Delta Burke, Actress


It's been said that discrimination against overweight people is the last accepted prejudice. Now that science has proved that weight is often genetically determined, we know that some people will never be a size 6. But for women the stereotypes and the discrimination persist. One of the biggest misconceptions about real-size people is that they are not fit, athletic, nor graceful. The truth is that many large people have active lifestyles and work out regularly.
I hope young women, in particular, will learn to accept their bodies. It took me a long time to do so and I don't want others to waste their youth feeling unworthy, like they're not good enough to deserve a happy and fulfilling life. We have a responsibility to show our daughters that they need not compromise themselves in order to meet an idealized image. We have to show these girls that there are many definitions of beauty, so they don't feel compelled to chase down an image that can be murderous to maintain. We have to give them some breathing room to let their beauty evolve from the inside out.
Excerpt from Delta's Book, "Delta Style: Eve wasn't a size 6 and neither am I".