I'm browsing through the current issue of feminist magazine "Bust" - the one with Gwen Stefani, of all people - on the cover. There's an interesting op-ed piece on skinny Hollywood stars by Wendy McClure with a blurb reading, "When it comes to skinny celebrities, we're really thick-headed."
The author points out some crazy cultural stuff such as the inanity of Vh-1 hosting a "20 Skinniest Celebs" special with all the snarky speculation from a gaggle of pop culture "personalities," trying to guess who's naturally thin and who's, in fact, sick.
She also suggests something is very very wrong in a culture that ten years ago raised eyebrows over the weights of just a handful of famous young women - specifically Kate Moss, Laura Flynn Boyle, and Calista Flockhart. In 2006, however, the worry bell rang for no less than a dozen Hollywood ladies including Victoria "Posh Spice" Beckham, Lindsay Lohan, Nicole Ritchie, Keira Knightly, Mischa Barton, Ashlee Simpson, Sienna Miller, Brittany Murphy, and Hilary Duff.
How sad. Even sadder, as the author points out, we regular folks frequently address the problem by cringing and remarking, "She doesn't even look good."
And the even more asinine, "That's not even what guys like."
Please. This has so little to do with men. It's just about control and body image and the media glorifying a sickness.
Maybe all the tabloids and celebrity mags SHOULD STOP PRINTING THEIR DAMN PICTURES. And stop printing their weights. Why do I know that Nicole Richie weighs 87 pounds? Why?
Don't bombard our culture, the check-out lines and the minds of little girls everywhere, with these f-upped images of stick-thin ladies. Stop paying the paparazzi to get shots of them. And stop showing the footage of Calista with her ribs and collarbones jumping out of her skin at the Emmys.
Do you suppose there was much anorexia in the days before the media?
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3 comments:
Wendy's a cool chick, you'd like her. Smart and smart-assed. She's also straight but I forgive her for that. Go buy her book!
Heh. My first comment and I'm pimping someone else's work.
How do you know her?
And, how are you?
I have so enjoyed my trip through this site; as a poet and an avid reader, I found it both enlightening and enriching...Thank You!
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