Why Oprah's Weight Matters to Millions

Why do we follow Oprah’s battle with her weight so avidly? Because so many of us share the same battle, and identify so strongly with its ups and downs, writes Robin Givhan in the Washington Post. Oprah “may sell a million books, hand out scholarships and cars, build schools and houses, but she hasn't been able to maintain a healthy weight,” proving that “just being average" can also be a challenge.

“Weight loss seems so easy—so magical—for celebrities. We don't see the struggle and the sweat. We get the fairy tales,” Givhan writes. But Oprah is different: she’s not trying for a miracle or a film star’s body. She’s just trying for “ease and satisfaction in the fitting room.” And we’re “her million-plus support system of chronic snackers who empathized as she wrestled her mashed-potato demons," Givhan notes.
(More Oprah Winfrey stories.)