep over the sides of my jeans.

Can she talk back to those cruel, self-hating voices? Or will we be subjected to more issues of O where she puts herself down, diminishes all her other achievements just because she gained some extra body fat. Yes, Oprah lives under the public microscope. To expect her to be a perfect role model would be unfair -- more of the same Superwoman pressure that's at the root of Oprah's own body-bashing.

I admit a part of me wants her to be perfectly enlightened about this, and I'm hoping for an O-style epiphany. But no matter how many billions she has, Oprah lives in the same society and cultural constructs as you and I do. I always think of body image as "feminism's unfinished business." No matter how much power women gain in the world, we still get the message that to be "in control" means mastery over our appetites, our apperance, our genetic physical makeup. Good luck!

I'm all for Oprah taking off the weight for the health reasons she mentions: being at higher risk for diabetes, stroke and heart attack. I just wish she could be loving and compassionate to herself along the way. I pray that her journey teaches her a much-needed lesson about true self-love.

Oprah, it's your body and your business. Let's get back to saving the world and loving ourselves in all our glorious humanity.