I’m 6’2.”  I weighed 145 pounds when I got married. My wedding pictures look like a beautiful woman married a stick. People constantly made comments about how skinny I was and how unhealthy I looked.

Several news sources have reported the ordeal of Yale University student Frances Chan. Yale officials thought her 5’2” 92 pound frame, with a body-mass index of 16.8 – was unhealthy. They accused Chan of having an eating disorder and told her that if she didn't gain weight she could be expelled.

Because of ridged acceptance of a so-called “standard” Chan had to prove she didn't have an eating disorder just to stay in school. Here’s the real skinny. Chan’s story is another example of how needless national norms infringe on personal liberty.  America won’t die because we've become too extreme. America will die in the middle, languishing in the mediocrity of the average.

My name is E. Curtis Johnson. I’m still 6’2,” but now just my big mouth alone weighs at least 145 pounds. And you know as well as I, how unhealthy that is!

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