Tyra Banks: Fat?

The only thing I've heard about the last week is Tyra Banks. Whether it's some magazine calling her a "fatty," or her throwing a "kiss my fat ass" tantrum on her show, Tyra's weight gain is all the rage right now. And, of course, since her "fat ass" is being shoved in my face on a constant basis, I have an opinion on this matter.

First off, Tyra was never skinny. Being 5'10", 130 lbs., is not skinny. But it's all how it's proportioned. Take Gabrielle Reese: 6'3", 160 lbs., and built like a brick shithouse. That's not skinny.

But then, Tyra doesn't need to be skinny. She's not a model anymore (whom we prefer to be skinny); she's a talk show host (and there is no such thing as a skinny talk show host).

The thing I don't get, and this applies to every woman in the media, is that we only seem to care about weight gain or loss. We don't care about those who have always been skinny ("Kate Moss: What A (Stick) Figure!") or fat ("Camryn Mannheim: Still A Blimp!"). We only bring attention to those who lose weight ("Star Jones: Hot New Beach Body!") or gain weight ("Oprah: Pigging Out!"). Even after the media pushes "thin" like they're selling it, they draw attention to those they deem "too thin" ("Kate Bosworth: Not Hot At 85 Lbs!").

So, is Tyra "fat"? Having seen her on the cover of last week's People and the thousand other appearances she's made over the last week, I'd say "no." Looks pretty good, actually. (I will admit that those photos that started this whole stink feature a very unflattering bathing suit.) But, that being said, she'll go one of two ways: become "obese," just to throw it in the face of her critics, or, she'll cave and lose a ton of weight ("Tyra Banks: (insert witty weight loss quip here)!"). Either way, we'll still have to deal with her grating personality, which is waaaaaaay worse than whatever her weight may be.