Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Tragically skewed

(Note: This is a short and sweet post.  School is kicking my ass.  Geez.  All in the name of higher education.)

As a college student who is a bit older, wiser and more realistic than many of my classmates, I sometimes observe these kids (I'm sorry, but if you're 18, you're still a kid).  After watching young guys gawk and leer at girls, I am pretty sure that their opinions of beauty are tragically skewed.  Thanks to supermodels and Paris Hilton, men now think a woman is sexy only if she's somewhere between Victoria Beckham and Karen Carpenter. 

I'm sorry, but if a strong wind comes through this chick is gone.
(source:  sprocketink.com)
 This puts a lot of unneccesary added pressure on women to not just be healthy, but on the extreme end to where issues like bulemia, anorexia and malnourishment come into play.  There is so much pressure on young celebrities as well, and their health is taking the toll.  Even young women who seem to be in peak physical condition are falling ill, such as Selena Gomez, who a few months ago was hospitalized for malnourishment. This is tragic, not beautiful. Certainly not sexy.

So I see these testosterone-fueled males ogling girls in the hallways, and they smirk and make rude comments about beautiful, healthy girls being too "chunky" or having an ass that's "too many handfuls" but drool all over the chick whose size-zero skinny jeans are loose.  Seriously?   I want to grab these girls and scream at them, "EAT SOMETHING ALREADY!"

Maybe that's why I love my husband so much.  He can't stand bone-thin women (obviously).  His celebrity crushes are Carrie Underwood, J-Lo, Jennifer Garner and Marilyn Monroe.  Granted, he does like Lady GaGa and Kate Beckinsale, but that's because one's a freak and the other is a vampire.
(Sources:  webmediaportal.com , posterwallpaper.com and bloggarthp.blogspot.com)
Since me and these other wonderful, fabulous women are going after goals of healthier lives, we have to keep in mind that while the rest of the world may have distorted versions of what is sexy, we can set our own standards.  Besides, we're all hot already anyway. 

15 comments:

  1. Rick James said it best..."cocaine is a hell of a drug".

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  2. I've always found curves sexy. Angelina Jolie 4 years ago, and Jennifer Goodwin like a year ago were gorgeous and while they're all still beautiful they're loosing too much weight and their curves. I don't know about men, but I know I prefer soft curves and not a hard stick. Have you looked at Julie Bowen today compared to a few years ago? She's scary man. Celebrities especially are sending such a scary message to the youth today.

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  3. I agree with you. Perceptions have been so skewed and it seems to be difficult to change it back to a healthy view. My husband is the same...his celeb favorites are: Beyonce, Fergie, Salma Hayek, Sophia Vergara...you get the point. Va va va voom! Hahaha! I'm totally cool with it because I'm a curvy girl even at my goal weight. I'm proud of you for all that you are doing in your life. It's so wonderful to call you a friend.

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  4. I'm kind of loathe to body-snark on either end of the spectrum... Hollywood is an animal of its own species and there's no mistaking the inordinate amount of pressure to be unrealistically thin.. But as much as I hate when people body-snark larger folks - yeah, fuck you Karl lagerfield - I feel bad for really thin women in day-to-day life who are told that "real women have curves" and that they are not natural and should "eat a cookie". We are all of us beautiful.

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  5. I'm not directing that just at this post, it's a criticism I have of those "when did this get hotter than this" meme's that have been going around too. Either way, by snarking we're expecting women to live up to one monolithic beauty standard.

    Okay, end soapbox.

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    1. I am not directing this at women who are thin and without curves, such as women like Kiera knightley. It's when women feel so much pressure to be thin that they put their health at risk. If your bones are sticking out, it's likely that you're under-nourished.

      Thanks for sharing your opinion on the matter!

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    2. I am not directing this at women who are thin and without curves, such as women like Kiera knightley. It's when women feel so much pressure to be thin that they put their health at risk. If your bones are sticking out, it's likely that you're under-nourished.

      Thanks for sharing your opinion on the matter!

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    3. Oh and that's definitely true, especially in Hollywood. I too get sad when I see women in Hollywood who were already gorgeous starving themselves into something unrecognizable.

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  6. I went to the mall with my niece a few months ago, and a few of the stores we went into did not carry anything larger than a size two. I was shocked. While I am quite thin, I am also tall. I wear larger sizes than someone with a similar body type who is smaller. I don't understand how we have allowed in to get to this point. We can blame in on men, or the media, but we outnumber males. We have to stand up and say, that's enough!

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  7. That was a great point that Yandie made up there. And the reason we can't/don't/won't use the power we have in our purses is in part because we divide ourselves rather than coming together. This seems to be an innate trait in women as we do it across ages and across cultures. I've done it and I know better. My first instinct when I saw the pics was to say "Jesus, someone take those girls to McDonalds and make them eat!" Then I saw Yandie's comment and she's got me examining my own treatment of women who are not "exactly like me"

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  8. I think all of us mostly want someone to accept us AS WE ARE RIGHT NOW. And that begins by truly accepting ourselves. I don't know many people who don't know the areas where they need to improve. But isn't it best to focus on all of the ways we are wonderful already? When we truly have that amount of self-confidence, the pressure to listen to all of those outside voices disappears. We are free to become the best version of ourselves, not some clone of societal expectations.

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  9. To reiterate what Yandie said, there shouldn't be any pressure on anybody, male or female, to look this way or that.

    As a matter of preference though, curvy ladies are bang tidy.

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    1. This could quite possibly be the funniest thing you've ever said.

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  10. I don't EXACTLY know what "bang tidy" is, but I'm thinking it's a good thing!

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  11. You made me laugh out loud when you mentioned Kate Beckinsale but as always a very honest/true post. Good luck with school!

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