Melissa Harris-Perry has a great point about Oprah’s new weight loss ad.

[eridani]

http://www.upworthy.com/melissa-harris-perry-has-a-great-point-about-oprahs-new-weight-loss-ad

Last week, Melissa Harris-Perry was "a bit distressed" by a new commercial featuring Oprah Winfrey.

The MSNBC host responded to a recent TV ad Winfrey did for Weight Watchers after Winfrey bought a 10% stake in the weight-loss company last year.

While Harris-Perry was quick to note she certainly wishes Winfrey a successful 2016 — even if that means achieving the goal of shedding a few pounds — Harris-Perry took issue with one particular message within the ad, specifically, the part where Winfrey says that "inside every overweight woman is a woman she knows she can be."

<snip>

As Harris-Perry pointed out, none of Winfrey's many achievements have anything to do with her weight.

Harris-Perry is on to something. Because not only should someone's size be irrelevant to their self-worth, it's not even necessarily relevant to their physical health.

Don't take my word for it, though — listen to Linda Bacon, Ph.D. She's a researcher and author of the new book, "Body Respect," and well-versed in weight-regulation science.Bacon told Upworthy that, despite a lot of commonly held notions, you can't tell much about an individual's health simply by looking at their waistline.

[Person 2713]

1. Winfrey achieved a lot while very overweight so yeah I don't get her ad statement either

However new studies have come out about fat fit people and I believe it showed that being fit did not offset the health dangers connected with being overweight so not sure I agree with Perry either
But one thing for sure for WW , having Oprah and folks looking to see if she loses weight gets them lots of new exposure to an old product

[eridani]

2. No evidence at all for a DIRECT link

Genetic insulin resistance is a major cause of weight gain in adulthood, but it's the insulin resistance that is the problem, not the weight gain.

[laundry_queen]

4. ^^^This. nt

[Phentex]

3. Oprah's message is disappointing in so many ways...

I always felt she looked good as a not so thin person. She has lost a ton of weight before and I don't think it was her best look, not because of her size but the way her face looked. She can look really good at any size. She is successful in ways that have nothing to do with her weight. Over the years, she has tried to come to terms with how she feels about her body size and what it means to her and I felt she was finally at a place of being comfortable with herself. Her latest message says otherwise. At least she isn't promoting eating out of a box like other celebs (Marie Osmond!) She could have just done weight watchers and been successful and told people about it but NO, she had to be the spokesperson. Why? She does not need the money. She made $150 million instantly just from the stock alone.

I think Oprah is beautiful. And I believed she was the kind of person who could say that in spite of her wealth, chefs, trainers, etc. she likes food just like the rest of us. Her goal should be being healthy. Why can't her "best body" be one that is the size she is now?