Another day, another inane celebrity quote -- in a world Charlie Sheen isn't even considered shocking anymore, why bother with the cobwebs that decorate pretty, vacant minds? Well for one thing, they're not vacant. I think for the most part celebrities are not stupid. Sure they do dumb things sometimes (don't we all?) but save for a few who have fried themselves into lunacy the majority know exactly what they're doing. Second, the argument has been made that what celebrities model, the rest of us follow and to some extent this is true -- they're not called "trendsetters" for their ability to raise hunting dogs -- but I would also argue that celebs, especially the young vocal ones who haven't yet learned that everything they say can and will be used against them in the court of public opinion, are only repeating what they've been told so often... by us. A vicious cycle of laxative-purged emotions.
This past week I came across a large number of weight quotes attributed to various starlets that I feel need debunking -- both for their sake and for ours.
1. Bethenny Frankel in Life & Style: 'I'm too thin, because I'm so busy I'm not always hungry, I have to make myself eat more because of my busy schedule."
Dear Bethenney, I like you. Even when I didn't want to like you -- I like to be counter-culture like that, yo -- I read your books and I really liked you. I also get where you're coming from. When I get really involved in a project I don't want to take time out to eat either. But here's the thing: your business is called Skinnygirl. You've made your fortune off of ostensibly telling other women how to get skinny like you without doing stupid things. And yet you did (and do?) a lot of stupid things to get the bod that sold the brand. I'm glad you are no longer starving yourself and using laxatives (that would be anorexia and bulimia for those of us that are not famous) but I'm concerned that you've embraced the "skinny at all costs" mindset, like you think your livelihood depends on your ability to control your weight. But I'm here to tell you that we'll like you just as much (and maybe more?) if you take better care of yourself, honey.
2. Jennifer Hudson in People: "I'm prouder of my weight loss than my Oscar!"
Dear Jennifer, stop the train. What are you thinking?! Will you still have your Oscar to show your great-grandkids and tell them about all the awesome dressing room pranks you played on Beyonce? Yes. Will you still have your hot, young bod to show them and tell those kiddies all about... your daily points allowance from Weight Watchers? Gosh I hope not. You were beautiful and talented before you lost weight and you're beautiful and talented now but the talented part is way more important than your ability to conform to an ideal where, as you put it yourself, "in Hollywood everyone looks the same."
3. Jessica Alba in People (August 15, 2011): (of her sweet pregnant belly) "There's no hiding the bump. [...] They don't make clothes for women with giant beer guts."
Dear Jessica, if you cannot tell the difference between a beer gut and a baby then you have drunk too many of the former and have no business carrying the latter. But seriously, stop it. I know it's super trendy right now to say "I went all 9 months and all I had to do was ride my jeans a little lower!" but maternity clothes exist for a reason and I think they're pretty darn cute these days. You don't have to love being pregnant -- heaven knows I didn't -- but be proud of your beautiful bump. How many other people can say they grew ears today?
4. Mila Kunis in Britain's Glamour: "'I'm a huge foodie, I love food. But when people say, "I can't lose weight", no no no, you can. Your body can do everything and anything, you just have to want to do it." (Thanks to Hangry Hippo for the tip!)
Dear Mila, I have mixed feelings about this. On one hand, kudos to you for celebrating the infinite possibilities that lie within people. Too often we forget what miracles we really are and I love that you know this. On the other hand, do you have to pick losing 20 pounds for Black Swan to be the example of the amazing things your body can do? You (and Natalie Portman) were teeny tiny to begin with and losing that weight made us all worry about you. (I know, I know serious actress, Oscar, Christian Bale and all that. I read the interviews.) Do you know that losing too much weight will actually inhibit your body from doing all the amazing things it is built to do? Also, telling people that they "just have to want to do it" isn't super helpful when it comes to weight loss. But then maybe it would be if we were getting paid millions of dollars and incredible fame to do it? Not to mention that losing 20 pounds for a movie role is a whole different ballgame than losing a substantial portion of your body weight for the rest of your life.
What's your take -- are these celebs just being honest and keeping it real or do you get as annoyed as I do by the steady stream of body nonsense?
Follow Charlotte Hilton Andersen on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CharlotteGFE
I went from a size 4XL to a size L in 5 months without dieting, extensive exercise, expensive products or surgery.
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Nothing will work if you DON'T work On it, At it, or Towards it, excerpt from www.changingmirrors.com
Even at 13 If I could have afforded a personal trainer, a pool, a fully equipped home gym, a dietician and several hours a day to devote to nothing but my physical appearance I would still never have fit into a size 0 without resorting to anorexia.
These actresses' careers live and die by their appearance, no surprise image is their central concern. Their comments reflect their unnatural preoccupation with their appearance and I find it sad. Sadder still are the unrealistic and unhealthy expectations in raises in so many women. I'm sure Betty White would agree, when youth fades you realize the true beauty is within.
Researchers did a study of this elusive thing called "willpower" with a group of people who said they wanted to exercise, had exercised regularly in the past, but for some reason did not do it anymore. What they found is that each person has a finite amount of "willpower" each day, and this quantity is eroded by two factors: cognitive thinking (or making decisions, which the advertising industry calls "stress") and excessive "self-regulation of emotion." That is, people who aggravate the c rap out of you that you can't whomp with a stick. This can be why you're exhausted at the end of the day, and why you find it hard to get up in the morning because of the dread of going through it again.
I've fallen into the latter category before. I also tend to eat a lot of meeting-room muffins when I'm mind-numbingly bored for two hours by people who don't have to do the actual work they're "discussing." Sugar, fat, and carbs are our first mind-altering substances as babies. These things are not found in great quantities in nature, and we are biologically programmed to consume as much as we can at every chance we get.
They don't "owe" US their personal secrets to their diet / exercise / beauty regimes.
Now, if you're a Jillian Michaels, that's another story.
And ... even she sells a "cleansing" product.
There's NO conspiracy about SUCH things.
Marilyn Monroe was given enemas to help with weight loss, but do you think the studios wanted that info released to Hedda Hopper back then?
It only came out (publicly) after her demise.
Carmen Electra appeared on a show called "Good Day LA" years ago.
Here's what she said, and this is a quote:
"EVERYONE KNOWS THAT YOU HAVE TO TAKE LOTS OF LAXATIVES ... "
I was shocked that the word LAXATIVE came out of her mouth.
Had I not heard / saw it, wouldn't have believed it.
Personally, I don't want to hear about the 3 things that you've mentioned.
It ruins it for me.
■ Madonna & Gwyneth Paltrow often talk about such things.
■ Beyonce has talked about the "lemonade" diet that she did for movie prep. Robin Quivers (“Howard Stern”) couldn’t stop talking about it, for years, on that show. And, who by now, doesn't know what that's all about.
■ Naomi Campbell has also talked about "cleansing" — on a TV show. Saw / heard it with my own eyes / ears.
This falls under the category of TMI (too much information).
It is NO secret, but some actresses may consider such talk
I'm a professional opera singer and although that field has traditionally been much more forgiving of "fuller" figures, that is no longer true and young student singers are now being pressured to lose weight as a matter of routine. My girlfriend's ambitions lie in musical theatre. Ballet training has given her a figure most young women would envy - yet she's still being told by some people that she needs to lose up to 20 pounds to compete in the business. Frankly, that worries me - I don't even know where she'd lose that weight from - but she is smart and ambitious and the realities of the business are what they are.
Nobody expects people who aren't in the business to put themselves under the same sort of pressure, but if someone asks an actor about his or her fitness and diet regime, then they'll get the sorts of answers we see here. This is not actors telling the general public how to live and eat. It's actors talking about the demands of their profession.
It's also worth remembering that it isn't the profession that creates beauty standards out of thin air. The reason actors have to stay slim is because that's what audiences want to see.
I'm not sure that holds water, especially when looking at, say, the high fashion industry. They have created an extreme aesthetic that is nearly impossible for the average young woman to live up to, short of becoming a heroin addict. I think that reflects more on the 'leaders' of that industry than anything reflected in the general population.
It may be a chicken-egg situation though.
I do agree that there's an element of chicken and egg in beauty standards, though. But in the end if the audience doesn't buy, the industry won't sell.
The nerve of her saying that women have any control over their weight is so oppressive.
While what she said was obviously absurd, your take on what she actually said is equally absurd.
The day I let some third rate actress 'oppress' me by brainless statements is the day I wonder when I conceded to a life of victim-hood.
Unless “you” are carrying their burial policy, then you have every right to be TELL them HOW to live.
And in that case, pardon “me.”
Celebs do not get to have it both ways.
Mostly, these women are young and inexperienced in life. Celebrity gave them a podium to say whatever their shallow little minds think.
Celebrities should take into consideration that what they say, what they do, might be copied. There's a social responsibility right there.
Thanks for taking the time to explain the comments of these three women.
Health is priceless, too precious to be played with.