Archive for January, 2007
In case you missed America Ferrera’s speech at the Golden Globes:
“Thank you to the foreign press for recognizing this show and this character who is truly bringing a new face to television… and such a beautiful, beautiful message about beauty that lies deeper than what we can see. It’s such an honor to play a role that I hear from young girls on a daily basis how it makes them feel worthy and lovable and that they have more to offer the world than they thought. It’s such an honor to play this role….”
January 28th, 2007
Two movies came out on DVD recently — “Little Miss Sunshine” and “The Devil Wears Prada” — that are super About-Facey (that is, they take on issues of women’s and girls’ body image and media influences), so around the kitchen table the other night, we decided to make up a special rating system. Check it out — and let us know what you thought of these flicks.
Little Miss Sunshine (R, but should be PG-13)
The good: “This is for my grandpa, who taught me these moves.” Olive’s performance in the beauty pageant and more in that scene I can’t reveal here lest I spoil the fun. (Oh, and Alyza thinks Paul Dano is lovable.) Olive (Abigail Breslin) is the little girl we all remember ourselves being.
The sad: Whoa, the beauty pageant scene with the little freaky girls! Scary! (And the directors’ commentary reveals that they are for real.) And when Olive’s dad breaks it to her over breakfast that ice cream is going to make her fat. Heartbreaking. Luckily Uncle Frank (Steve Carell), Grandpa, and Dwayne, show her they love ice cream, even if it does make you fat.
Up in the air: Grandpa’s misogyny.
Reckoning: A funny, sweet comedy. Do four Oscar nominations (including one for Best Picture) lie? Also great to watch with your mom.
RATING: 5 out of 5 About-Faces
The Devil Wears Prada (PG-13)
The good: Meryl Streep being perfectly evil. Was she just having fun, or was that just me? (Oh, and she’s up for a Best Actress Oscar too…)
The sad: Emily (Emily Blunt) says to Andy (Anne Hathaway) “I’m just one stomach flu away from my goal weight” as they enter a gala. Andy tells Nigel she is now a size 4 (down from 6) and they toast with Champagne. C’mon people, seriously.
Up in the air: Doesn’t really take on the insane thin ideal fashion-y people and models feel they must conform to at all times. But at least it kind of makes fun of those ideals. It also makes it seem that Andy can have either a high-powered career or a boyfriend, not both. (The older women we know dispel that myth handily.)
Reckoning: Eh. We’re not so thrilled from a hard-core chick perspective. But it’s pretty entertaining, especially if you REALLY like fashion. Or you’re contemplating the work/life balance. Or both.
RATING: 2 out of 5 About-Faces
Some other About-Face-approved movies:
Lovely and Amazing: Serious body-image talk, with a mom having liposuction, an actress being self-loathing, and a little fat girl trying to make sense of it all.
Drop Dead Gorgeous: If you’re into black comedy, this movie represents some of the blackest. Its take on beauty standards is nothing short of skewering.
If you’ve see any of these movies, tell us what you thought! Just click “Add Comment” below!
– J.B.
January 25th, 2007
I have a soft, round, and extremely cute belly and believe it or not, I’ve had many people (family, friends, colleagues, etc.) ask if I was pregnant. Look! Just because my stomach sticks out, doesn’t mean I am pregnant!
It’s not easy embracing The Belly in an anti-belly world! And let’s face it, the media fuels these anti-belly sentiments.
The mixed messages I receive from my friends and family correspond to the mixed messages the media sends out. The “media” I’m referring to is made up of several magazines and gossip columns (both on the web and on newsstands) that consider it their civic duty to disclose celebrity body fluctuations on an inch-by-inch basis. 
Remember the Reese Witherspoon pregnancy scandal? Editors hoped to sell their magazines by using a few manipulated pictures of Reese with a “bump” so they could be the first to expose that Reese is “preggars!” It might be news to them—and perhaps to us as well—but it’s not so newsworthy to our bodies. To our dismay, our weight-conscious society doesn’t view pregnancy as beautiful, but rather as a condition that adds unwanted pounds. Consequently, when someone is mistaken as pregnant, it’s usually taken as an insult. We now know Reese wasn’t expecting a third child. However, the media hoped she was, because it’s unacceptable for a top-ranking celebrity and America’s sweetheart to carry anything but a washboard stomach!
Yet this is the same media that shockingly reveals (or are they reveling in?) celebrities under a hundred pounds. Gossip columns are as much about body-fat content as stars’ activities. Us, People, InTouch, Star, etc. take turns obsessing over which celebrities are “rail-thin” (ahem, see this week’s People magazine) and which could afford to shed a few pounds. As readers, we are expected to reject both body types. However, we are never given any indication of what they think a healthy body should look like. Their (unhealthy) obsession with weight results in us obsessing and dangerously criticizing our weight. We wonder: “If Nicole Kidman’s body doesn’t size up, how can mine?”
Let’s bring this back to The Belly. It’s no wonder I’ve had prospective crushes stop me in the midst of conversation to ask whether or not I am expecting. Though that question is never justified, it is especially unwelcome after the crush in question has already bought me a drink! Just because celebrities (or 0.25 percent of the world’s population—if that) have washboard stomachs, doesn’t mean women who don’t are pregnant.
It’s taken me a long time to accept The Belly. But after years of belly-hating, I had to put things in perspective. After all, how long can I hate something that I will carry with me for the rest of my life?
–A.J.
January 21st, 2007
Let me just tell you about this amazing lingerie catalog I just got in the mail. No it’s not Victoria’s Secret — I’d sooner toss my cookies than look at Victoria’s Secret catalog (or store) ever again. I actually found a lingerie catalog that makes me feel like I might actually look good in the lingerie! My new catalog of choice is: Julianna Rae.
Hmmm, let’s have a look… Gasp! Do I see a little bit of arm fat on that woman on page 7? Do I spy actual attempts at racial diversity? A hint of cellulite on page 15? A woman’s formerly pregnant belly on page 28? And oh my gosh! That one on page 23 might be actually a little bit older than 23! She could even be … 40!
The thing is, a little bit of arm fat or cellulite doesn’t ruin these women’s looks one bit. They all look happy. And even to my raised-to-attain-an-unattainable-ideal self, these women look truly beautiful, not to mention sexy. And shockingly, I almost feel normal when I look at the pages.
Amazing enough, the most wonderful thing about Julianna Rae’s marketing isn’t the models. It’s that you can shop by body type, either through the catalog or on the website. And none of this “wide hips” or “small bust” typing that only makes you feel “less than.” Juliana Rae wants you to feel like the beautiful flower you are:
Now, Juliana Rae is no Victoria’s Secret, and this is no low-rent catalog. The products are a lot more expensive, but they’re also incredibly high-quality. (I can vouch for this: When I got married about eight months ago, someone gave me one of the Il Cieli reversible robes, and I’ve barely taken it off since.)
The company seems to have built the idea of showing real women, and selling to them, into their founding statement. From the Julianna Rae Our Story page:
“Most of us do not look like supermodels (or regular models for that matter) but that doesn’t mean we look like a bag of potatoes (no offense to potatoes - we love them in all forms!). We are healthy, active, independent women who have a sense of style and more importantly, of ourselves. We deserve clothes that fit our lifestyles and our bodies - clothes that make us look and feel great.”
What you can do. When we dislike a certain company’s marketing or advertising, we should be speaking out and refusing to buy their products and encourage others to do the same. The reverse is also true: This is an opportunity to support kind, caring business practices. So if you’re as impressed as I am, show your support by at least writing an e-mail or letter to Julianna Rae. And if you like the products, go buy yourself something pretty! –J.B.
January 18th, 2007
Some of you may have seen the Golden Globes the other night. I have to say, I missed it. However, I was excited to see the glamour of the illustrious red carpet! Though most of the gowns worn at last night’s fashion ahem…awards ceremony were not particularly amazing, I did wonder how stars managed to look so flawless. That’s when I came across this recent article on CNN.com. The article chronicles the time, money, and work stars put into looking perfect on the red carpet. I was amazed to find out that Botox, “body-enhancing airbrushing” (a.k.a. fake tan), hair extensions, girdles, etc. were all a part of the red-carpet mystique. Who would’ve thought? -A.J.
January 17th, 2007
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