Part 23 (1/2)
”But aren't you the face of Fat and Fabulous?” Oprah asked. ”How do your readers feel about you no longer being, well ... fat?”
”This brings us to the main point of today,” Alexis said, wanting to rescue Shoshana. ”We are here to unveil a brand-new blog.”
Behind them on the screen, the words WORTH THE WEIGHT flashed in hot pink.
”Wow!” Oprah said, crossing her bright yellow leather heels at the ankle. ”Tell us a little bit about this new venture.”
”The idea is to combine Fat and Fabulous and Skinny Chick,” Shoshana said. She felt nervous, but as she spoke she gained confidence. She could see her mother giving the thumbs-up from her seat, and seeing this took the wobble out of her voice. She was her father's daughter. He had loved her so much she had a store of it inside her, giving her strength. It was a wide, silver river, and she could dip into it whenever she wanted.
”Now, I know a lot of readers will feel shocked by this, since Alexis and I had such opposing viewpoints. But lately we've come to realize we have more in common than we thought. We both want what's best for women-to eat healthily, exercise at least twice a week, and have good self-esteem. We are bringing the doctors and nutritionists from both our blogs to Worth the Weight, as well as all our contributing writers. We will have a search-engine feature for news articles about nutrition and body image, and continue to fight the war against negativity for women's body issues that the media perpetuates. We'll also include posts that pertain to us personally, such as healthy eating during pregnancy, and ways to feel good about your weight, no matter what size you are.”
”I have to admit, I am shocked,” Oprah said. She turned to another camera for a close-up. ”After watching that video of the two of you arguing, it's wonderful that you were able to find common ground.”
She turned to someone working backstage.
”Now, I want to tell you all, I was horrified when I picked up my New York Post and saw the photograph printed of Alexis. Steve, can we bring up that picture?” It materialized like a wave of the Good Witch Glinda's wand: the picture of Alexis coming out of Whole Foods, her hand protectively covering her stomach.
Alexis turned away. Shoshana smiled rea.s.suringly at her.
”Alexis, you're wearing a cute little black shapeless dress, so it might be kind of hard for the audience to see you, but do you want to tell us why you were covering your belly in this shot? I don't think it's because you gained weight, right?”
Alexis let out the breath she'd been holding. ”I'm pregnant, actually,” she said proudly.
The audience cheered. Shoshana clapped so hard her hands hurt.
Oprah shook her head. ”It's really a shame that the media seems to only like to print negative stories sometimes. I know the paparazzi have caught me unawares before, and it ain't pretty. They also seem to have totally missed that you gained weight because you were pregnant, which is necessary and healthy for the baby. Most women gain an average of thirty to fifty pounds during pregnancy.”
She looked down at her notes. ”Now, Shoshana, you followed this up with a comment in the same paper. You said, 'I think Alexis looks much healthier with the additional weight. It's a sad day for feminism when we start criticizing other women's bodies.' Honey, I completely agree with you.”
So did the audience, from the sound of it.
”Now I'd like to invite questions. Don't be shy!” Oprah smiled widely.
A tall woman with blond curly hair wearing a black pencil skirt and pink silk blouse stood. ”Hi, Alexis; hi, Shoshana. I've been a reader of Skinny Chick for a while now. I lost eighty pounds two years ago, and your recipes and advice really helped me through the process.”
Alexis nodded. ”First of all, congratulations. You look wonderful. And yes. I promise that kind of help and support will remain true with Worth the Weight.”
”My question is for Shoshana. Shoshana, as someone who was formerly heavy ... how do you think you'll be able to continue making girls feel positive and good about themselves at higher numbers than your own weight? Won't it be hypocritical to tell them to be happy being fat?”
Alexis squeezed Shoshana's hand.
”That's a great question,” Shoshana began. ”The fact is, women often go up and down in their weight throughout their lives.”
”I can attest to that,” Oprah said wryly, eliciting a big laugh from her loyal audience.
”As a woman who has weighed nearly three hundred pounds at one point in my life, to someone who now weighs a hundred and fifty, the truth of the matter is that my hopes and fears have not changed because I can fit into Juicy sweatpants. I still have insecurities. Alexis and I agree that both of our blogs were too extreme. Just blogging about being heavy or being skinny is boring. Most women are somewhere in between. I lost this weight through changing where I bought my food, and getting a ton of cardio setting up my apple orchard. I didn't starve myself or diet, because dieting is not listening to your body. I feel confident I can continue to counsel and understand women. 'Healthy at any size' is still my motto. That's why Worth the Weight is so important; Alexis and I are starting a blog for every woman, not just skinny or fat. Weight is a gray line, not so black and white. I think America is ready for a Web site that doesn't care what number your scale reads back to you.”
Thunderous applause.
Oprah scanned the audience. ”It seems we have one more question, folks.”
Really? Alexis had to pee and hoped they could wrap things up quickly. What else could they possibly say on the subject?
”Yes, I have a question for one of your guests, Alexis Allbright.”
Alexis looked up. She knew that voice. She turned her head, and Shoshana was grinning at her like a loon. So was Oprah. What was this all about? Suddenly she saw Noah standing in the aisle with a microphone. Her heart flipped in her chest.
”Alexis Allbright, mother of my child to be. Would you marry me?”
Shoshana let out a little squeal of glee.
Someone in the audience let out a loud whoop.