Enter to Win: Meg Cabot Mysteries Giveaway
February 11, 2008 by Kristen King
Filed under Women's Health
Back in December, I reviewed the third and lastest of Meg Cabot’s Heather Wells mysteries, Big Boned. Heather is a size 12/14 pop-sensation-turned-residence-hall-director who solves, gulp, murders on a fictional college campus in New York. The funny and thoroughly entertaining books are packed with romance, suspense, and, yes, real body issues and acceptances.
In February, I’m giving away two (2) copies of Big Boned and a signed copy of the first book in the series, Size 12 Is Not Fat, to three lucky Lively Women readers. Here’s the breakdown:
First prize: One (1) signed copy of Size 12 Is Not Fat
Second prize: One (1) copy of Big Boned
Third prize: One (1) copy of Big Boned
Want to win? Here’s how.
These days, body image is heavily affected by what we see in the media. We’ve got people lauding skinny celebs like Lindsay Lohan and Mary-Kate Olsen for their waif-like appearance and using words like “cow,” “chunkster,” and “lazy fat kid” to describe beautiful girls like Kelly Clarkson and Jordin Sparks (not my words — direct quotes from comments left on this blog). We have folks like Joy Nash ranting against weight discrimination and telling women to love their bodies, while we’re simultaneously bombarded on a daily basis, from a young age, with images of what women “should” look like.
Leave a comment on this post with your opinion on what real physical beauty looks like, where our body issues are really coming from, and/or what we should be doing about it. There is no right answer — this is about your opinion. Everyone (except me) is eligible to enter. Although discusion is encouraged, only your first post will count as an entry.
Eligible comments will be entered into a random drawing using the list randomizer at Random.org, and the first three commenters on the third randomization will win first, second, and third place, respectively. Winners will be notified via e-mail and announced here on the blog, and prizes will be sent by US Postal Service.
The contest ends at 5 p.m. EST (GMT-5) on February 29, 2008. Winners will be announced on Monday, March 3.
Only comments on this specific post will count as contest entries. Now, let’s get talking!
Contents © Copyright 2008 Kristen King
Tags: womens health, woman, health, obesity, overweight, body image, self-esteem, america’s obesity problem, jordin sparks, kelly clarkson, skinny celebs, mary-kate olsen, lindsay lohan, contest, giveaway, meg cabot, heather wells mystery, size 12 is not fat, big boned
I think real physical beauty looks like a women who carries her head up high and smiles. I think these negative body issues are coming from tv, magazines, etc. But I also think others don’t look at the real person at times. We need to realize that people like Kelly Clarkson and Jordin Sparks are very beauiful girls!!!
Real women are self confident and keep themselves in shape with a healthy lifestyle, proper nutrition and exercise. They have curves, are naturally beautiful and do not need to subscribe to society’s dictates.
I think it takes a lot of learning and maturity to love yourself as your are! A man can not complete me, only I can. Although, I have never been obese, I have had weight issues since junior high! I was the tallest and biggest bone girl in the small school! Not only the size of me, but I also have a birthmark on the left side of my face. There have been times in my life where I felt like a freak! It takes one strong cookie to face these issues. At 51, I can still regress,but for the most part, I like who I am~ on the inside and the outside! Thanks,Cindi
I think real physical beauty comes from someone who is really comfortable in their own skin and happy with the way that they look. I think our body issues come from our own perceptions of how we are “suppose” to look based on media, our parents, friends, etc.
Part of me wants to say that real beauty comes with age and experience. As we go through life, our experiences make me who we are ; they shape us and form us.
But then I look at my 19 year old daughter and her friends - they are of all shapes and sizes and they are all beautiful. They are confident, intelligent and attractive young women, much more so than I ever was at that age.
So, as with everything else, true beauty must come in different packages - but we need to believe in ourselves for the beauty to show through.
The biggest problem seems to come down to peer pressure - girls want to look like everyone else and boys want girls that their friends approve of. Once we start ignoring other people and listening to our hearts, beauty will be in personality, not what magazines tell us.
Strong, toned, fit body — that’s my ideal physical beauty!
I for one agree that size 12 is not large, it’s healthy. It might solve a few problems if girls/women stopped focusing so hard on what they think is the ideal physical appearance. Just enjoy the life for you do have!
I learned when I divorced at size 18 in my 40s that men love women regardless of how we perceive ourselves to be, altho confidence is a big factor, eventually close-up my insecurities show and they embrace me even more then.
My blogspot is about “losing weight” or really, for me and others like me, it is about being healthy and taking care of ourselves.
The entire journey I will recount begins with a decision, but includes multiple decisions along the way, including silencing the nay-sayer in our head who criticizes us when we eat something “off” plan. These self-sabotaging voices begin early in life, and must be silenced.
I felt the same inadequacy financially recently until I realized even the cheapest furniture stores were running ads with incredible home offices/furniture, but most people DON’T have that and most people don’t even have room for that in their lives. I learned to know that “I don’t need that” and to be satisfied with what I have because it works for me.
I am a size 12 now and that works for me, tho I sometimes think I am too skinny. Just not in the same places it used to be, as Vanna White said after she got back “into shape” after giving birth to her first child.