The Curse(?) of Cankles

by OnTheCusp

“Mom,” asked my daughter.  “What’s a cankle?”  “A what?” I asked.  “Cankle.  You know, a cankle.  It’s in this article, Miley Cyrus hates her cankles.”

I went onto dictionary.com, my go-to source for these being in the know moment.  Nothing. Nada. None. 
My son overheard us and said, “It’s a fat ankle.”  No way, I replied.  They didn’t make up a word about something so trivial. 

After some spending a few minutes with the almighty Google, I realized there was indeed a name for such a thing – 458,000 discussion points, more or less.  Where have I been, when the scourge of the latest body imperfection has been exposed?  Who knew that people cared so much about chunky ankles?   

As I looked through Google, I came across picture after picture of beautiful celebrities, dressed for the red carpet or caught by paparazzi being out and about.  And the text was merciless.  ‘The curse of the cankles’ headlined one article.  ‘Chunky Ham Hocks’ screamed other.  Dr. Oz weighed in on what causes them.  Women’s Health and Shape magazines offer advice to reduce them.

Seriously?

Where’s the advice to men on this? Where are the pictures of celebrity men showing unflattering pictures of their legs?  I haven’t found any yet.  It appears that solidly strong legs from foot to torso are admired in men.  In women, it’s yet another body flaw. 

Cankles has even entered the political race.  Poor Hilary Clinton.  As if fighting off the Republicans wasn’t enough, her cankles have now been exposed.  It’s hard to compare records on this front, when the other candidates are keeping their ankles hidden under their pinstripes.  Maybe she needs to take away time from laying out a new policy for economic growth, and instead go boot shopping.  

Personally, I don’t think about my ankles much.  They hold me upright, they forgive me on the rare occasions when I wear high heels, and in general they don’t give me trouble.  Since I live in a cold climate, they are covered up for much of the year.  I suppose I should feel grateful that they are one less thing that I don’t go to bed worrying about.  Until this week, I wasn’t aware that the strength in them, was something to be reviled.

Some reading this blog will protest, saying that there are those with truly chunky ankles out there.  And my response to those who believe they are suffering from cankles is this:  I hope you use your strong legs to help hold your body erect and your head high.  Let the world see who you are, by your actions, not your appearance.   “Be the change that you want to see in the world” said Gandhi.  I don’t know if he had cankles.  The world didn’t focus on his ankles back then.  They were too mesmerized by the man himself.
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What’s next?  The curse of large, capable hands?