Body positivity came far too late.
But reflections on how things were can be painful, a fire consuming your soul in a slow burn that lasts a lifetime. Diet culture is toxic. Terrifying. Harmful in ways that are too difficult to put into words.
I wish Oprah and Kirstie had had the support of the body positive movement back in those days. Things would have been different. Influencers would have been standing up saying, “Hey, you’re beautiful.”
Think of the tears they shed, body shamed day after day until they were forced to take drastic measures. I can’t imagine the sense of failure they must’ve felt.
For most of us, it’s impossible to understand the pain of being shamed by thousands of people. I still remember seeing a picture of Kirstie that had been taken at an unflattering angle with a headline saying “Fired for Being Too Fat.” Yes, that was an actual National Enquirer headline. It’s bad enough having people around you making judgments, much less tabloids.
It wasn’t OK to simply be yourself. Women hadn’t yet stood up to say, “Enough is enough. We deserve to be celebrated just as we are.”
Now, we have celebrities like Lizzo and Ashley Graham who are essentially saying, “Screw diet culture. You are OK. You’re beautiful just as you are.”
We have cover models like Tess Holliday showing that you don’t have to be a size 2, or even a size 10, to grace the cover of a major magazine. You don’t have to be any size at all. You just have to be you.
We have publications like Curvicality that are specifically dedicated to the body positive movement, to showing real women with real bodies. To celebrate beauty in every stretch mark instead of trying to hide the art that is the ever-changing human body.
But we still have a long way to go. The days of body shame are far from gone. We must continue to push to make sure that no one is shamed the way Kirstie and Oprah were. Both of these amazing women were beautiful at any weight. Size does not determine beauty.
So today, we celebrate Kirstie’s memory. We love you, Kirstie Alley! You contributed to opening the eyes of society. Your smile, talent, comedy and charisma will shine on forever.
And for the record, you were a damn beautiful fat actress.