Former Cosby Show prodigy/Disney Channel princess Raven-Symoné is all grown up and dealing with the classic teen-star-loses-baby-fat drama (as faced by Hillary Duff, Sarah Michelle Gellar and so many others before her). But I am loving her very atypical reaction, as reported by About-Face.

Actually, now I wear bigger clothes because I don’t like the way people stare at me. I liked it before. Now, you’re just looking at me for the wrong reasons. Before, you were actually looking at me for a real reason.

Okay, obviously, I don’t think Raven should have to cover up her body. But I like how much this emphasizes that what Raven does with her body is Raven’s business. Losing weight (whether it was a conscious choice or just part of growing up — I mean, I have no idea how old she really is) is such a personal decision and it would be great if the results could be kept as personal, rather than becoming tabloid fodder.

Of course that’s impossible because we all have eyes and a shared national obsession with celebrity bodies. But, my God, is that obsession tacky. Not because I feel all that sorry for the overly scrutinized celebrities — price of fame and what not — but because of the messages it pushes out to girls and women everywhere. A lot of girls do shed baby fat in their late teens and early twenties. A lot of other girls gain 15 pounds or more. And it sucks to feel like you’re on the losing end of puberty.

So big love to Raven for trying to control that collective gaze and keep it off her body.

Thoughts? On Raven? On celebrity body image? On how awesome it is that Malcolm Jamal-Warner (aka Theo Huxtable) is guest starring on Community and making Cosby sweater jokes? Because yes, that does rock.

[Photo: Someone please please please invite me to a Cosby Sweater Dance Party by Troy Holden used per Creative Commons License 2.0]