You CAN Dance if You Want To

Now, I am a tiny thing and never had a weight issue...but I honestly can understand some issues bigger/fatter/fluffier people go through. "How would you know, Mariann?" you might be asking me about now.

My best friend in grade and high school was really overweight. Back then, in the 1970s, it seemed more people were of the thin variety, at least in Jersey where I lived. I would hear all the nasty comments people would say to her when we were in school and when we went places together.  It was especially brutal when we went to the beach...the comments nearly made me cry. I don't know how she endured them, but she did.

She was also an excellent gymnast and superbly graceful in general. I would LOVE to see more people who weren't in so-called "perfect" dancer bodies on television and in movies.

I'm an avid classic film lover...we're talking from the beginning of film here...not talking the 1970s or '80s. Films from the 1930s, especially, had a lot of chorus line premises and dancers in them. You know what the first thing I notice when I'm watching any of these? They aren't totally buff and they have little flabby areas on their legs and tummies -- and, in my opinion, it makes it all so much more worthwhile and enjoyable to see.

I think if more people were subjected to seeing plus-size models and bigger dancers...we'd have a more realistic and satisfying approach to how we all perceive ourselves when we look in the mirror. I think it's high time we placed more "weight" on how we are inside and how we treat people than on how fantastic we look half naked.

Here's the story which inspired me to write this:

People With Fat Bodies Went On Stage Because They Wanted To See How People Would Respond