Am I fat?

 The fact that I even have to ask such a question troubles me. Not that I actually think that I am fat. But in a nation of size 00 actresses and cocaine and champagne downing stick figures walking the runway, is a normal size girl just...not normal?

Why is our country obsessed with the thin? Every magazine you pick up has "diet secrets of the stars"  and how to "exercise off the pounds". But what's wrong with a few pounds? The average weight of a runway model is around 100 lbs. on a 5'9 or taller frame. I'm 5'8 and 140 so...am i fat?

I like to think not. I like to think I'm a regular girl who eats regular food (ok, maybe a little heavy on the Italian food) and exercises a regular amount. I don't stress myself out to be thin. I am what I am and as long as I feel good about myself, then I feel thin. But can the same thing be said of younger girls growing up in the culture of the anorexic? With women like Nicole Richie, Kiera Knightley, and the newly slim Tara Reid as the current popular stars, do our little sisters stand a chance? I grew up with stars like Julia Roberts, Catherine Zeta Jones, and Madonna as the women I looked up to. All eat, all are proud of their curves, all exercise to stay in shape. They don't skip meals or down drinks at 6 in the morning only to skip the breakfast and lunch they slept through or end up in rehab for the drugs they take to stay thin.

I grew up knowing that a shapely woman is an attractive woman. Just look at the biggest sex symbol of the 20th century, Marilyn Monroe. She was surely NOT a size 00. Depending on the source, she ranges from a size 8 to a size 12. By today's standards, she's fat. Or shall I say, "plus size". But man did Kennedy fall for her.

Can the same be said for our little sisters? Recent magazines slammed Jennifer Love Hewitt for being "fat" while on vacation with her boyfriend. Fat? The only thing fat about her is her butt and breasts, and I, to quote Derek Zoolander, "mean it like the way black people use it. Which is more meaningful I think." So for me, I was shocked when they bashed Hewitt and, to be perfectly honest, pretty disgusted by it. But can the same be said for the 12 year olds reading these magazines, just learning how much better your legs look in high heels, and the makeup tricks that make you look like you've had a full nights sleep, or the haircut that looks just perfect with your facial features? They're growing up reading these magazines, taking in all the fat-bashing, and learning from it. And slowly shrinking away before our eyes. Eating disorders are up, as is drug usage in teens and plastic surgery is at an all time high, with women buying the attractiveness they feel they lack. The uber-thin girls of Hollywood are influencing the young girl in Kansas and California and Pennsylvania because the media portrays them as the hot young thing. Which, as I know from experience, is what every young girl wants to be. Pretty. 

Personally, I like to think of myself as hot. I mean, I can turn heads. Maybe I'm not a size 00, but my boyfriend doesn't complain when I'm wearing my new VS purchase. Maybe I'm not shaped like a 12 year old boy, but when I wear my LBD, I feel like a real woman. A real woman with curves, and a bit of a tummy, and, lets be honest, a little bit of cellulite on my thighs.

So am I fat? Or is Hollywood just too thin?