I read a lot and so know that much of this info is out there, which makes it easier to just go grab a link from the internet in support. I’m kind of a data/info junky anyway, so it’s worked out well that I can use that in my writing here. It also makes it harder for haters to just say, “That’s not right” out of hand.

This constant impulse to compare ourselves to those around us is another destructive element of the patriarchal dominance hierarchy, and it’s totally exploited in consumer culture and advertising. When you step back from that, it becomes larger irrelevant whether or not you are 6'4. You are who you are and your individual gifts and qualities are unique.

I love my Pilates class, where a lot of the women are middle-aged and are just all shapes and sizes. We have some young hotties in there too, and some middle-aged women who are clearly serious athletes, but in general, everyone is just great just the way they are and there isn’t a lot of judging or comparing going on. Except for a particular type of woman, mostly by the time we’ve reached middle age, we’re fed up with that crap we’ve been fed all of our lives, and we know who we are, and are no longer as susceptible to that kind of advertising. I think maybe it was Dr. Estees who pointed out that this type of woman is particularly dangerous to society because she cannot be controlled in the same way.