The Message They Send

No Wonder We've Got Warped Views...

It's old news that people worry about the impression that the super-skinny women in magazines give to younger girls. The supermodels are ridiculously thin and actresses like Nicole Richie and Lidsay Lohan lose insane amounts of weight, steadily showing off more and more of their bone structure in order to keep up their popularity in the blood-thirsty media circus that is their home. While tabloids often exclaim over the horrible stories of anorexia or bulemia, it's often the way that they reach their weight than the weight itself. These people are still viewed as the 'gorgeous' ones, the ones that men want, the ones that women want to be. Media says actresses are too thin, but they don't do anything about it, like using bigger (not big, just bigger) women, making them the role models in life.

More recently, teenages (especially) are being told that this emanciated look is not as desirable as they may think. There's an emphasis on health and sensible views of one's weight. But still, people can see that these famous women hold a position in society that we mere plebs covet. We want the admiring glances, the confident stride, the assurance that people will follow us rather than leave us behind... no matter how many people tell us that it's what's on the inside that counts.

Today, we do see larger women (i'm talking people who would be considered a normal size, not even hugely obese) taking roles in new television programs and movies. The media portrays this as a great step forward in society, a way to make women who aren't stick thin more acceptable. They say that's what they're doing. They talk up their 'plus size' actresses like they're something to be proud of. But look what kind of roles these women are cast in.

In Music & Lyrics, Kirstie Alley plays Drew Barymore's older sister. She's not thin. She's not obese. She's inbetween. Who does she play? A woman who has her own weight loss clinic, with the implication that she's fat.

Another example? Take Monica, from Friends. All of the flashbacks and comments about her being fat when she was younger. Either this is a joke and she's laughed at or they all cringe at her being fat. It's a gimmick. All six of them are now thin and gorgeous. Is that sending out a good message? Granted, Monica was beyond what would be reasonable in terms of weight, but notice this; when Monica lost all the weight, she didn't just get down to curvy, she was thin as a rake. THAT was what an extreme she had to go to so as to be considered pretty enough to be on television...

Perhaps a better example, there's the star of Ugly Betty - America Ferrara. She's curvy. She's gorgeous. She stars in a show, playing a character who's fame rises from her being ugly. Can you believe that a woman that lovely becomes famous for being fat? Tabloids exclaim in amazement about this gorgeous curvy woman, wondering how on earth she got into hollywood's a-list. To them, it's uncomprehensible. They're so proud of themselves for letting someone bigger than a size zero onto the silver screen.

How can these women become true role models when they're recognised for being 'curvy' (re: fatter than they should be)? Sure, the media says that they're great, but they don't portray them as normal. Instead, they're oddities. Hardly a good projection to teens - they can be curvy, but that's not what everyone else who's truly 'cool' (re: skinny and pretty) will be like...

Want real proof? Look at this;

If curvy is so acceptable, why on earth have they photoshopped this picture of Ferraro, so that her arms are thin, her waist is thin, her body is thin... well done on reinforcing the idea that curvy is ok...

Basically, we're being told that we shouldn't starve ourselves to be thin, but that no matter how curvy we are, we won't fit in. So i guess that makes the naturally slim people of the world very lucky. No wonder teenagers have such warped views of what looks good...

Annie