Female Obsession

She calls me “grandmother.”  The daughter of Chinese friends, she spent a year in the United States, and her English is excellent. She’s a top notch student. At age eleven, she’s begun filling out, and she told me she hopes to lose weight. We drove along a beautiful stretch of coast the other day. Here is a picture:

Cultures teach women to be ashamed of their bodies, and it starts very early. Weight isn’t purely an American female obsession. Chinese women are also concerned about weight, mostly for no discernable reason.  My Chinese “granddaughter” is entering puberty and has started developing curves.  She attends a very tough school and now has less time for exercise and play. Kids that age, like the rest of us, need to be active.  Weight, I believe, takes care of itself when we get enough exercise.

I’m at my normal weight now, though no one would ever describe me as willowy. 

My weight is the same as it was during high school. At the time, I believed I was very fat, and even my family ragged me about my weight.