Monday, February 22, 2010

All About Weight

It seems the most important thing about celebrities these days is their weight.  Kevin Smith was kicked off a Southwest flight for being "too fat."  "You [messed] with the wrong sedentary processed-foods eater!" he tweeted. 

The 5'6", 105-pound American ice dancer Tanith Belbin, who admitted to restricting her intake, was given an ultimatum by her coach to gain 10 pounds.  Still underweight, Belbin reported she's skating more strongly.  You know it's serious when your ice skating coach is forcing you to eat.

Mad Men star Christina Hendricks vented to New York magazine:  "Anytime someone talks about your figure constantly, you get nervous, you get really self-conscious.  I was working my butt off on the show, and then all anyone was talking about was my body."

Jessica Simpson, who, if you remember, soared to fame with her voice, came crashing down with her weight.  In a recent issue of Allure, Simpson referred to America's weight-obsession as "disgusting."

These are just a few examples I've seen in the media in the last few weeks.  Can you remember a time when we haven't had such a focus on everyone's weight?  How do we get back to that place?

7 comments:

azusmom said...

I really don't know how we get back to it. The only thing I can think of is we start letting producers and designers know that we won't support their super-skinny ideal anymore, and will only watch shows that feature/buy products made for all types of people, from all walks of life, all sizes, shapes and colors. Or else their (the producers/designers) wallets are gonna be a lot thinner, with a lot less green.

Then maybe we can focus on talent, ability, and hard work.

Kaylee said...

We feed into it. The day when women wake up and actually start not giving a shit about how their weight will be the time the media will shut up. They put it out there because they know we'll buy into it.

Add more variety to the magazines, but stop focusing on the weight! There's more to fashion then the weight aspect. There's more to a woman than just fashion too. I think we need to redefine what it means to be a woman. We're emotional, creative, hard working, hard lovin' creatures. Why no magazines about that?

Anonymous said...

I think a good place to start is in our own lives, when we think like this, or we hear it, and don't counter it. It really is everywhere, and so few speak against it. Every little bit helps. I don't buy those sorts of magazines, don't buy cosmetics, diet aids, etc. I don't participate, and I speak against it. But I live it.

drstaceyny said...

Great ideas, ladies. I wonder how many people it takes to start a revolution.

I'm often called upon to comment on celebrity weight, and try to do so w/an EWHAED focus. Recently, I made the point to a reporter that being significantly underweight can have greater health consequences than being overweight--I hope this point makes it to print. But, it begs the question, do you think I shouldn't be participating in these interviews at all? (maybe a question for another post)

Leigh Purtill said...

Kaylee is right - we women pay lip service to the HAES/FA movement but then gobble up the magazines and the gossip columns and the rhetoric along with it. We have to truly say enough is enough and actually believe it. And when we do that, celebrities will no longer act as spokeswomen for eating disorders.

Kristin said...

I'm down for a revolution, for sure. I am always thinking about how I can begin. Right now it's like a mini-revolution; I talk to the people around me about this stuff often. I think that little conversations count in big ways.

Victoria Rivera said...

I'm glad to see people fighting back more often. I think there was a time when most people would just take it as new motivation to start another diet. But people are dieting everywhere you look, and it's not making any difference. Mainly because obsession only causes further problems.