saved by the butt

I've been on a bit of a Karen Carpenter funk for the last week. I was able to finally watch Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story. I was intrigued for two reasons, Karen Carpenter and a cast that literally consisted of Barbies. It was a very interesting juxtaposition. Needless to say, my favorite song by The Carpenters right now is "Let Me Be the One" and I've had a lot of Karen exposure. The more I see her, the more I see a beautiful person, an awesome drummer, and an amazing singer - all in one, yeah, she was a real freak of nature to be that talented. I've been watching a lot of her drum solos, she always looked really happy when drumming.

R.I.P. Karen Carpenter

I wonder what she saw when she looked in the mirror. Probably not satisfaction. It's sad when you can look like her and not be happy with how you look.

When I was in high school, I would gain an amount of chub each summer. One summer, I decided to regulate my diet (2 meals a day, far apart) and exercise every other day to keep the chub from coming. I even justified the need to be skinny because of my height (62 inches). It worked fine except for one little predicament: I lost my butt. At 17, I was pissed and worried about losing my figure.

It's easy to get into a cycle of wanting the abstract notion of "less weight" and to never be satisfied with the results. In my mindset, skinny is not the complete ideal. Sexy is. And a butt takes precedence over boobs any day. I wanted to look in the mirror and see curves. A pancake butt is not sexy. Jeans do not push me down, I break them in. I like living in a culture that appreciates that.

Remember, it's easier to assess the practicality of concrete goals, and if you don't have a butt (hip measurement) that's at least 10 inches bigger than your waist, eat a pie. Curves are important.