I recently came across People magazine's issue of the "50 Hottest Bodies" with Zac Efron and Jennifer Love Hewitt on the front cover. The main cover story was an article done on Jennifer Love Hewitt and her "struggles with weight". As I read the article I found myself getting more and more disgusted with each paragraph. I'm supposed to be reading this and feel encouraged by and respect for a 31-year old woman who states that she is "just beginning to love her body"? Because she had a fat picture taken of her once and the media spun it into some kind of maelstrom like they do? That because she went from a size 000 to a size 4? That's overweight? Seriously, they had a triptych of pictures of her from when she was a teeny teenage actress to her "episode" with weight to what she looks like now. I could honestly tell no difference in her body shape and weight from one picture to the next, except that she began to look healthier in her "fat" pictures than her "non-fat" ones.
It disgusted me. Millions of women and teenagers, pre-teens, and tweens are reading this stuff! What does that say to them? This beautiful woman who is only just beginning to like herself is supposed to be held up to them as some kind of role model?
I'm less irate with Jennifer Love Hewitt than I am with People magazine. I can't imagine being in Love-Hewitt's shoes and the constant invasion of privacy that resulted in a poor picture of her in a bikini. And I feel sorry that she is 31 years old and is only just beginning to like the body that she was gifted with and created to inhabit.
What I can't stand is that People magazine is putting an article like this between the folds of their glossy pages. And in the same issue they regulate news about the Gulf Disaster to the last pages. It just boggles my mind.
I am so grateful that bloggers like Sal at Already Pretty, the girls at Academichic, and Tavi at Style Rookie exist. And that there are articles like this one. And that the blogging fashion community showcases all of us normal girls - the ones who aren't size 000. That there are all shapes and sizes of us posting pictures on the world wide web. Thank the Good Lord above that we can look to each other for inspiration and encouragement and lift each other up. That we don't have to be size 000 - or have oodles of moola - to look killer-awesome everyday.
3 comments:
That's what I love about the fashion blogging community too! Plus, you're not fed "trends" from magazines when you're here. Granted, there are some bloggers who seem to follow them religiously but for the most part, I think a lot of us have our own original style.
clothed much, a modest fashion blog
I really like that about fashion blogging. We're normal people that look normal and are happy with ourselves. It really does make me so sad to see people so unhappy with their bodies that are much smaller than I'll ever be. I'm glad that we can be happy with who we are, not only that but be proud of it!
That's what I love about the fashion blogging community too! Plus, you're not fed "trends" from magazines when you're here. Granted, there are some bloggers who seem to follow them religiously but for the most part, I think a lot of us have our own original style.
clothed much, a modest fashion blog
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