fat.

i've been a little under the weather and this time i'm actually blaming the weather. 65 degrees one day 30 the next, crazy times. maybe the weather is the true apocalypse that the mayans should have been warning us about!

i digress.

back to that whole sick thing. when i'm sick i just want to lay on the couch, like most people do i assume. so that's what i do but that gets a little boring sometimes but i know as soon as i  raise my head from that pillow i will regret it. so instead i read, get lost in youtube, watch stupid television that i wouldn't normally watch, etc... so i decided to see if one of my favorite actors had any new interviews so i googled her.

sara ramirez. sara is a graduate of julliard, she originated the role of spamalot's "the lady of the lake" on broadway (and received a tony for it), was approaced by abc execs and offered a run on any abc show-her choice. she was offered a full-time spot and has been grey's anatomy's dr. callie torres ever since.

so why am i writing about sara now? she is a very beautiful, sexy, talented actor/singer and...

SHE IS NOT A SIZE 2!

first of all, if you just begin typing sara ramirez into google one of the first options you get is "sara ramirez weight." this, in and of itself, just blows me away. so monday evening with all my sick time on my hands i decided to take a look.

the first article i read was an interview with sara in which she tackles the subject of being a "size 12 in a size 0 town." she talks about how her mother struggled with weight and body image and as a child she was subjected to that lifestyle. she says that after she realized she wanted to be an actor she basically starved herself living off of celery and over exercising. sara says that going from broadway where she did 8 very physical shows a week to hollywood where there was catered food at all times resulted in her gaining 25 pounds during her first season. it was somewhere around this time that grey's anatomy asked her to do this scene...

sara said she went to the show's creator, shonda rhimes and said "are you sure, i've cottage cheese all over the place." shonda basically told her to WORK IT! (props to you, shonda! another reason i love grey's!) sara's best friend died several years ago and she said it was at that point she really got over herself and began to love her for her. she embraced who she is. she decided being healthy was the important thing.

now to the really frustrating part.

once i opened the next google entry i realized it wasn't an interview but a blog, much like my own. HOWEVER, in this blog the writer decided she was going to write about sara's weight and one of the first things she said, point blank...sara is fat. the author goes on to say that she can say that because she's fat too and she's not saying it as an insult but a compliment. she even goes as far as posting a pic of sara while on broadway and sara a year later after her admitted weight gain to "prove" sara is fat.

how is this okay?

you are really ugly. no, it's okay because i, myself, am ugly.
or...hey, you seem pretty stupid. i'm stupid too! isn't that a compliment!
your art sucks. no, really, it's a compliment because my art sucks too.
you're a horrible wife. no really, i know...i'm a horrible wife too.
you deserve that abuse. no, it's okay...i deserve it too.
you are so skinny. yeah, it's a compliment...i'm anorexic too.

where is the line drawn?

it is obvious to me from the few things i read that sara ramirez has definitely had a struggle with self image and weight. why would anyone think calling her fat was okay?

i think maybe at the heart of the blog the writer was trying to say, "wow, she's not a size 2 and she's gorgeous. i'm so glad others who are real sized women have a role model" BUT that is not what she said at all. instead she insulted another person's size, a person that had admittedly struggled with self image. i pray she never read that blog because not only was she repeatedly called fat...there were pictures for proof!

let me finish this blog by saying. from the first moment i saw sara ramirez i have never, NEVER thought of her as fat. i have only admired her: her voice, her talent, and her confidence.

let us be mindful of those around us. whether they be famous or not.
let us not make ourselves feel better at the expense of others.
let us take time to learn a person's story before we jump to conclusions.
finally and most importantly...

LET US LOVE OURSELVES ENOUGH TO DANCE AROUND IN OUR UNDERWEAR!!
(and let us be thankful there aren't about 10 cameras pointing at us!)