It smells like a barbeque outside, but nobody's grillin'. It's just more of this Hollywood Babylon burning, and as it does so, I'd like to take a moment to comment on 3 things I saw in entertainment news today:
1.) Demi Moore says she "hasn't had any" plastic surgery: She's 44. And has 3 kids ( she does state that she has "stretch marks and saggy skin". Where was all that in "Charlie's Angels 2", exactly, then?). Thusly, to this I say: BULLSHIT. It irks me when women lie about plastic surgery ( and let me take this opportunity to say that I don't judge if people choose to have it. While I think it's best to keep things in moderation to avoid the risk of looking like nothing more than a scalpel's palette, I'm not a purist. If it makes you feel better, go on with your bad self.). I understand if you feel like you don't want to sit there and point to every single thing you've had done. But listen to me: girls all over the world are watching you ( especially your 3 DAUGHTERS, Demi! Indeed, I also read today that your daughter Rumer said it was hard growing up with a "mom like mine. Her jeans are skinnier than mine!" Ahem. ). Women all over the world are listening. Having them believe that you look the way you do "naturally" doesn't do them any favors. Take one for the sisterhood, and just cop to having "some things done" and leave it at that. Because when you don't, that's when people like....
2.) Holly Madison says "living with Hef really hurt my self-esteem": No kidding? Color me shocked. While I'm not one to sit around and judge magazines like "Playboy", et al, just because it has pictures of nekkid wimmen in it, like many feminists do, I will say that the Playboy girl certainly has changed over the years ( yes, I keep up on these things. I like to be an informed pundit.). As Ms. Madison goes on to say, she "compared myself to the girls at the Mansion", where "you have to look a certain way". It's rather mind-boggling to think that pretty, blonde Holly Madison, with her perfectly bobbed nose and DD cup breasts on a size 4 body ( all thanks to plastic surgery, which, unlike Demi, she readily admits to) felt inadequate at The Manse. At the very least, one would think she would lauded and carried around on a dias as their ideal. To state the obvious, it indicates to me that this whole notion of what Beautiful (or Hot or Sexy or Insert Adjective Here) Women Are Supposed to Look Like has gotten out of hand. I wonder how that happened? Hef? Do YOU know?
3.) Rhianna poses bound and gagged in Italian "Vogue": This one blew me away. What is this woman trying to do, single handedly set a bad example for young women in EVERY SINGLE WAY POSSIBLE? In her defense, I looked at the photo spread and by and large, everything in it is relatively benign,( in the sense that it wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary in a high-fashion magazine), excepting one photo. But the ONE photo is really really....okay. I should stop here and say I have NO problem if that's your thing, your lifestyle, your sexual proclivity. What do I care what you do in the bedroom? I don't, and furthermore, spare me the details. I should also say that posing in fetish gear in a high-fashion magazine has been done before artfully and fairly tastefully ( thank you, Stephen Meisel and Helmut Newton). However, THIS picture is way past that point, and even to the most careless, cynical observer, transmits a sense of powerlessness and victimization. Excuse me, but I believe we saw that already when the police released the photos of Rhianna after her brutal beating at the hands of her ex- boyfriend, Chris Brown.
I have a few friends who work with young women, and they all reported a disturbing trend to me around that event last year, and that trend was that many young women said that Ms. Whatever-Her-Last-Name-Is must have done something to provoke the attack. While less young women went on to say she deserved it, demurring on that point, they did make it clear that they had amibivalence about Mr. Brown's being charged.
Think about that.
Now think about the fact that Rhianna has YET to comment on her experience to the public (yes, it's been an ongoing case, so untill about a month ago, she's been unable to; nonetheless, it would be interesting to know when these photos were taken in light of all the information we have now. Sidebar: magazines will sometimes shoot a photo sitting for an article slated to be published up to 6 months later. ).
What is that silence, coupled with these images, suggesting about what your daughters should aspire towards?
Just asking.
Maybe it's the weather that has me hot under the collar, but maybe it's also something more?
1.) Demi Moore says she "hasn't had any" plastic surgery: She's 44. And has 3 kids ( she does state that she has "stretch marks and saggy skin". Where was all that in "Charlie's Angels 2", exactly, then?). Thusly, to this I say: BULLSHIT. It irks me when women lie about plastic surgery ( and let me take this opportunity to say that I don't judge if people choose to have it. While I think it's best to keep things in moderation to avoid the risk of looking like nothing more than a scalpel's palette, I'm not a purist. If it makes you feel better, go on with your bad self.). I understand if you feel like you don't want to sit there and point to every single thing you've had done. But listen to me: girls all over the world are watching you ( especially your 3 DAUGHTERS, Demi! Indeed, I also read today that your daughter Rumer said it was hard growing up with a "mom like mine. Her jeans are skinnier than mine!" Ahem. ). Women all over the world are listening. Having them believe that you look the way you do "naturally" doesn't do them any favors. Take one for the sisterhood, and just cop to having "some things done" and leave it at that. Because when you don't, that's when people like....
2.) Holly Madison says "living with Hef really hurt my self-esteem": No kidding? Color me shocked. While I'm not one to sit around and judge magazines like "Playboy", et al, just because it has pictures of nekkid wimmen in it, like many feminists do, I will say that the Playboy girl certainly has changed over the years ( yes, I keep up on these things. I like to be an informed pundit.). As Ms. Madison goes on to say, she "compared myself to the girls at the Mansion", where "you have to look a certain way". It's rather mind-boggling to think that pretty, blonde Holly Madison, with her perfectly bobbed nose and DD cup breasts on a size 4 body ( all thanks to plastic surgery, which, unlike Demi, she readily admits to) felt inadequate at The Manse. At the very least, one would think she would lauded and carried around on a dias as their ideal. To state the obvious, it indicates to me that this whole notion of what Beautiful (or Hot or Sexy or Insert Adjective Here) Women Are Supposed to Look Like has gotten out of hand. I wonder how that happened? Hef? Do YOU know?
3.) Rhianna poses bound and gagged in Italian "Vogue": This one blew me away. What is this woman trying to do, single handedly set a bad example for young women in EVERY SINGLE WAY POSSIBLE? In her defense, I looked at the photo spread and by and large, everything in it is relatively benign,( in the sense that it wouldn't be anything out of the ordinary in a high-fashion magazine), excepting one photo. But the ONE photo is really really....okay. I should stop here and say I have NO problem if that's your thing, your lifestyle, your sexual proclivity. What do I care what you do in the bedroom? I don't, and furthermore, spare me the details. I should also say that posing in fetish gear in a high-fashion magazine has been done before artfully and fairly tastefully ( thank you, Stephen Meisel and Helmut Newton). However, THIS picture is way past that point, and even to the most careless, cynical observer, transmits a sense of powerlessness and victimization. Excuse me, but I believe we saw that already when the police released the photos of Rhianna after her brutal beating at the hands of her ex- boyfriend, Chris Brown.
I have a few friends who work with young women, and they all reported a disturbing trend to me around that event last year, and that trend was that many young women said that Ms. Whatever-Her-Last-Name-Is must have done something to provoke the attack. While less young women went on to say she deserved it, demurring on that point, they did make it clear that they had amibivalence about Mr. Brown's being charged.
Think about that.
Now think about the fact that Rhianna has YET to comment on her experience to the public (yes, it's been an ongoing case, so untill about a month ago, she's been unable to; nonetheless, it would be interesting to know when these photos were taken in light of all the information we have now. Sidebar: magazines will sometimes shoot a photo sitting for an article slated to be published up to 6 months later. ).
What is that silence, coupled with these images, suggesting about what your daughters should aspire towards?
Just asking.
Maybe it's the weather that has me hot under the collar, but maybe it's also something more?
posted by Jessica @ 6:17 PM
<< Home