What can you do with your body? I can save 3 lives!

Lady Gaga has a great body, doesn’t she? I mean, we love her music, we love her personality, but a lot of people love the way her body looks. They value her body.

I used to have a Lady Gaga-like body. But now, I’ve gained weight. And as a feminist, I’m determined to think positively about my body no matter what shape it is.

So, I looked on the bright side. With my Lady Gaga-like body, I did not meet the weight requirement to  give blood, but now with the extra weight, I do! Take that Lady Gaga! Can you literally save 3 people with your fat rolls?!? No you can’t!

But that makes me very sad. I think only 2% of the eligible 60% of people actually give blood. Like, imagine a world where cover girls and models were valued for their ability to give blood? What if people were fascinated by people who gave blood instead of “beautiful” people behaving badly? What if there were programs about gaining weight instead of losing weight? Would more women feel comfortable with their bodies?

Perhaps human nature would make a world like that perverse—merely replacing one ideal body type with another. In fact, as I thought about it more, I thought about my own need to “feel better” about myself. In order to feel better, a line had to be drawn—people who can’t give blood and people who can. Why was I basing my self-esteem around that dichotomy?

Currently, men who have sex with other men after 1977 can’t give blood. Would I want those people to feel bad about themselves because they can’t give blood? Heck no.

So I’m not sure what the solution is.

Maybe our world around us needs to give us a more diverse message.

Maybe we just need to take a break some days—turn off the TV, the internet, the magazines and just “be.” No comparison required.