Kelly, YOU ARE MY HERO!

I have always, and this come to no surprise to those that know me, have LOVED Kelly Clarkson since the moment I saw her on AI (and let the record show that that was the one and ONLY time I ever watched the show).

Sadly, since her fame she has become just one of a long line of women who are constantly criticized and analyzed for their fluctuating weight and body shapes.

I, for one, commend her for continuing to be a "normal" girl and for not falling prey to the image issues and body dismorphia that Hollywood seems to press upon their subjects.

Case and Point:

Kelly Clarkson admits her size fluctuates in the September issue of Self mag. “My happy weight changes,” the American Idol champ says. “Sometimes I eat more; sometimes I play more. I’ll be different sizes all the time.” Clarkson, 27, says she doesn’t care though. (In June, she admitted she was tired of hearing “the fat joke” because she’d accepted her curves.)

“When people talk about my weight, I’m like, ‘You seem to have a problem with it; I don’t,” she explains. “I’m fine! I’ve never felt uncomfortable on the red carpet or anything.”

And that is why this bugs the SHIT OUT OF ME!

Kelly Clarkson may not have an issue with her weight, but a digitally slimmed-down image of the singer on the cover of Self magazine is causing waves online.

Lucy Danziger, editor-in-chief of the women’s health magazine, is speaking out in defense of “retouching” the 27-year-old singer in order to make her “look her personal best” on the September issue.

“Yes. Of course we do retouching,” Danziger writes in a post on Self.com. “Did we alter her appearance? Only to make her look her personal best.”

Calling Clarkson “the picture of confidence,” Danzinger writes, “I think this photo is the truest we have ever put out there on the newsstand.”

WTF - TELL ME THAT THOSE PHOTOS ARE OF THE SAME PERSON!!!!!