Is Mo'Nique Getting Weight Loss Surgery?
There is a rumor going around that Mo’Nique, author of Skinny Women Are Evil, is having weight loss surgery. Even though it’s just a rumor, I think the responses to this news are really interesting.
Once again at this point it’s just a rumor, but if proven to be true it will amount to yet another slap in the face of fat people by one of our own. Star Jones was a champion for size acceptance then fought for years to cover up her surgery before coming clean last year. If the same thing is going on with Mo’Nique her credibility in the eyes of millions of ladies and a few men like myself will be shot.
It always mystifies me when fat women act betrayed if a plus-size star has wls. even skinny women often hold a distorted idea of their body image. Why is it so hard to believe that MoNique would too? It doesn’t mean she was disgusted by contestants on FAT Chance, and it doesn’t make her message of loving yourself regardless of size a lie–it means that she has deep, personal image problems and you don’t know what they’re rooted in. We’ve got to stop expecting perfection from each other! I’m a proud 220 pounds. I look good and I know it. I would never excoriate another overweight woman for making that decision–that’s like beating up on someone who has a psychological problem.
It’s just that there are so few BBWs in the public eye and fewer still that send the message that it IS possible to be plus size and confident, successful, beautiful and O.K. with one’s body. When someone like Mo’Nique or, recently, Queen Latifah, shift and begin extolling weight loss, a lot of women who found inspiration and strength through their example are left alone again.
I don’t begrudge anyone’s weight loss, I really don’t, but when someone who has made an effort to spread the message of size acceptance (and carved a career niche from it) suddenly takes measures to ensure weight loss, it’s hard not to feel a little bit betrayed.
I myself and overweight by at least 85 lbs, but never have I ever thought that I should EMBRACE my size. Plain and simple, the bottom line is about being HEALTHY! …..why can’t we be HONEST with ourselves and admit that being overweight is NOT healthy… Let’s stop being so judgemental when we have carried the burden of being judged ourselves.
So, let’s pretend for a moment that this rumor is true. Which one of these comments do you agree with? I personally continue to feel like the third commenter above—I hate to “lose” one of the few icons out there who advocate for size acceptance, and it does call into question Mo’Nique’s whole philosophy of being “Fabulous and Thick” that she works so hard to promote. But, as with Queen Latifah, I also kind of understand it’s none of my business. I don’t know. Is it different, because she’s so vocal about size acceptance? How do you feel about it?
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: Advocacy, Celebrities, Gossip, Mo'Nique, Queen Latifah, Question, WLS
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From my side of the fence I think it compromises her integrity. The bottom line it is her choice to do what she wants, but she should not be an advocate for something that she does not personally believe in.
My feeling is, we don’t know what her health is like on the inside. Maybe her blood pressure and cholesterol numbers are lousy, and exercise and trying to eat healthy hasn’t worked. My major problem with weight loss surgery in general is – if you don’t work on the problems (usually emotional) that caused you to weigh so much in the first place, how successful will it be?
I tend to agree with the second commenter. We all have our own issues and we all fight our own demons. We aren’t inside her head and shouldn’t judge the inside based on the outside.
Is it different, because she’s so vocal about size acceptance?
For my money, hell yeah. Even Queen Latifah shilling for JC doesn’t bug me quite as much as this, because Mo’Nique has made a freakin’ career out of being fat and happy. Fat Chance, Phat Girlz, the books, the plus-size clothing label… With the Queen, at least the fat issue is mostly incidental to the actual work she does (with the exception of her clothing label).
If I someday decide I need to diet again — or, much worse, get WLS — I fully expect my readers and other fat acceptance activists to go apeshit. Yeah, my body is my body — which is why none of those people could actually stop me from doing whatever I wanted with it — but by writing about body acceptance and (however reluctantly) accepting the mantle of role model to some, I’ve put my body and my feelings about it on the table for public discussion. And I’ve only got a fraction of 1 percent of Mo’Nique’s audience — not to mention, with the exception of a few CafePress sales, I haven’t (yet) taken any money from people who expect me to keep walking the walk.
So IF this is true, I think people who’ve bought her books, seen her movies, and looked to her for inspiration have every right to feel betrayed and disappointed. They don’t have a right to interfere with her decisions about her own body, but they sure have a right to feel pissed off and say so. That’s the natural consequence of building a fan base on the strength of one thing, and then doing the opposite.
Right now, I’m just really, really hoping this isn’t true.
Kate – I couldn’t have said it any better. Just want to chime in with a “ditto”.
I have always said that having WLS is a personal choice and I cannot begrudge anyone from making it, especially if it for medical reasons.
My problem is that I think they are losing weight to bow to the demands of Hollywood plain and simple. And, if that is the case, they are not really role models for the size acceptance movement, no matter what they say.
Just my $.02 worth…. :)
Personal choice, sure, but when you’re a public figure and are quite vocal about being body positive when you’re fat… it’s a slap in the face and another disappointment. If true.
I would think that someone in Mo’Nique’s position would quell these rumors right away if they weren’t true, too. We’ll see.
I’m here to say that yes, you really can be a WLS patient and truly believe in size acceptance. Alaskajoey hit the nail on the head…she may have health problems that have not been made public which can only be helped by losing weight.
A lot of patients that I interact with at support groups and online did not decide to have this surgery just to be skinny like the rest of the world; I certainly didn’t. I did it because at the age of 30 I was having joint problems that made my favorite activities painful, I was having blood pressure and cholesterol and chronic acid reflux problems that were all compromising my health. With a family history of heart disease, it was pretty much a guaranteed way for me to die early. But honestly, I’m not sure how I feel about getting smaller than I am right this second because I already feel better and am more active and my health issues are resolved, even though I’m still a nice solid 214 pounds/size 16/18. I’m not sure how I feel about being smaller than that because I’ve always identified myself as a bad ass fat woman who was gorgeous no matter what her scale says. The fact is though, I’m going to get smaller and I’m going to have to figure out where I fit, because I apparently won’t be accepted into the fat acceptance movement anymore.
So I’m willing to cut Mo’nique an awful lot of slack, because if she did have to make such a drastic decision to save her health, then she’s got to have a lot of conflicting emotions about herself right now.
I agree with the 2nd comment. Just because Monique is an advocate of fat acceptance, doesn’t mean she needs to be a martyr for the cause.
Unfortunately, age happens and our bodies give out. The human body is an amazing machine and holds up under extreme conditions and stresses. But time chips away at the bodies ability to sustain its health under the varied stressors we (or life) throw at it.
At the end of the day, we have to take care of ourselves and see to our own needs because no one else will. If this is what Monique has to do in order to take care of herself, who are we to think less of her?
I think I’d have a combination of the first 3. I also would throw in that while we understand what it is like to get pressure to lose weight in our daily lives, for those in the public eye, the pressure is that much more intense. I can’t imagine the strength it would take to hold out against constant barrage of comments and innuendos that must go along with that kind of scrutiny. Although someone like Monique and Queen Latifah have their fans who are appreciative, where are their peer support? It’s virtually nonexistant.
Just thinking about this makes my head hurt a bit.
Kate is far more eloquent than I, so just repeat what she said.
Ok…so if you were fat before and loved yourself at that size…you’re not allowed to try loving yourself at a different, smaller size if you want to?
Hurrah for size acceptance.
I’m with the second commenter for now. It’s just her outside changing, not her mind. I don’t think any of our favorite icons are going to abandon us if they lose weight. It all will boil down to why she’s doing it, though. If she’s going through some kind of mental or physical turmoil and this is all that will fix it, then by all means she needs to do it. If it’s to fit into Hollywood’s definition of pretty, yes it will be disappointing (especially since, as Kate pointed out, she did MARKET the whole fat and happy thing) For now I am content to wait and see what the full story is.
Well… I believe that you can both believe in size acceptance, and lose weight yourself. But, in this case, I can’t see how a revelation like that, if it’s true, could be anything but damaging to a career that was based on being fabulous and fat. (I can’t say “thick” – in the UK, it means stupid!)
Would I deny anyone the right to change their mind, in theory? No. But I think someone in that position who makes that decision has got to be prepared to take a lot of criticism, and to be very open about the reasons for it. Yes, it is a personal decision, but if you’re a role model, you have to be prepared for your personal decisions to have an effect that’s far more wide-ranging than the average person in the street’s (and even that average person has some influence. How often have you tried or considered something because a friend recommended it?)
Probably famous people should have a right to privacy for things like medical decisions… but I find it hard to see how that could be achieved in today’s culture.
As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” In other words, I can appreciate that Mo’Nique may have undisclosed health issues (or, frankly, any other personal issues) which compel her to have WLS and still be disappointed that a highly visible, funny, sexy woman – who happens to be fat, too – may not be fat much longer. I’m not feeling betrayed, exactly… just sorry that there may be one less positive image out there of what fat women can be. Those aren’t mutually exclusive sentiments!
Doesn’t “acceptance at any size” mean… well, “acceptance at any size”? If Mo’nique feels, for whatever reason, that it is better for her to be thinner, why is that a problem? Love yourself at any size – the larger size, or the smaller one.
Here’s a very public figure who’s done a lot for size acceptance, and her fan base isn’t able to accept that her own size might not be what they think it should be. Ironic. And sad.
I agree with Kate, mostly. The thing I have against WLS is that it has a failure rate too (not quite as bad as the one for dieting, but still up there). Along with that failure rate come a host of complications that prospective WLS patients aren’t told about. No one tells them about malnutrition, going blind from vitamin deficiencies, getting beri-beri or kwashiokor (sp?), losing a lot of their bone density (vitamin deficiency again), or most of the other complications/side effects of this that can end up killing you. As far as I’m concerned, anyone who is considering WLS should have to read the letters from the Yahoo group, OSSG-gone_wrong, those 2,000 people are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how well WLS works.
Here is what I don’t understand:
Mo’Nique at one time claimed to be a size 18. To me, a size 18 is not so obese that you would have to have WLS. I’m a size 26/28 and would be considered an ideal candidate for WLS. But then again, you have some in the medical community who think even a size 14 is bad, so it’s no wonder many women out there who are that size or a little above think they are extremely fat.
If this rumor is true, perhaps Mo’Nique has health reasons we don’t know about and WLS is her only option. She has claimed to eat right and exercise, but she was still big.
But the majority of people who have had WLS and gone public about it really don’t mention health issues, it was because they thought were disgusting cows and wanted to get slimmer. That is why I don’t condone WLS as the instant quick fix to being acceptable according to society.
Personally I agree with the last comment (in the original post): being fat is not healthy. I know that’s not a popular view on this blog, but it’s my opinion. You might be able to get away with being obese and having good numbers for a while, but eventually it catches up to you. Maybe Mo’Nique’s blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, etc., numbers are not good anymore (if they ever were, we don’t know), and she has to lose the weight to regain her health. How could anyone begrudge her wanting to be healthy? How could anyone begrudge her wanting to look good, either, if that’s the reason she’s doing it? What business is it of yours, mine or anyone’s?
As for feeling betrayed by these women (Mo’Nique and Queen) for choosing to lose weight in whatever manner necessary for them, and for whatever reason, I can’t really say, because neither of these women have ever been “role models” of mine, but I do think it’s rather sad that people become so emotionally invested in celebrities that if a celebrity decides to lose weight it is considered a “betrayal”.
Just out of curiosity, were there any fat men out there who felt betrayed when Al Roker had his WLS? Did they feel as though they’d lost a “role model”? Is it just women who get like this??
I pretty much agree with the second comment, but I have to add that there might be more than self-images issues at work here, too.
Speaking for myself, I work as an actor. I’ve done a lot of theatre, and a little bit of film and television. When I weight less, I work more. And I don’t have to weight a LOT less: 20 pounds or so more than doubles my work rate.
So I had to sit down not too long ago and decide what I was willing to do or not do for my career, including walking away and doing something else. But here’s the thing: I LOVE my job. LOVE. IT. I’m not willing to walk away, and I’m not willing to starve, but I decided that I AM willing to watch what I eat pretty damn carefully, in order to work more at a job I LOVE. I’m willing to try and lose 20 pounds, but I’m not willing to lose 40.
I’m trying to eat intuitively and love myself – and at the same time I’m trying to lose weight. It’s crazy-making, let me tell you. And when I look at women in the media, especially women who champion fat acceptance on the one hand, but then try to lose weight on the other, I can’t help but wonder if they’re going through something similar.
The bottom line for Mo’Nique is that as she is now, her acting roles will be pretty much limited to the “fat black sista.” If she loses weight, she’ll probably work more. It’s horrible, but there it is. We all pick our battles, and maybe for her this one wasn’t worth fighting anymore. (On the other hand, someone like Queen Latifah shilling for JC pisses me right the hell off, because she’s already managed to overcome most of the typecasting associated with being the “fat girl.”)
Or it could all be an unfounded rumor. :)
Say it ain’t so, Mo!
I agree more with the second quote, it seems that people can get just as burned out with fat acceptance as they do with dieting.
On the one hand, I agree somewhat more with the second quote. I think it’s hard to judge others for their personal demons without walking in their shoes.
OTOH though… I have trouble seeing WLS as necessarially the “healthy” choice. It entails MASSIVE lifestyle changes, and those huge lifestyle changes in and of themselves can result in health improving weight loss (which is a different thing from becoming not fat). Surgery is life threatening, and if there’s any possibility that one could make those lifestyle changes without the risks involved, it would surely be safer. But not having walked a mile in Mo’Nique’s particular moccassins, I don’t really know where she is on that journey.
This is a size acceptance blog. At least that is how I understand it. Mo’Nique is a size 18 at 5’9″ tall. That’s barely larger than average, people. And people are saying it’s okay for her to “go for it” because fat is sooooo unhealtheeee???
I don’t blame anyone for wanting to be thinner, especially not a famous person what with all the pressure and pressure and pressure on them to be so. (Wanna bet she got a good lecture on the eeevils of faaaat when she was on Oprah recently?) But good goddess, look at all the people here who supposedly don’t believe in the shame trip, falling straight into the trap (I don’t mean you, Mo). Body fat is NOT some kind of toxic, deadly substance that has to be purged from the body at all costs like some huge, floating tumor. Sorry, but it’s not. Particularly for someone of Mo’Nique’s stature who is BARELY PLUS SIZED (yes, I know she looks bigger on camera), her fat is NOT going to kill her. Not at the age of 40!
But WLS might. I really hope she doesn’t go through with it.
I think I’m mostly with the first quote. It would make her out to be a fraud, cashing in on the fat acceptance angle while not accepting fat (no different than the new Weight Watchers campaign, really). If she hadn’t done that, I wouldn’t blink twice at her having WLS. But, frankly, if you don’t accept your own fat, I don’t believe you can accept mine. Sorry. As for the “health” angle, when there is a healthy way to weight loss when intuitive eating and regular exercise aren’t working for ya, let me know and maybe I’ll give it a shot. WLS certainly doesn’t qualify.
My mom got weight loss surgery “for her health”. But she’s had surgery related health problems since then. Not only that, but losing weight did not lower her blood pressure. Her blood sugar did go down, but she’s gained a lot of the weight back and still keeps her blood sugar down through dietary interventions. So it’s diet that controls her blood sugar, not weight. She still needed a new knee because arthritis and wearing out joints run in her family and most of them need to replace something in their old age. So my mom now has problems with vitamin deficiencies, an autoimmune disorder developed after the surgery that’s covered her skin in purple splotches, and still needs to diet all the time -and she’s still fat. Not as fat as when she had a the surgery, but still fat. All I can see weight loss surgery proved to her was that losing weight didn’t solve her health problems but eating a good diet keeps get blood sugar normal and makes her feel good. She didn’t need to mutilate her body and screw-up her body’s ability to absorb nutrients to know those things. You can’t tell her that though. She’s convinced it made her healthier.
I hope Mo’ Nique gets better health advice than my mom did.
btw- my dad, developed high blood pressure in his 30’s and high blood sugar in his 60’s. Of course, since he isn’t fat the doctors just gave him nutrition advice and medication. He wasn’t told it was his own fault and to lose weight.
I’ll have to agree with Ms. Kate up there.
Understandably, yes it’s her choice – we have no right to interfere. AND it’s very well that she may have additional health problems; and explanations she does not owe her fans.
That being said; she’s getting WLS. WLS is coded in the thin-is-beautiful socialization. We, as a culture, are not socialized to believe that people get WLS with an intent on improving health. And I’m going to take a leap here and sort of assume she is aware of that.
So yes. It’s her choice and she may have health problems we’re unaware of, but her choice – if this is real at all – has been coded culturally to stand against everything she previously stood for.
If the rumor is true, then I would definitely feel sad and a bit betrayed. Mo’Nique is an amazing talented individual, and has the right to do whatever she wants with her body. I wouldn’t necessarily feel bad about her weight loss, but the loss of a BBW icon, especially one who promotes acceptance for plus-sized women as actively as she does.
Here’s the thing: if it’s true, then she’s effectively saying “it’s okay for YOU to be fat, but it’s not okay for ME to be fat.”
It’s saying that she holds herself to different standards than the rest of us are required to have for ourselves.
It should feel like a slap in the face, because that’s what it amounts to.
Yeah, if writing a book called “Skinny Women Are Evil” doesn’t promote size acceptance, I don’t know what does.
To wit:
“And skinny bitches know who they are. If your dress size is in the single digits, chances are I’m talking to you. You’re evil and need to be destroyed.”
And if the wls thing was true, then… she’s a hypocrite, but she’s that anyway, isn’t she? She’s not someone I’d like to be represented by, anyway.
Kate and Meowzer, for what it’s worth, thanks to you I didn’t have to take a Xanax after reading this. It is funny, but it’s actually true. I guess I’m not so immune to getting seriously pissed off at something I read after all. (Not the rumor – we don’t know about that yet – but the rest of it.)
I will be a little sad if the Mo’Nique rumor turns out to be true.
I’m actually someone who doesn’t have a problem with the idea of WLS. I don’t feel like it’s “cheating” if a person is in a situation that is severe enough to go under the knife, then that’s their business. It has nothing to do with my value judgements.
Queen Latifah? Enjoy that nasty Jenny Craig food and the paycheck that comes with it.
My problem with Mo’Nique is that her whole career and persona is built on selling America on FAT and Fabulous. She’s made a career of being the big, loud and proud. It’s ok to change your mind and go in a different direction, but Mo’Nique will just lose credibility with me. I wasn’t a huge fan to begin with, but supported her message as a whole. The WLS will put her off my radar screen entirely.
ETA-
As I read this over, I was just thinking:
Maybe Mo’Nique is tired of only being thought of as big and black.
Then I thought: She’s had enough time to develop other talents and products. The fact that she decided to focus on her size is mostly her doing.
And who the hell is this Mo’Nique? Was she the one who always hosted “Showtime at the Apollo”? I always turn that off after SNL but I guess if that’s her I’ve seen her.
By the way, getting weight loss surgery for your health is like going under the guillotine for a headache. I don’t buy that at all.
Well, I know I least agree with the last one. I know this will ruffle feathers, but anyone who says “the bottom line is about health” is the one who is truly in denial. The fact is that fat people can be healthy. I think people deny this because the pressure to conform is so intense they need a rationalization to reduce. It is also very sad but true that many of the health problems fat people face come from risky weight loss methods, including diet pills and weight loss surgery. If you care about your health, do your homework and research the dangers of these procedures. Not that everyone who has them will suffer extreme consequences, but the risks are there. The most foolish thing of all these days is to completely trust the medical profession. Pharma and its quest for profit had corrupted it from the inside out! And the media is so much more marketing. It is much easier to sit back and let others do our thinking for us, but that is the absolute unhealthiest thing we can do.
Another vote for the view espoused by Madge, Marste, Lisa, fatfighter, et. al.
I thought, to quote (I believe) Madge, that “acceptance at any size” was supposed to mean
“acceptance at any size”.
What does not espousing (or being against) dangerous and often deadly surgery have to do with not accepting someone for their size? I would accept her were she fat or thin (though I don’t care for her supposed characterization of thin women as evil) but this is about someone going to the utmost extreme to change their size. That doesn’t sound like size acceptance to me at all.
Let me preface this by saying that I think anybody and everybody has the right (and should exercise that right!), to do whatever they want regarding their weight — surgery, diet, happy-as-is, whatever.
That said, I find it said when — and this goes for almost any advocacy topic — somebody who advocates a cause turns around and acts in a way totally out of line with their stated beliefs.
I wish I could think of a non-weight-related topic right now, but I can’t seem to… but my point is… it’s a little bit “boy who cried wolf’ish” to get everybody all worked out about supporting a cause, and then “oh, but maybe it’s not that big of a deal.” The next time she steps on her soapbox, I might not take her as seriously.
I agree with pretty much all the comments, except for the last one. The last one bugs me because it’s not necessarily an issue of embracing your size, it’s an issue of embracing YOU, and accepting that size does not equate to health, period.
Anyway I always have mixed feelings on this. I remember reading something in a magazine where Cathryn Manheim had said “i promote self acceptance, not fat acceptance, because fat is bad for you” but I don’t see why people have to equate fat acceptance to the acceptance of poor health.
Thing is, we don’t know why (or if) she’s having WLS.
If you’re healthy and physically comfortable at whatever size, great–enjoy it. But the fact that you’re healthy and comfortable at X pounds doesn’t mean that I necessarily will be. HAES means that you don’t hassle me for having ankles and knees that stop hurting when I’m 20 pounds lighter (true life example). If wanting to be able to walk without hurting every damned day makes me some kind of traitor to the movement, I need to find another movement. And if you take my knees personally, you’re the one with issues–not me.
Not sure what I think about Mo’Nique, but what’s with this “being fat will catch up with you eventually?” I’m not saying it absolutely won’t, but, geez, the jury is still out on that.
If you’ve been fat all of your life and you’re fat at 70, chances are, it’s not your fat that will kill you. Things like high blood pressure and high cholesterol can be AGE-related for bodies of all weight.
I’ve seen that here before – the mantra of “it will catch up with you!” Time, and death, catches up with everybody.
I feel like if you are a spokesperson for size acceptance than you should at the very least EXPLAIN why you are suddenly shifting your focus to weight loss. It’s not that I don’t want these women to find their own personal measure of self-acceptance, it’s just that I want there to be plus sized women who really do walk the walk and talk the talk and give women a role model to respect and look up to.
No one owes anyone an explanation for why they choose to have wls.
For one there could be a serious health concern that Mo’Nique is dealing with. This isn’t a case of “losing a fat icon”…it’s a case of “is it really my freaking business”. The conclusion would be no. I don’t begrudge someone for doing something that they have personal reasons for. Keyword: personal.
Too many people equate wls, wanting to lose weight for health reasons, etc. etc. as betrayal. If someone has health concerns that require them to have wls or to go on a diet (even though I personally hate the word) then far be it from me to judge them and scream “traitor”.
If she is having it done so what?
Having “icons” is pointless more now than it was when I was 15. All of them have personal demons/problems/issues/etc.
And yes, I know that size and health don’t matter. But for some people it does. For some it doesn’t. We can’t pretend that it doesn’t. Some people are comfortable being their size and are healthy to boot. Some are not.
Frankly, if she is having WLS it is none of my business. What she chooses to do is a private matter with her, her family and her doctor. Star Jones did nothing for the SA movement once the weight dropped and shame on her. We should all just cool off and see what Mo’Nique has to say about these rumors. If true, allow her to state her case before you throw her under the bus.
Is anyone questioning her right to do it? If she wants to take her life in her hands and take such a risk, she can. (Although I am vacillating wrt being for a ban on the procedure except in very extreme cases – not that there’s been ANY proven health benefit of doing it but whatever.) I think the *point* is that she’s written a book called Skinny Women are Evil, she has been a proponent in favor of fat acceptance, and if this rumor is true (which it probably isn’t, but who knows) then while she has the right to do so, I have the right to consider her a hypocrite, a traitor to fat acceptance, and a fool to boot.
And I reserve my right to say so.
Unless you are a vain idiot (many people are, but I don’t believe Mo’Nique is), if you choose to have WLS you are doing something extremely drastic and harmful to your body in order to correct what you see as the extreme harm that the extra weight is doing to your body. You are butchering your stomach, and the wls it is simply the lesser of two evils.
Does extra weight have to do extreme harm to your body? No. Can it? Absolutely. We know it can.
I’m sorry, but if Mo’Nique weighed the risk to her life and health and longevity by having this butchery performed (which I have had done as well, mind you) and compared it to the benefits to her life and health she hopefully will receive, and chose to do it — I mean, jeez. This isn’t a nose job, people. This isn’t about looking good at the beach. This is cutting up your stomach. It is not done lightly by anyone with half a brain. Cut her some slack.
I agree with Mo… I do feel like, “Oh, god, not *another* one down…” I give Queen Latifah a tiny bit of slack since she (claims) to be focusing more on the health side…. Everyone’s body is different. I think some people can be healthy at 300+, others aren’t even healthy at 100… And I’ll admit to being extremely prejudiced against WLS. It scares the living hell out of me. I would feel better if it was like, Mo’nique for Weight Watchers. Now *that* is a meeting I would attend, LOL! True or not, I hope she makes a statement about it. Because she’s built an empire based largely(haha) on her size, then yes, I think she owes her fans a little explanation.
vesta44: ITA!
I know there are different kinds of WLS procedures and they are more sophisticated now than ever, but my very own mother had WLS in the ’80s. She now has cirrhosis of the liver that can be directly attributed to it–and even without taking her illness into consideration, she’s still fat, still has to diet, often vomits after meals, has terrible and painful gas, and has loose stools. It’s not pretty, and a lot of people–even those who do their research–don’t know the full extent of it.
I wish more people would focus on the scary and real risks and aftereffects involved with WLS. They range from the annoying to the embarrassing to the life-threatening. If the goal of WLS is to improve one’s health and quality of life, I think WLS fails as often as it succeeds. The “cure” can be worse than the “disease.” (I use quotations because I don’t believe WLS is a cure, nor do I believe that being fat is a disease.)
I agree, I hate to lose such a good fat advocate.
It’s not a betrayel by any means. It’s her body and if she wants to alter it then it’s her decision and definitely none of my business. I just hope she doesn’t make a big production out of it. There is where the slap in the face comes in.
People change their minds all the time. If you wants to change her mind about her body then it is definitely not of my business. She’s an adult. Being thin won’t necessarily make her happier but it might get her a nicer paycheck.
Lois Waller – amen!
Christine, much the same could be said about excessive medical interventions in the birth process (especially Caesareans) and yet even though it is *major* surgery, it’s still often scheduled out of mere convenience. Even though, with the highest rate of C-sections in the developed world we have one of the worst infant and maternal mortality rates of all countries (including third world countries.) I realize the doctors aren’t telling the truth about the risks of WLS but that’s all the more reason people are foolish for doing it. They don’t seem to even want to know things that they most definitely need to know. Look, it’s plastic surgery – people will opt that way for lesser and lesser reason (and they do, all the time) the commoner it becomes. In fact everything you said leads me to give her even *less* of a break. And I don’t think I’m going to mention after this post that we certainly don’t know if the rumor is true or not. And if someone says it’s to save her life – pfft. I know at least a little too much about it to buy that line anymore. Plastic surgery is what it is.