CBS News Anchor Talks about Bullying On-Air

This is anchorwoman Jennifer Livingston of the CBS affiliate WKBT in LA Crosse, Wisconsin. In this video she confronts a cyber-bully who sent her an email telling her she was no role model because she was "obese." The man talked only about her looks, her outward appearance, she says in this video, and not about what is inside her.  She reminds us that October is Anti-Bullying Month and she reaches out to all kids who might be bullied because of their size, sexual preference, disability, etc. She encourages them to reject their bullies' definitions of them.

I love that her approach is nether strident nor a plea for acceptance.  She is frank and honest and sharp in her words.  She does not become an "emotional female" when discussing her weight; in fact, she does not discuss her weight at all. That is exactly her point: her weight is not a topic of discussion or speculation for anyone outside her family or circle of friends. Case closed.

Another very good point she makes is that attitudes like this have a trickle down effect.  When someone in your household voices the opinion that fat people are bad (or gay people are bad or the disabled, and so on), then the members of that household internalize the opinion and take it away with them.  They might go to school and see someone who is overweight, call them fat, call them bad. She turns the tables on her cyber-bully and tells him that he is no role model if this is how he talks about other people.

Like most women, I am sensitive to weight(y) issues and I am always watching certain industries in which women's weight is particularly noted, like on-air journalism, acting, modeling, and so on. I'd like to believe my characters in FAT GIRLS IN LA would respond like Jennifer Livingston does.  She not only takes the high road with dignity but delivers her message to everyone, not just her bully.

"Who does that fat girl think she is?"

That's the strange comment I've read on some reviews of my novel, ALL ABOUT VEE.  Perhaps not quite as harsh but certainly I've read comments that express that sentiment.

Why?  I always wonder.  Why would a reader be upset that my mc, Veronica May, a plus-size actress struggling in Hollywood, has confidence in herself?  Plenty of other characters in other books know they are good at something, whether it's acting or painting or sports. So what's the difference between them and Veronica?

Her size. 

There's an attitude among a lot of people that overweight women shouldn't be happy with themselves.  They should want to look thinner.  They should not like who they are.  They should feel inferior to others.  Many readers who pick up VEE expect that Veronica will be sad or have low self-esteem and that, over the course of the book, she will learn to love her body the way it is (or change it and then be happy and get the guy!). They don't expect that the problems she has in the book are ones that other people impose upon her.

I've often told readers how I came up with my story about Veronica and her friends, Val and Ginny, the original 800 page book that was called FAT GIRLS IN LA. I had been walking on my lunch hour in Beverly Hills and saw a lovely young woman waiting to cross the street.  The neighborhood was filled with agencies for film and TV and this girl was overweight.  I wondered if she was an actress looking for an agent - or maybe she was a model or a writer. I thought about who she might be, where she might have come from.

And I thought about being a fat girl in LA.  You can never be too thin in this town, no matter what your profession. Even if you're a writer and you're attractive and thin, they can promote you better than if you're not.  Everyone, it seems, wants to be thin here.  But what if you came from a town where no one cared?  What if you were really good at what you did but you also happened to be overweight?  Why should that matter?

Behold, the Vees were born.  Three plus-size gals from Arizona who were best friends and who wanted to make their lives more exciting so they moved to Hollywood.  Veronica was the actress and she got all the best roles in her small town - why shouldn't she be positive about her talent?  Why shouldn't she assume she could get roles here in LA? Ginny was the writer and Val was the model. They all suffered discrimination here.  Their friendship was tested.  Their self-confidence was challenged.

I think a lot of readers who have problems with Veronica's positive self-esteem have struggled with it themselves. They may want her to feel as they do and are disappointed that she likes herself the way she is.  They may have had people in their lives tell them they need to lose weight in order to be hired - or loved.  Make no mistake: Vee does not think she's the best at everything, that she's beautiful, that she should get every guy she meets.  That's the assumption readers place on her just because she's a good actress. She struggles too.  She just doesn't struggle with what you expect her to.

She's just like you.

Are you ready for Part 3?

Here it is! Part 3 of THE RISE OF GINNY COOPER at The Story Siren!

Exclusive.

Free.

Plus you can enter to win a free signed copy of ALL ABOUT VEE! And yes, international readers are welcome to enter too.

Did I mention...free?

Gotta love free.

And while you're there, check out Kristi's post about covers and whether or not the content inside relates well. Among books like Justine Larbalestier's controversial "Liar" cover is mine. Readers familiar with Vee know she is well over 200 pounds yet the cover, below, is of a gorgeous young woman who clearly is not heavy.


Why? This was my question too. Well, according to my editor, this is modeling's idea of plus-size. Yeah, right.