Don't Believe The Hype

Gisele speaks out on the skinny model debate...

...and it turns out she should have kept quiet on the subject.

According to a report from Reuters,  Gisele, 26, apparently thinks that weak families are to blame for anorexia -- not the fashion industry that has been widely criticized for promoting waifish silhouettes.

"I never suffered from this problem (anorexia) because I had a very strong family base. Parents are responsible, not the fashion industry," she said in the Friday edition of O Globo newspaper.

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Hmmm.  In my opinion the blame can't all be lumped in one place.  Eating Disorder specialists believe that diseases like anorexia are caused by several factors, among them family influences, genetic predisposition, personality type, and--Sorry G-Bund--cultural influences.

What irks me about her perspective is that she doesn't seem to be able to put herself in someone else's place.  Just because SHE wasn't influenced by media images or comments from boys or some other cultural influence doesn't mean that another girl might be as lucky. 

And just because her family  might be strong and supportive and amazing when it comes to reaffirming how their daughters felt about their bodies growing up doesn't mean that every girl gets that support.

If I had been the reporter interviewing her, I would have pressed her with questions like:

• "So what role DO you think the fashion industry might play in all the turmoil that some girls and women experience regarding their bodies?"
• "How do you feel about the desire your images are used to create in both men and women?  What about the effect of that on girls?"
•   "Where do you stand on the fact that fashion (as she notes in the Reuters article) is closely connected to thinness?  Especially when the majority of women on the planet don't have that body type, so the clothes you model and image you try to sell isn't achievable for the very people who are your customers?"

I'd like to hear her, and others in the industry, tackle issues like that--instead of just saying 'well, I never had those problems, so they can't be real.'

America Ferrera talks real beauty (and so does Audrey! In the Chicago Sun Times)

From her acceptance 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...."

This speech makes me cry.

It makes me think of all the emails and letters I opened as an editor at teen magazines (or that I still get thru my site and blog) from girls who so desperately want to be like what they see in the media.  They want the same affirmation and attention for themselves... and who can blame them given the images, icons and beauty standards that dominate our pop culture.  I truly hope that America and her character Betty continue to make such a positive impact.

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Yep.. that's what I think... and I said so today in an article titled "Breaking the mold: Winning actresses Ferrera, Hudson give beauty a new face" in today's Chicago Sun Times.

This is my bit, but I totally recommend checking out the article in full:

...That's the message touted by 35-year-old Audrey Brashich, media awareness activist and author of All Made Up: A Girl's Guide to Seeing Through Celebrity Hype ... and Celebrating Real Beauty (Walker & Company, $9.95). This former teen model is encouraged that Hudson and Ferrera are being celebrated, but "what I'm waiting to see is whether in Jennifer Hudson's real life or the 'Ugly Betty' character there ends up being pressures on them to conform [to mainstream standards] or for the character to buy in a bit more."

When Brashich leads middle and junior high school seminars, she makes girls aware that advertisers, marketers and media have a financial stake in their constant unhappiness with their bodies.

"I try to reinforce the way they are today is real beauty," says Brashich, who lives in New York and Vancouver, B.C. "It's the standards we need to work on changing and altering and fixing."

Pretty cool, hunh?

 

Angelina is waaay too skinny

Yeah, her humanitarian work deserves to be applauded.  But it would be nice if she took some time to think about her part as a visual role model as. 

Cause this girl needs a milkshake something fierce to get rid of all those veins (click on the photo to enlarge it!)

Majority of today's teens get funky with their appearance

Hi again to all the newcomers.  I was so thrilled to get lots of emails and comments yesterday from those who stumbled across DBTH due to Typepad's feature write up and the TV appearance I did yesterday morning.  Really happy to have you here!

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But let's talk teens and physical appearance.

Maybe you heard yesterday that a new study on "Generation Next" came out yesterday courtesy of the Pew Charitable Trust...and it surmises that today's 18-25 year olds  want to be rich and famous (celebrity hype alert!), are more politically liberal, socially tolerant (except on abortion) and are into technology.

The most interesting stat reported though, in my opinion, was that about half of them (54%) have either gotten a tattoo, dyed their hair an untraditional color or had a body piercing in a place other than their ear lobe.

That's a lot of body alternation in an era where what's considered beautiful is more narrowly defined than ever.   It makes me wonder whether how those stats co-exist with the fact that eating disorders are on the rise, the pro ana website phenomenon (which is limited..but still happening), the increases in plastic surgery for teens and young women.  It's like some Gen Nexters are totally cool with how they look and are into augmenting their appearance in funky, non-traditional ways.  And others are absolutely buying into the definitions of beauty and success hyped by the media.

Hmmm.. off to think about this dichotomy for a bit.  Would love to hear your thoughts on the matter!

And PS.  I HATE the name Generation Next.  It's already been co-opted by the Pepsi campagin of a few years ago (or did they coin it?  If so, even scarier...).  Either way, it totally underscores the link between today's youth and marketing/products/commercial forces...  Which is I guess part of the point, but it makes my skin crawl, makes me feel bad for "Nexters" and makes me glad I'm part of Generation X!

Cool new book alert: Fame Junkies

There's an important new book out called Fame Junkies: The Hidden Truths Behind America's Favorite Addiction.  And in it, author Jake Helpern apparently argues that some people, particularly young girls, are literally addicted to celeb trivia.

And a "startling fact" that the book unearths:

Given a choice of becoming the CEO of a major corporation, the president of Yale or Harvard, a Navy SEAL, a U.S. senator or "the personal assistant to a very famous singer or movie star," almost half of the girls — 43.4% — chose the assistant role.

He found that out by surveying 653 middle school students.  I found out the same thin by opening thousands of emails and letters to magazines like YM, Seventeen and Jump.   Either way, the fact remains the same: it's not that celebrity, fame etc are inherently evil...it's more that there's just too much emphasis on them in our culture (and in my point of view, particularly on women who achieve the look required to BE famous) that it skews our views of everything else....

Anyway, I'm off to the bookstore... 

Happy Reading!

Cosmo magazine and skinny models

"At Cosmo, we don't Photoshop models to fill them out because it only perpetuates using girls that are too thin. What we like to do instead is start at the front end and use the healthiest-looking models we can find."

--Kate White, editor in chief , Cosmopolitan

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Having worked in magazines, I don't believe it.  But it's a nice quote.....

Fashionistas comment on the skinny model debate

From a New York Times article titled "US, Italy Addressing The Health of Models," December 7th, 2006

"From what I can tell, there is a growing insight among designers, or people are beginning to see the negative effects of what dangerously think young women are going through."

--Steven Kolb, Executive Director of the Council of  Fashion Designers of America.

Ummm.. yeah.  And they are just beginning to realize this NOW?  After years and years of cultural obsession with models and thinness and an exploding diet industry and reports of teen deaths from extreme diets and pro ana websites and shows like The Swan etc?  I'm shocked and appalled, I tell you.

"As far as I know, no casting manager or any agency positioned in Paris has ever transgressed their moral obligations [of putting forth positive, healthy role models and images].  We think our system has controls.  To regulate is not as effcient at this point as informing."

--Didier Grumbach, president, Chambre Syndicale, the organization that puts on Paris' fashion shows.

Mais non, Didier.  S'il vous plait.....  Stop talking trash, ok?  That's just absurd.   Because if that's the case.  The God's honest truth... then WTF was this model doing on the runway earlier in the fall?

A supermodel on modeling...

"When I was a teenager working as a model part-time it was fine. But as soon as I was only a model I hated it.I hated the idea that that's who you are, and that's who you're perceived as."

--Christy Turlington, to Tatler magazine (UK) as quoted on  Sky Showbiz (

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Interesting quote from someone who had all the status, fame, preferential treatment etc that is showered on models, stars and celebrities.

And interesting photo, too.  You probably remember seeing this one around. It was for Calvin Klein undies, or Eternity perfume--she was a spokeswoman for both of those products.  And I think she looks great.  But there's a DEFINITE difference between what her body looks like (I think I actually see flesh that isn't drawn taught across her body!) and what's on display today..

Take a looksee here:

Hello Gisele!

Nice hip bones Paris.....

It makes me think of some quote model Christie Brinkley had in the press sometime a few years ago, saying how when she was a model, they literally took up more space on the page than models do today.  I'm trying to track it down, and if I can find it, I'll post.

But I think it's amazing to see how the beauty ideal/standard has shrunken from even the impossible standard the supermodels set!

Kate Winslet refuses to diet

That's not really news.  She's been quoted a bunch of times (AMEN!) saying that she has no desire to be stick thin etc...

But today at the gym, I came across the November 27th issue of In Touch, and she had these great quotes as well:

"My body does not dominate my thoughts.  Ninety five percent of my day is not spent thinking about doing ab crunches!"

and

"There's so much pressure in this business to have the perfect body."  I'm sorry, but I have boobs and a backside."

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LOVE that first quote because it essentially makes the same argument that I do in All Made Up.... that today's beauty standards encourage girls and women to spend so much time, effort and money on looking good or achieving a certain look... and that this world would be SO different  if we all didn't spend 95% of our time worrying about ab crunches.

Sienna Miller disses Pittsburgh

Nice dress.  Gorgeous color.  Fly hair extensions... but um, Sienna, sounds like you believe in your own hype a wee bit too much, lass. 

Apparently she's in Pennsylvania shooting a new film called "The Mysteries of Pittsburgh," and has been going around calling the city a name that sounds like Pittsburgh, but contains an expletive.

She's quoted in the forthcoming issue of Rolling Stone saying:

"Can you believe this is my life? Will you pity me when you're back in your funky New York apartment and I'm still in Pittsburgh? I need to get more glamorous films and stop with my indie year."

Eeee-yah.  Wooo. You DO have it bad, girl!  First your BF cheated on you for the whole world to see and you took him back, then you dumped him and took him back again... Which might be how real life does go, but it did make ya look kinda spineless.  THEN you got that HORRENDOUS hair cut for whatever "Indie" movie of the month you were making... and now THIS?  I really don't know how you make it through every bloody day.

Here's what I suggest:  Why not walk around town, trying to get into restaurants etc by saying something like "Don't You Know Who I Am?!".  That seems to always go over well.

Or you could just pull yourself together and realize that you have it pretty good..and stop your prima donna bellyaching.

Just a suggestion!