Raven Symone: A Role Model For Us Gals Of All Ages, Shapes and Sizes

Moms rejoice! There’s a wonderful new role model here to inspire you and your daughters to love yourselves more and accept your bodies now. Our role model's name is Raven Symone. Take a peek at her new music video, "Some Call It Magic." There's an advertisement that precedes the video, so you'll have to wait 30 seconds to see Raven. You'll probably agree that it truly is a bit of magic to see a young woman feel so comfortable in her own skin.

My almost 11 year old daughter, Cara is a big fan of Raven's show on The Disney Channel. It's called "That’s So Raven.” Despite her age of nearly 20, she is a veteran actor. She made her acting debut on The Cosby Show as one of Bill Cosby’s daughters when she was just 4 years old.

When I first sat and watched Raven's new show with Cara, I couldn’t help but notice that in addition to getting older, Raven had also gained a great deal of weight. I wondered how this was going to be addressed within the context of the show.

In the show, Raven plays a bright, vivacious, witty, girl who is very talented as a budding junior dress designer and high school girl with strong values and a sharp wit. She also has a unique gift of having a  psychic ability. In each episode, she has a vision and it's entertaining to see how she fumbles her way around it, often misinterpreting her vision. She is loving and gentle yet also very human and oh so girly. She gets into her fair share of scrapes and near misses. She’s faithful to the end and loves her family and friends.

I was tickled beyond belief to see how she presented herself on the show. Despite being a large girl, she dressed beautifully with a flair for the dramatic and an eye toward fashion. You can tell from her presence and her body language that she loves herself. IT shows.

I recommend this show for any mom with a daughter who's suffering from a case of the I'm not good enough or pretty enoughs. The show is incredibly entertaining since Raven got her comedic and acting chops from none other than Bill Cosby. She's like a modern day Lucille Ball with her stunning ability for comedy and love of shtick. Your daughter will laugh and learn as she builds up a fierce new ability to love her body and embrace her own unique beauty. I absolutely love watching her show. Whenever I have a chance I curl up with Cara and get lost in Raven’s world.

In one of my favorite shows, Raven designs a dress, "a Raven original" that she wears to an event. It is admired by a woman who is running a fashion show. She wants Raven’s dress, however she doesn’t want Raven since Raven is overweight by fashion standards. She tells Raven that she is too fat and that she has to lose weight.

In the first part of the show, Raven tries desperately to lose the weight with a silly fad diet and a funny skit involving her dad’s exercise cycle and a thermo insulated fat suit. After a talk with her parents, she realizes that she is wonderful the way that she is, there is no need to change herself simply for the sake of fitting into a dress. Her mother tells her that if she ever wants to lose weight, she supports her but it must be her decision, noone else's. That gives Raven new passion for going after what she wants. No longer ashamed of her size, she marches back to the fashion show and confronts the woman.

By the end of the show, Raven wins the hearts of everyone at the fashion show, wowing the people  with her beautiful designs and her strong sense of self love. She walks the cat walk as though she were a super model. Women of all sizes applaude her gumption. In that episode, she shows us all that our bodies are not too big, our clothes are too small.

What could we learn from Raven? How much are you reflecting that you love yourself? Are you dressing and feeling your natural feminine power? How often do you run around in sweats and a tee shirt because that’s the only thing that fits? When is the last time that you went out and bought something fabulous in a size that fits you now?

Please share your experience with me. I’d love to hear what you think about this new trend of self love at any size. I, for one am all for it! Hooray Raven! We salute you!

Comments

[Madeline]

Dont get me wrong, I absolutely love Raven, but the truth is even though she is my idol, i am not happy with my body and always wish to look "skinny". Because there is a huge difference between us and Raven, I am person who lives in the "normal world" and there is Raven who lives in the celebrity world, she has grown infront of television and people have grown to know her talents. So i feel that she is accepted in society because of her past roles and her fabulous talent. For e.g if another teenager was to try and get into the acting business they wouldnt get in if they were Ravens size. But Raven would get in because she is well known and we all know her true abilities and great talents. All im saying is that she cant really be a role model for us teens because it isnt acceptable to be at that size, in health terms and career terms. It may teach a child that you should love your body no matter what but the lovings gotta stop when it comes to the stages of mild obesity.