Earlier this week, Mila Kunis made some remarks about her own dieting experience that rubbed countless American women the wrong way. Specifically, she made the controversial claim that, "anyone can lose weight." The up-and-coming actress certainly didn't mean to offend but in light of the fact that millions of Americans of both genders struggle with their weight, her comments appear more than a little insensitive. The fact that the remarks came from a naturally svelte and gorgeous young actress made them seem all the more callous.

The negative reaction to Mila's interview seemed to be universal. People of all shapes and sizes agreed that she shouldn't have made such sweeping generalizations about such a widespread problem. It was a positive sign for anyone who struggled with weight loss. Maybe the days of jokes at the expense of the obese were over. Maybe we as a nation were ready to address the major national crisis that is the obesity epidemic and put people in their place when they treated being overweight as a joke. But then, again, didn't we all have a very different reaction to Kelly Osbourne's comments about Christina Aguilera?
Christina has unquestionably put on some weight over the years, and Kelly had a field day with her extra pounds recently, reveling in the fact that she's "become the fat b!tch she was always supposed to be." Osbourne's comments, though made with the sole intention of offending someone, didn't receive a tenth of the negative reaction of Mila's remarks. In fact, Kelly was praised for her honesty. But why? Is it because she struggled with her weight in the past? Are we really saying that pretty people should be held to a different standard with regard to what they're allowed to say? And what about Leann Rimes? Can we all continue to give her a hard time?

Are we reaching the point where the overweight are off limits but the underweight are fair game for ridicule? Mila's comments may have been in poor judgment but you can't blame her for being confused about the rules when it comes to talking about weight in public. Our culture is even more confused and contradictory about what's acceptable and what's not when it comes to size than it is about race. It's only when we're able to get rid of the double standards and have an honest discussion about weight and the ways that our size impacts our place in society that we'll be able to get to the heart of the matter without stepping on one another's toes.