oh fer chrissakes

"Do you still beat your wife?"

So this happened.

If you haven't heard about it, you can go here, or here, or here, or just Google "What's your excuse?"

And the problem here isn't that a woman is proud of her accomplishment. It's the question at the top of her picture, which is a nightmare of circular logic to try to answer. I'm not going to call this woman a bully, because I think that word is not only over-used, but really not the right one. What it should say is something more along the lines of "Why don't you look like me?" (and doesn't EVERY glossy image want us to ask that of ourselves?) or "Why aren't your priorities the same as mine?"

Here's the deal for me. I worked out for two hours a day for over six months. Ate 1200-ish calories each day. Ate well. Worked with a trainer. Maintained my full-time job and part-time college student status.I also had children, no nannies, and so on.  Didn't look a thing like that.  Couldn't look a thing like that. Whatever this woman has to say, genetics matter, methods of birth matter, lots of things matter, and they're NOT. EXCUSES.

I would like to unleash a tide of scathing sarcasm, but that's already been done ad nauseum, and besides, it's playing the same game and I'll pass.

Instead, I'll say this: A writer could stack some books up there and say "What's your excuse?" to all the people out there struggling to write. A business person or financial wiz might stack up their bank account and assets. A runner, their race times. On and on, but the point is, it's about priorities. And frankly, there are other things that are more important to me. I'm pretty sure there are several areas where my "accomplishments" (aided by genetics, my career field and a thousand or so life circumstances) could let me turn the question around on Ms. Kang.

The problem, in short, isn't the picture or Ms. Kang's obvious devotion to fitness. The problem is her assumption that every other mother out there should WANT to have the same priorities, and have no excuse not to look like her. And since she makes her money on selling fitness, I guess it makes sense. Thing is, I'm not buying.

You shouldn't either.