Dear E! Entertainment Television,
I've watched The Girls Next Door.
I've watched The Gastineau Girls.
I even watched (readers, please feel free to click the "next blog" icon at the top of your browser now). . . Taradise.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm a loyal viewer, and I'm hoping you'll give this some thought. 101 Celebrity Slimdowns--professionally, I have some doubts, but as a consumer, I get it. We love to see how stars got skinny, the before-and-after shots, the glamour of it all. It's entertaining. It's good television.
Sure, we might quibble over some finer points (like how thin Jennifer Aniston should be), but I'm willing to choose my battles. I'll even let the comedienne's bulimia joke fly. That's the kind of loving fan I am.
But. . .
Could you please remove Jamie-Lynn Sigler from the list?
Ms. Sigler (#50 on your list) has publicly admitted she suffered from an eating disorder. In fact, she's now a spokesperson for the National Eating Disorders Association and doing her best to help others in a similar place.
The other celebrities on your countdown? Sure, they, too, might have their own eating disorders. But, that's ultimately speculation. This is not.
Please do not celebrate the mental illness of a star.
Sincerely,
drstaceyny
4 comments:
The "mental illness[es] of the stars" is definitely celebrated by the media! It's INSANE! And, it's scary. Every other magazine is about how skinny or how fat female stars are. I can't imagine how hard it is for the stars themselves (as much as they contribute to our culture's obsession with weight--or, is it them or the media? I digress)....Their waistlines are literally being watched, practically being measured. Seriously, Dr. Stac, this is seriously serious!!! We parents have our work cut out for us--preventing our children from being appearance-obsessed, etc., etc..
Okay, now i'm really mad. My life-long idol (Barbra) is on the cover of one of the tabloids with other celebrities, around a bold-face headline lumping them all together as eating disorder sufferers. Even with the unflattering camera angle, Streisand doesn't look to me like she has a major problem. Of course, nobody knows for sure what her personal life is, but at the end of her last performance she joked about not going on tour anymore because she enjoys eating and is tired of holding her stomach in. I actually heard recently that she is considering another string of performances; I'm sure it didn't help any self-esteem issues she MIGHT have seeing herself reflected as such. Maybe she is a little self-conscious and clearly she has admitted to having stage fright. Wouldn't it be a shame if the world missed out on hearing that voice resound through a concert hall one more time because the media decided she looks fat?
See, Haley, I thank God I'm not famous every day. ; ) You're right--lotsa work to do.
Annie--wouldn't it be nice if Barbra could DISAGREE with the media? If she could stand on stage and say, "Yeah, my stomach might stick out a bit, but I'm here to sing."
I hope I'm not all over the tabloids when I'm a famous country singer.
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