The cool thing about being a woman—one of the many cool things about being a woman, I should say—is that our beauty doesn’t come wrapped up in just one kind of package. We’re a powerful assortment of delectable differences: thick and shapely, athletic and muscular, tall and long-legged. Still, the fashion industry has traditionally celebrated rail thinness as the only desirable body shape. And it’s affected generations of teenage girls. (Twiggy, unfortunately, wasn’t a sensation for naught.) Continual epic fail.

Maybe we should all ship our daughters for study abroad in Israel for a semester or two. Not because of the culture or the history or the lox (though those are all certainly reason enough), but because they seem to be light years ahead of us over there in the effort to broaden perceptions of women’s beauty. 

When Vogue's 19 international editions pledged to ban models from their pages who "appear to have an eating disorder," in an effort to create healthy backstage working conditions, I wouldn't doubt that there was negative tongue-clucking coming from pockets of the fashion world (cough Karl Lagerfeld). But one fashionista vet has stood up and applauded the move. That would be model, America's Next Top Model host, and all-around kickass businesswoman Tyra Banks.

Tyra has always come off as a major proponent of healthy body image, but it wasn't long ago that she was fighting her own battle with her curves. In response to the Vogue news, she wrote an open letter on The Daily Beast addressed to other models, explaining how her own kicking that neat and tidy, "skinny" box to the curb ultimately lead to her success.

Khloe Kardashian Odom is arguably the most likable Kardashian. She just seems to have a good head on her shoulders, be the most down-to-earth, and it's rare for her to come off sounding brainless or egomaniacal (yes, unlike some of her relatives!). That's why it's actually kind of exciting to hear that she did a sit-down interview with E! News' David Burtka that airs tonight.

'Course some of the one-on-one has been leaked ahead of time, and it sounds like Khloe got personal with Burtka, describing some of her darkest moments and saying that not only was she "called fat all the time" in the past, but to this day, she's "called the fat sister ... the ugliest Kardashian." But she doesn't need our pity.

If Tanning Mom -- you know, the woman who allegedly brought her kid into the booth with her to get some concentrated cancer-causing rays sent in her direction -- has you terrified, how about some good news? The latest trend in pre-prom pledges has turned from the standard no sex, no drinking promises to one that should put a sunny smile on your face. Kids are swearing they won't tan before the biggest dance of the year.

I have one question. Where can I get one of these pledges, and can I make my kid sign it now? OK, I guess that was two questions. But I'm so caught up in the excitement of it all, you'll just have to work with me here.

Last year, Kenlie Tiggeman was trying to take a simple flight on Southwest Airlines when a gate agent told her she was "too fat to fly." Understandably, she was furious and humiliated and now she is suing the airline for that public humiliation, not because she wants them to totally amend their policy, but because she wants the policy to be more clearly laid out. She has a good point.

Her story is one of public humiliation. The gate agents came up to her and asked her how much she weighed and publicly humiliated Tiggeman who was close to 300 pounds at the time (she has since lost 120 pounds). She has said that this was a discussion for "point of purchase" rather than at the gate. And I agree with her there. There is no case for public humiliation. Ever.

But this is part of a larger problem that is growing exponentially (no pun intended) as the girth of our population also grows.

Parents who send their kids to Arizona State University may be hiding out today and hoping their friends and neighbors don't turn on the television. This is the week, after all, of the ASU Undie Run, when several thousand college students strip down to their skivvies and run around campus like hooligans. But how about we give those Moms and Dads a break and tell them to come out, with their heads held high? Their kids did a good thing here!

The kids who took part in this year's run collected more than 5,000 pounds of clothes and 3,000 pounds of food for charities near the college. Not too shabby, huh? Especially in this economy?

OK, so there is the whole naked teenagers thing. But let's talk about that, shall we?

There’s some good news about your teens and there's some bad. First, the good: Teens ages 13-15 exercise more than any other high-wealth nation in the world. The boys rank #1 and the girls rank #2. Yeah for the gym! The bad news: Teens are probably drunk and high while they work out. American teens rank #1 for pot smoking and #3 for binge drinking. Dude, where's my treadmill?

As a tween, there was almost nothing I loved more than magazines. I read all the usual early '90s suspects ... Sassy (then JANE), YM, and of course, Seventeen. I caught hell from classmates for bringing Seventeen onto the playground as a fifth grader. Even if I secretly thought I was leagues beyond my peers, I was also sadly ahead when it comes to something most young women grapple with at some point: Being totally inundated with false images of beauty that can strip away at your body image and self-esteem.

Times have changed since then, but the magazines haven't. And fierce teens of 2012 are fighting back. A blogger for SPARK, a girl-fueled activist movement protesting the sexualization of girls, Julia Bluhm, has started a Change.org petition that asks Seventeen's Editor-in-Chief Ann Shoket to publish one spread each month of unaltered pictures. How hard could that be?