Katie Couric's Notebook: Cankles

By: Katie Couric
Topics: Katie Couric's Notebook

Since the dawn of time, it seems women have been told that their bodies aren't good enough, their waists should be smaller, their thighs thinner, their arms more buff.

Now, there's a new imperfection to add to the list: cankles.

The term refers to the area where the calf meets the ankle - and apparently it has to be lean. Gold's Gym declared July "Cankles Awareness Month" and plastic surgeons are now performing liposuction on ankles.

The word itself is something of a joke - like muffin top or spare tire - but the concept has really taken off. Hillary Clinton is sometimes teased for having cankles and teen queen Miley Cyrus complains about them in her autobiography. The Wall Street Journal just ran a story about the anti-cankle craze.

It's all a bit much.

As we enjoy the dog days of August, let's hope women throw on their summer dresses and bathing suits, and work harder on loving and accepting their bodies, rather than perfecting them.

That's a page from my notebook.

I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.

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by twpeck August 30, 2009 8:08 AM EDT: While this whole article seems silly, the underlying aspect is the first line - "Since the dawn of time, it seems women have been told that their bodies aren't good enough". This is a deeply rooted element of Feminist teaching - that women are "oppressed" because of what others have done. In this case it reaches down to the ankles.

When I was younger, my mom would tell me "sticks and stones can break your bones but names will never hurt you". Today, Couric (and her ilk) are saying "yes, names can hurt you".

What they fail to realize is that names only hurt you if you let them. Instead of trying to shut up the name-callers, as liberals do, try remembering that strength is an inner quality and ignore the stupidity of others. Maybe we would have a little less whining and blame-shifting and a little more responsibility out there.; Reply to this comment


by LHemy August 26, 2009 6:26 AM EDT: Cankles? When Glen Beck is out there with a major investigation on exactly who all the Czars are, what they do and their backgrounds.
Couldn't we be just a little bit moderate and try, for once, to report something that isn't fawning over Obama or just pure trash?
Katie is a great reporter and there really is some "meat" out there. The Czars need investigation and the CBS watcher should be informed.; Reply to this comment


by ladymorgi August 26, 2009 2:57 AM EDT: If women want to have dainty legs and ankles they need to quit working out and building huge leg muscles. Women's legs have gotten a great deal thicker in these years when they wanted to have buff abs and muscular legs and arms. Dainty ankles just don't survive the running, bench pressing, cycling, aerobic stepping and the rest of the things we do now that our ancestresses would have never dreamed we would do.

We're all going to have body builder ankles as long as we do this, so we'd better just get used to it.

Cankles, by the way, is the name for having calf muscles so developed that your calf muscle extends to the top of your foot.

How utterly relevant Katie.; Reply to this comment


by TexasParalegal August 26, 2009 1:04 AM EDT: Are you kidding?; Reply to this comment


by OneTexasBelle August 25, 2009 10:04 PM EDT: Me thinks Katie doth protest too much.; Reply to this comment


by msspurlock August 25, 2009 4:52 PM EDT: Hard-hitting investigative journalism there, Katie.

What?s next: PMS?; Reply to this comment


by kenhamlett August 24, 2009 11:30 AM EDT: Could this be an early warning that we are to be deluged with tearful dialogs on day time TV of the sorrows of structurally "enhanced" ankles. Could it be that I will have to take on a new cause to denounce the miracle cures for said joint blubber with their pronouncements of lives being threatened, profound discrimination and of course the new mental illnesses associated with tendon padding?
Oh wait a minute. I have not seen Katie's ankles lately. What's really going on behind the scenes?
I need Andy Rooney to dispense some wisdom on this situation so I can truly understand.; Reply to this comment