Last night I was lying in bed watching ‘Koffee with Karan’ (a celebrity talk show from India). He had some Bollywood celebrities he was interviewing and during the course of the show he showed some clips from past interviews and movies. The guest commented on how fat everyone was looking in the clips. Those women were not considered fat a few years ago. They were not a size zero, maybe a 2, or a 4, a 6 at most…….but is that fat?

I find myself surrounded by women, on television, at parties, at the workplace, obsessed with their weights…..endlessly discussing diets, boot camps, workouts. Relentlessly trying to fit into tighter jeans, fitted shirts, shorter sleeves. Filling their days with burning calories, watching calories and discussing calories.

Throughout the twentieth century women have struggled and fought for what we consider to be birth rights today. The right to vote, access to higher education, which had effectively excluded them from the practice of well-paid and high status occupations, entry into the work force, the feminist movement of the 60’s. Our mothers and grandmothers have all played a role in these struggles and managed to achieve some big and some small milestones in their lives.

What will women of my generation be known for……..being a size zero……is this our contribution to women’s rights. Is weight really the only battle we have left to fight……