Meghan McCain, daughter of presidential candidate John McCain, is making quite a name for herself as an outspoken, middle-of-the-road young Republican. In her blog at The Daily Beast, she’s taken on members of her own party for being too sectarian, and even ripped pundit Ann Coulter a new one. This made her the target of another conservative female pundit, the loathsome Laura Ingraham, who slammed Meghan for gaining weight on the campaign trail. Well, Meghan decided to fight back via her blog, and defended other women in the media who are constantly under attack for their figures- including Hillary Clinton.

Recently my not-size-0 body has come under fire again by the conservative pundit Laura Ingraham. On her radio show recently, she sarcastically commented that I was “too plus-sized to be a cast member on the television show The Real World” and needled me about my weight with a comment about Barbie’s 50th anniversary. Instead of intellectually debating our ideological differences about the future of the Republican Party, Ingraham resorted to making fun of my age and weight, in the fashion of the mean girls in high school.

I have been teased about my weight and body figure since I was in middle school, and I decided a very long time ago to embrace what God gave me and live my life positively, attempting to set an example for other girls who may suffer from body image issues. I have nothing to hide: I am a size 8 and fluctuated up to a size 10 during the campaign. It’s ridiculous even to have this conversation because I am not overweight in the least and have a natural body weight.

In today’s society this is, unfortunately, predictable. Everyone from Jessica Simpson to Tyra Banks, Oprah Winfrey, and Hillary Clinton has fallen victim to this type of image-oriented bullying. Recent pictures of Pierce Brosnan’s wife, Keely Shaye Smith, on the beach in her bikini raised criticism about her weight and choice of bathing suit—as if the woman should be wearing a giant muumuu to swim in the ocean. After Kelly Clarkson’s recent appearance on American Idol, the first commentary I read on the Internet was about her weight gain instead of her singing.

My weight was consistently criticized throughout the campaign. Once someone even suggested I go to a plastic surgeon for liposuction. Afterward, I blogged about loving my body and suggested critics focus their insecurities about women’s bodies elsewhere. On the other side, my mother was constantly slammed for being too skinny, so the weight obsession of the media and our culture goes both ways. It also goes to both parties. Hillary Clinton has consistently received criticism for her pantsuits and figure. Whatever someone’s party, these criticisms are quite obviously both wrong and distracting from the larger issues at play.

The question remains: Why, after all this time and all the progress feminists have made, is weight still such an issue? And in Laura’s case, why in the world would a woman raise it? Today, taking shots at a woman’s weight has become one of the last frontiers in socially accepted prejudice.

[From The Daily Beast]

Bravo, Meghan. This is probably the most eloquent celebrity response to this topic I’ve ever read. Notice how she doesn’t even try to make us believe she’s a size two, like a couple other celebs I could name. Instead, she just asks, why is this an issue? And she’s absolutely right. As I said yesterday, I don’t care if Jessica Simpson can’t fit into her short shorts. If I’m going to go to her concert, I only care that she can sing well. And I really don’t need to see a week-long special report on CNN about Oprah’s weight gain. I am not a fan of Meghan’s dad, but I’m with her on this topic. Enough, already!