Kelly Clarkson's weight controversy = ME ENRAGED (and also introspective)

I spend about an hour every day browsing entertainment websites, and my self-esteem and ability to control my feminist rage are both suffering. Our country is seriously out of control.

The primary focus of my rage is the whole Kelly Clarkson thing. Now, I LOVE Kelly Clarkson. Love, love, love her. Seen her in concert three times, have all the albums, etc. But I can admit to the world here on the interwebs that, yes, she has noticeably gained weight. She's looked thinner. Fine. My question - why, oh why, do people on the internet positively hate her for it? And why do these same people feel the need to use her weight gain as an excuse to make hateful comments about all perceived "fat" people, as if being overweight (or simply being perceived as such) is akin to being a terrorist? Why is it that in our culture, fat people (and especially fat women) are villified? What is so awful for not-fat people (as all of these internet posters claim to be) about the existence of not-thin people? And why do we, as a larger society, feed into this culture of hatred and allow it to influence the way we think about ourselves and others?

I'm hardly immune. Reading these articles and blogposts and comments about KC, my rage at the anti-woman nature of the majority of the postings is constantly at war with my own insecurities about my body. While I may "tut tut" and furrow my brow in disgust when one particularly eloquent poster says that he "wouldn't bone that disgusting cow," part of me is also worrying, God, do men look at me and think that, too?! I can admit this: if you called me mean to my face, it would hurt my feelings less than if you called me fat. And that's absurd. That means that I'd rather be a thin person than a nice person. How fucked up is that? And how fucked up is it that I can recognized how fucked up it is, and still feel that way? (Wow, that was DEEP, right? Lol J/k).

No, but seriously. Body image and weight control and obesity are totally out of control in America, we all get that. But this hatred that people feel for others based solely on their BMI...it's taken us to a place where we are saying that obesity isn't just a problem - it's a sin. If you're fat, you're not just fat - you're bad. And if you're a fat woman? You're not just gross and unattractive to men - you're evil. Don't believe me? "The Superficial" guy compared KC to a flesh-eating monster last week. A flesh-eating monster. Yeah, we're doing real well, America.