Don't you just hate it? Open any fashion magazine, and you're confronted with images of tiny women, almost child-like, and are told that this is normal. Size 0 on a 5'9" woman is NOT normal. 5'8" and 100 pounds is NOT normal. The average American woman is about 5'4", 140 pounds and a size 14 - that's "normal". I was watching the Megan Mullally show the other day, and she made a comment that got me mad. She was saying that on her worst day, she's about a size 8, and that this was considered to be a total heifer in Hollywood. When she was on Will and Grace, one producer asked her to lose weight for her role as Karen. At least she was strong enough to make a comment back to the producer that if she truly wanted to portray a disfunctional lush from Manhattan, she'd probably be a little heavy, and that if they wanted a skinnier actress, they could ask someone else to do the role. That shut him up! But I hate that! When will the media stop portraying size 8 as fat? This is simply an unattainable goal for most women, and it leads to so many eating disorders, especially with very impressionable young girls.
I have to applaud the Spanish designers who, during fashion week in Barcelona, fired a few models for being too thin and unhealthy looking. Finally someone put their foot down to the anorexic look. If other designers follow their lead, maybe public opinions will start to change regarding what's fat and what's thin. Jean Paul Gaultier went even farther during fashion week in Paris and hired decidedly Rubenesque plus-size model Velvet to headline his opening. He ditched the size 0 models for a size 28 model! That may be going to an extreme, but at least he's making a good point: all women are beautiful. John Galliano also used plus-sized models during his show during fashion week. He also showcased Velvet and Veronique Severe. There are definitely plus-sized models that are crossing over to the mainstream, like Emme and Mia Tyler, but they are definitely NOT the norm yet. I'm not asking Victoria's Secret to swap their tiny size 0 models for size 28 gals, but it would be nice to see a few size 12s or 14s. It would be nice for everyone to have models to look up to that are not unrealistically thin. It would be nice for all the normal women of the world to realize that they are beautiful too, no matter what size they are.
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8 comments:
... Gimme a break!
It's idiots like you that make young girls so bloody self-conscious.
Stop complaining that you're fat. Br true to yourself and respect who you are; $hit or get off the pot.
An eating disorder is not caused by the media showing skinny women,they are an emotional disturbance,it's a mental illness.
http://www.something-fishy.org/whatarethey/edordiet.php
They stem from physical,verbal, sexual abuse, or any other kind of trauma that happens in someone's life. I.E a child attends dance class male or female and the instructor comments on how they would be better at dancing if they were skinnier...or pokes fun at them infront of everyone on how fat they are compared to everyone else.
I completely agree with you... the media does take its tole.
But, I also agree with anonymous #2: anorexia is a mental disorder which stems from a sort of trauma. Unfortunately, anonymous #2 also fails to see something right infront of his or her eyes.
I was diagnosed with anorexia at the age of 16, and am now 20.
I was that stereotypical chubby girl all throughout school whom gets picked on and teased horribly for her size. This was my "trauma" which turned me to anorexia.
I lost over 80lbs in 3 months and returned to high school after summer break with all my bones clearly visable. I was a skeleton, and there was nothing healthy or pretty about it.
But, let's take a deaper look into this horrible disease. Yes, it is stemmed from a sort of "trauma", which for me was taunting. We can clearly see why I did what I did, but why did those children do what they did? Why do children see a chubby child and tease them? Why do men see a larger woman and think she is ugly? It stems from the media. The media promots this extremely thin body type as beautiful. Even more than that, the media promots larger sized people as ugly.
A perfect examply of this is the film "Devil Wears Prada." The main character is a size 6 and viewed as ugly by her co-workers. But, eventually, she becomes a size 4 and is respected and revered by her collegues. Now, I'm not saying that because she became a size 4 she became popular around the office. But, what I am saying is that a younger girl, already uncomfortable with her body, will make this corrolation between size and beauty without seeing the true message. This size and beauty correlation is obvious and on the serfice, the true message is more hidden and less visable.
This theme is all too common in the media, and it does take its tole.
I've got to say that I heartily agree with this particular post of yours. It's disgusting how the media makes any woman who isn't a siz 0-4 feel like a hippo! I'm currently a size 12 (nearly 10! Wahoo!)and 5'4". While I would like to shed these few extra pounds, I feel that I am at a relatively healthy weight. I can't stand watching TV shows with impossibly skinny women and feeling like I'm fat because I'm not a size 2. It's just not fair! What the general public seems to forget is that all of these models and celebrities have personal trainers, personal dieticians, etc. to support them round the clock. What normal American has the money to blow on such things? We must take it upon ourselves to fight the flab, and it's a HARD thing to accomplish, (despite naturally skinny people saying it's "all scientific, and therefore, easy". Arggh!!). Oh, and as much as I love that movie "The Devil Wears Prada", I can't stand the line where Stanley Tucci's character says, "Not since 2 became the new 4, and then 0 became the new 2." Anne Hathaway's character goes, "I'm a size 6." And Stanley Tucci's character replies with a look of disgust on his face, "The new 14." THAT defines the mentality of our culture today, and it's truly sick. To me, a size 6 is SKINNY. I've give anything to be a size 6 again like I was in high school! (I'm 25.) Anyway, thank God for people like you who bring this out into the open. I LOVE your blog and will keep on reading!! You are so inspirational!! :-)
well i believe that its a discrimination towards woman to have those sizes shown around because 1 thats not women in general women are suppose to be soft, cuddly, a support if anything im not saying smaller when are not strong cause being in the world today any woman has to be strong. But when it comes down to it women just want to be happy, settle down with a husband and kids but men want something they can grab onto
I dont see why you think that having size 28 models is going too far. There are lots of size 28 women out there, including me. I applaud you for your weight loss. that is more than i have ever been able to take off. Im just lazy and unmotivated, and I dont deny it. Currently, Im actually looking into doing some modeling locally, just because I can and to show people that Im not hideous and disgusting. I agree that most of the models look unhealthy. Anorexia is just as much of a problem as overeating. I dont think those ladies deserve as much criticism as they get. Skeletal and morbidly obese are at the extreme ends of the spectrum and they are both unhealthy.
Weight is weight.
If you are happy with yourself and your body great,
if not then do something about!
If you dedicate this page to the "100 reasons why you hate being fat" and then go on to write about how the media should change the desirable weight norm, you are being a hypocrite.
It's not the media's job to make you feel sexy,
beautiful or healthy.
Your life, body, and spirit are yours,
not the media,
so don't use it as a scapegoat.
mmmmK
<3
& for the record I was I consider overweight,
I started drinking lots of water,
started exercising,
ate healthier,
stopped eating emotionally,
and kept at it even on the days when i felt like staying in bed and crying.
Anything is possible if you really want it.
Sorry to be so blunt,
but really think about it,
do you really want to lose weight?
or are you happy with your body?
if its the latter,
then accept it and hold it dear to your heart when someone makes you feel ugly.
If anything, the victoria's secret models are healthy. They're muscular, and not stick thin.
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