Myf Warhurst wrote a piece in the Age the other day that made me really sad.

She wrote about excited she was when she was told that Matt Preston had named a cravat after her and the subsequent devastation she felt when she discovered that said cravat was called the Myf because it was “short and slightly wide”.

He tried to recant later on Facebook, claiming that the Myf cravat was also “beautiful and unique” but all the back-pedalling in the world (which would have been slightly more convincing if it happened before the huge roar of protest from Myf’s following) doesn't change what he said about her. Publicly.

There are so many things so very wrong about it (and I wont even start on the ludicrousness of Twat Preston sneering at anyone else’s build) but far and away the wrongest (yes, I know that’s not a word, shut up) thing about Myf’s article is that she believes a) she is fat and b) that this makes her unattractive.

How terribly sad that this beautiful woman has to publicly defend herself and her figure this way. How terribly sad that she (and also apparently some snot-nosed little oik at the football) truly believe that she is fat. How terribly sad that her defence was to say she would rather be happily herself than miserably thin, instead of a huge raspberry to Twat Preston and a shouted out, “you got it so wrong buddy, I am hot, hot, HOT!”

Is it really necessary for me to point out the obvious here? Surely anyone can see that she is NOT ACTUALLY FAT!! She is a beautiful woman, not despite her height, her weight, her clothes or her brains, there is no need for qualifiers; she is just hot. And NOT FAT.

She doesn’t look like she is starving to death, but surely that’s a good thing? As she says, she doesn’t look like Mia Freedman, but is tall and slender really the only way we can see beauty in a woman? (and by the way, I’d bet every cent in my pocket against every cent in yours that Mia Freedman also has her fair share of moments of feeling fat and unattractive).

It’s even sadder that Myf is not unusual, we don’t need to send her off for self esteem therapy, or bludgeon her for public admitting to feelings of inadequacy. She’s feeling and saying exactly what any other woman in her position would feel and say. How humiliated would any of us be if our figure was mocked in the media; and how hurtful is it to all of us when we believe that we are not thin/young/tan/good enough to be beautiful.

It makes me sad, in the same way sitting with my tall slender sister in law makes me sad, as I admire her beautiful clear skin and perfect bone structure and listen to her tell me how fat and unattractive she feels.

It makes me sad that I have, and still do, waste precious time staring at my reflection, examining and magnifying every flaw of face and figure, until I walk out of the bathroom feeling sick with self-loathing.

I wish I knew why women persist in judging themselves against an impossible idea and always find themselves wanting. I wish there was a cure for it. Until there is, I think everyone should join me in an emphatic SHUT UP AND DON’T DARE TO ATTEMPT TO RAISE YOUR PROFILE BY DENIGRATING A BEAUTIFUL WOMAN EVER AGAIN to Twat Preston and an equally heartfelt YOU’RE BEAUTIFUL AND YOU SHOULD THROW PIES AT ANYONE WHO THINKS YOU AREN’T to Myf.

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