Happiness is more than a dress size

The cereal Special K funded a study in Britain using 3,000 women. The results showed that the happiest women, overall, based on their criteria were those at Size 14. I was skeptical at first on how this translated with American women and the preception of women through our size zero idolization of women in entertainment, (the hollywood, rockstar crowd). Later in the day, I happen to be listening to a radio show that devoted an hour to this study and those results were supported and expanded upon by the women and men who called in.

A goodly amount of the calls affirmed that they are not a single digit dress size and had they taken the quiz would have validated the results. And in fact a quick check showed me that the average dress size for American women is oddly enough, size 14. The callers spoke openly about how they don't measure their happiness by the vision in the mirror but also by success at work, their relationships, the quality (though disappointingly not the quantity) of their sex life and how fit they are to get through their life, not based on competitive measures, (i.e. personal fitness programs, energy to work and/or play not necessarily enter races and how much energy they have working and playing with their family).

My career is predicated on people wanting to lose weight, but I am glad to see that the perception that women must be a size-nothing based on gossip rags and internet sites is not as pervasive as I imagined. The assault on our consciousness on how women must look based on the smoke and mirrors of two hour make up sessions, free designer clothes, perfect lighting, air brushing and then image manipulation is upsetting.