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" It makes America the melting pot we should be proud to be. Different opinions create great conversation and keep things interesting. Who wants to be bored? You&amp;#039;re not going to agree with everyone, and aren&amp;#039;t we lucky we have the right to respond when things spark a fire inside of us? Ms. Kelly sparked a fire in a lot of people with her views on plus-size actors on television. I was definitely one of those people, and it definitely wasn&amp;#039;t a good kind of fire. I was angry. Isn&amp;#039;t &amp;#039;skinny&amp;#039; sensationalized enough without a blogger from a well known and highly respected magazine website writing about how it makes her uncomfortable to watch an overweight person cross a room, let alone watch TWO overweight people make-out on a sitcom? There is no doubt that there was a strong wind of disdain for overweight people blowing through the entire op-ed. Blog posts like these push society two steps back in the fight against prejudice. Scarier than that - posts like these push people into eating disorders and warp their thought process when it comes to true beauty. I&amp;#039;m 24, and I&amp;#039;m plus-size. Am I trying to lose weight? Always. I&amp;#039;m getting married in one year and two days. Would I like to look like Katherine Heigl walking down the aisle? Sure. Here&amp;#039;s the shocking thing though, even amidst all of the Maura Kelly&amp;#039;s of the world - I feel beautiful. I have a fianc\u00E9 who tells me that every day, and I have lots of wonderful friends and an incredibly supportive family. They love me for who I am, not for how much I weigh. On my wedding day, am I going to throw a fit if I don&amp;#039;t look &amp;quot;TV trim&amp;quot; in my wedding dress? No. Are people going to be grossed out when I kiss my fianc\u00E9 as husband and wife for the first time because I&amp;#039;m packing on some extra poundage? Uh, no. Because I will be surrounded by love, and love is louder than the media can ever be. I&amp;#039;m all for people being as healthy as they can be. People can be healthy and still be bigger. People can be healthy and still be rail-thin. The media are going to tell you you need to look a certain way to be beautiful - but please don&amp;#039;t listen. True and lasting beauty comes from the inside, through kindness, poise, and most importantly - love.  And to you, reading this - you&amp;#039;re beautiful. Check out more of what Molly McKenna has to say on her blog at Tales of a Twenty-Something.  Join the conversation. Please comment below! "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.marieclaire.com/culture/a4315/free-speech-is-beautiful/>