Oprah: Sexiness Ends at Size 24

What projection! What that comment means, interpreted from mediamogulspeak is "When I was considerably larger than a size 24, I hated myself so much I couldn't imagine wearing sexy clothes. And I can't imagine how anyone else could, either."

From the transcript, she does not specifically identify "the point" as size 24, she sticks to being vague, and says that there's "a point", sizes beyond which this bustier shouldn't be made in. Kudos to the lovely blonde lady who said that it wasn't about size, it was about attitude. And kudos to the large lady at the back who wanted to wear the bustier - YOU GO GIRL! Good for you!

Oprah is never going to embrace size acceptance as long as the advertisers on her program include WW, Jenny and Slimfast. Don't want to piss off the advertisers and lose that revenue! Plus, she sells books and magazines by hawking weight loss. Can't have people liking their bodies...it's bad for the bottom line. ;-)

To be fair, Oprah is certainly allowed to have any opinion she wants. If she doesn't feel that women can be sexy over a certain size, that's honest. I know I have my ideas of what's sexy. I just don't have an international forum to express them in ;-) (Oh, wait, BFB *IS* an internation forum!) Of course, to deny someone else's opinion of sexy ("there's a point where these shouldn't be made"), THAT is a bad attitude.

Its one thing to not embrace size acceptance. Its another to embrace size bigotry. But that doesn't surprise me from Oprah, either. The blatent way she expressed her bigotry is what surprises me. Even if she balked at specifying whom she wanted to exclude, such a plain declaration of who she will allow to be sexy is out of character even for Oprah. No one here was expecting her to be an ally, but to so emphatically promote discrimination and bigotry is a surprise even to me.

I totally agree with your take(s), Brian & Dreama. It is one thing for Oprah to have her personal opinion and still wrestle with her own poor body image, but to project that on others is thoughtless and hurtful. I'm not an Oprah fan for just this reason. She goes through radical image shifts like Madonna goes through hair cuts. One minute she's a spiritual guru and has shows w/ more substance than most-- I especially loved the book club and thought emphasisizing reading-- whatever the genre was fabulous. And now she's aping every other show on TV. Boring celebrity interviews-- I don't need know Jenifer Aniston's diet tips-- and exploitative "exposes" about teen prostitution that are one step above Access Hollywood. Grrrrrr Brooke

I do not like Oprah. She seems to me far too self-involved, but that's besides the point. She is entitled to her opinion, but who is she, or anyone else for that matter to say that certain types of clothing should only be made in certain sizes?? I personally think that a size 24 woman would look remarkably sexy in a bustier, showing off her curves, much more so than a no-chested size 2 such as myself, but I also think bustiers should be made in sizes 0 through 100! Why should anyone care so much what other people wear? Hurrah to the women that aren't afraid to show their beauty!

I want to add, too, that if you haven't watched the video please do so. It's slow going at the start but quickly turns into a 24-and-up bashfest.

I was going to respond to this directly, but I might wind up melting the comments programming. If you're interested, see this post on ole' Oprah. Short version: she no longer exists. Really. I think she may actually be a media-generated hologram at this point. And, of course, hologram's have no substance and are by definition amoral... http://www.ulu2.blogspot.com/2003_09_01_ulu2_archive.html#106367196109649878

That lovely blonde lady was none other than Heidi Klum, who models for Victoria's secret and is considered to be a supermodel. She seemed to be rather displeased with Oprah's bullying tactics ("Now, don't we all agree that there's a point...")--I really appreciated the disapproving look on her face. Victoria's secret actually makes clothes up to size 18-20, and has for a quite a while. Their XL fit me when I was a size 22, and the clothes are well-made. They also make attractive bras up to a 42DD. Their shoes still fit me even today, and I wear an 11W. So it's really a myth that only teeny-tiny women can shop there. If you're on the small end of plus-sized, I highly recommend you check them out.

I hate Oprah with a passion. How dare she try to project her hatred toward her own body onto those of us who are far more enlightened? I'm 5'7" and at last count about 280 lbs., and I love my body, especially my bust. I for one would LOVE a bustier in my size! Phooey on Oprah and her jerkoff buddy Dr. Phil too!

yuck! but not expected considering the source... how nice that the queen has spoken and we now have an established the exact number for the size above which hatred and bigotry are ok...

yuck! but not unexpected considering the source... how nice that the queen has spoken and we now have an established the exact number for the size above which hatred and bigotry are ok...

it was this kind of thing that made me stop watching network television (and most television, save for PBS and Discovery occassionally) a few years ago. how many more times od i need ot have it hammered into me that i am not worthy of anyone's time, that i should be automatically dismissed on any number of levels, thanks to the size of my pants.

When I watched this video, a cold chill ran down me. It might seem silly, a bunch of light-hearted joking about 'the point' at which a bright red sexy bustier should not be made, but it speaks to a larger trend in our culture...a lot of things do not 'come' in a size 24. This includes adequate health-care, and the right to be happy with yourself. Past a size 24, too many things are inaccessible. The bustier seems to me just like a symbol of all those things that are out of reach for large women, and large people in general. I wish Oprah had the sight to see that.

sjbrodwall...you're totally right about Heidi Klum...I noticed the look on her face as well. Maybe we should write her letters of encouragement at the same time we write Oprah letters of disparagement? Just a thought...

Yes, yes! Positive feedback to those who do right by us is just as important, if not more so, than negative feedback to those who don't. But even better...buy their stuff. That's a message they'll be sure to get. Maybe we can't buy the clothes Heidi models because they don't come in our size (boo!), and are too expensive anyway (boo squared!), but maybe she's endorsed an accessory or scent or calendar something that we can purchase to show our support. That's a message she's sure to get. Frankly, I don't know how much good it does to write letters to Oprah. It's likely she'll never see them, and if she does she's unlikely to take them seriously. She knows we size-acceptance folks exist. She thinks we're fucking stupid, she's as much as said so. We might as well write to Fidel Castro and tell him communism sucks and his cigars smell like fermented wiper fluid. My feeling is that the only thing that's going to change Oprah's mind about fat people is if the fashion industry's mind changes, because its view of women and hers are hopelessly intertwined. When Anna Wintour encourages Oprah to GAIN ten pounds for her photo spread instead of losing them, because she looks so much prettier with fuller...um, cheeks, then maybe she'll think twice about all the fat-bashing. Instead, I propose an alternative idea. We go after Oprah's sponsors. The ones that aren't diet companies, that is, because they don't give a rip about us either (i.e. they know they're not getting our business anyway). Lemme tell you, it doesn't take much to make sponsors nervous. They don't care if you're mad, they care if you don't buy...and tell them why. I don't have a television at the moment, so someone else would have to watch and tell us who the sponsors are. Could someone here stand to do that?

Great point, Andee. American Airlines has been a long time sponsor of Oprah. And writing to them will achieve two points. We'll tackle the issue of Oprah and her fat-hatred, and we can soun doff about the size of their seats on their flights.

Speaking of airlines...one of my grandmothers used to work at an airport, I think for American Airlines, in Nashville, Tenessee. She told us all stories about all the stars she's come into contact with, and how the vast majority are the most rude and demanding people on earth. She said only one star was polite to her, and that was Johnny Cash. Everyone else was snobby, demanding, and rude. She especially didn't like Oprah. She said that Oprah comes across as a nice person on TV and seems like she'd be polite considering her rags to riches story, but my grandma said she was one of the worst people she ever encountered at the airport. Just goes to show what a little fame can do to a person, I suppose.

Oprah Winfrey has made a huge investment in thinness. She has not only made it for herself, but she has made it for her show, for her magazine, and for her followers. The fact that she didn't think this bustier could be sexy over a certain size doesn't surprise me. What's interesting to me about this topic is how people are so open and frank in discussing their prejudices. Can you imagine her saying, this bustier just couldn't be sexy on a black (or name another race) woman? Of course you can't. Whether or not she actually felt that way, she wouldn't have chosen to be so frank about her views because she would have believed them to be wrong. Oprah does not think it is wrong to call a fat person unsexy, or unworthy of all of what society has to offer.

Sad Oprah. I don't much feel like writing her a letter but I will (as Shakespeare wrote) "leave her to heaven and to those thorns that in her bosom lodge to prick and sting her." I just wish she didn't have such a vast audience on which to spend her angst and self-hatred. *sigh*

what a laugh she got when she said "I don't want to see this in a size 24!" and when someone said, "that's a 2X" she replied "I don't care what you call it!". that's mean. there were women in the audience who were a 24 and up. the models in that show were extremely tall and skinny! i was surprised at how thin models have become (i live in a cave, ok?) even on daytime tv. if she doesn't want to see that bustier in a 24, then her point at which the sizes should quit is 22 or less, isn't it?

Who cares what Oprah thinks, really? Aside from her hardcore audience who are always ready to drink the Kool Aid, most people view her as an incredibly wealthy curiousity. She never says anything of any real meaning or depth. She never has any passion about anything and there's always a not so subtle air of contempt for her audience; a contempt she was finally able to manifest in the form of Dr Phil. Poop on Oprah.

Who cares what Oprah thinks, really? Sadly, there are millions. The thing is, Oprah has a large number of viewers - people who would benefit immensely from the ideas and tenants of fat acceptance.

Paul, I think the people who allow the likes of an Oprah or a Phil to determine their self-worth are the kinds of people I described as their hardcore audiences. These people don't want to think, they want others to do it for them. Fat acceptance takes work, real, emotional and intellectual work and in my opinion, her fans will steer clear of it. The casual viewer, IMO, doesn't really take Oprah as seriously or at all seriously, especially as it relates to size and weight issues. If she remarks that a 24 is the biggest size an article of clothing should come in, so what? Does that make it so? No. If large and lovely ladies who are a size 26 and above want a larger size, they'll get it. I remember back in the late seventies, Calvin Klein said (New York Magazine, I believe) he would never offer his jeans in larger than a size 10 because he said he didn't want to "see a size 16 fatso with my name on her ass." Today, if women still want to buy his lamo jeans, they do come in sixteens. Btw, according to some, Oprah has been steadily losing her numbers in the past two years so although her viewership is still impressive, it looks like it's less so.

Again, its one thing to not promote fat acceptance, and another to actively promote fat bigotry. That is precisely why WE should care what someone who is watched by millions of people every day when they start promoting fat hatred. Its not like she's just not promoting what we believe. She has made herself into an active supported of bigotry and hatred and has endorsed the idle prejudices of millions of people with her thoughtless words.

I think Oprah has become horrendously out of touch with how most people live. She embraces and promotes high-end materialism and a level of self-involvement (which she calls a fitness program) that people with jobs, families and *lives* would find impossible to maintain. I think her book club was one of the few really worthwhile things she did, and from what I've heard she's now abandoned that. As the song goes, she's living in her own Private Idaho. :-)

Again, I think people give Oprah's words far too much power. She gives her personal opinion, during her Aftershow (she claims she lets her hair down during that segment because it isn't broadcast on her national ABC show but on the much smaller Oxygen Network seen by maybe...what?...14 people?), and some people behave as if Jesus said it. After she said it she knew her opinion would draw ire but again, she said it on her Aftershow--not the national broadcast--so if your argument is that millions of viewers (i.e., her national audience) would see it, that isn't the case. Would she have made that comment during her nationally broadcast show? No, she's not THAT stupid. It was obvious from the beginning of the Aftershow that she had thought about the bustier in larger sizes but decided to bring it up after the national show. It's interesting because the audience stood up for themselves and disagreed with Oprah. She constantly said, "Y'all agree? Don't y'all agree?" But a good portion of the audience didn't and expressed that. Even Ms. Klum disagreed with Oprah. We have to start choosing our battles more wisely.

You're right, Brian. Any time someone can refer to "a point" where another human being should be denied something based solely on appearance, you can be sure hatred and bigotry are present. Oprah was actively promoting prejudice based on size alone, and what's more she started doing so thoughtlessly but regrouped and proceeded with conviction. I wonder what her abuser looked like, and what whoever knew and didn't step in looked like? We might all be paying for one fat person's action's.or lack thereof.

i don't think it is so much how influential Oprah may or may not be, but rather that this sentiment was seen as a humourous joke on tv. she is allowed to think whatever she wants, and so is Rush Limbaugh - but he did lose his job after a racist comment. did his comment influence people? probably not much, but it was the fact thart it was an ignorant hatreful thing to say. same with Oprah. if she had said the bustier shouldn't be marketed to Jewish people there wouldn't haved been any laughs. she got uproarious laughter from most.

Two things-- Heidi Klum has a website (with links to $300 birkenstocks HA!) where you can email her. www.heidiklum.com Also, this morning the news said she was pregnant. I wonder if that made her more sympathetic to the not-size-two universe . . .

"Also, this morning the news said she was pregnant. I wonder if that made her more sympathetic to the not-size-two universe . . ." Nothing like an extra 40 or so pounds to make you sympathetic to just about everything. ;)

Lenten Special Right from Christmas into Lent. Excellent! Currently wearing: tight black "M" sweater, maroon velvet mini skirt, clunky black mary janes, a look of defiance.* Currently reading: The Latchkey Dog by Jodi Andersen and How Do You Say Goodbye? - Margaret B...