Classy Chic or Trashy Chic?

Why is it a few decades ago women aspired for a longing to be seen as feminine and classy?

Women tried to emulate the very chic Jackie Kennedy, the beautiful and elegant Grace Kelly or the lighthearted Doris Day. While younger girls wanted to look like Sandra Dee or Gidget(Sally Field).

Fast foward several decades and both women and young girls long to look like Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Anna Nicole Smith or Angelina Jolie.

When did looking trashy become fashionable?

Magazines will tell you they are catering to a certain taste. What taste? How to look indecent and exposed? Do young girls really want everything on show?

The bad girl look is a front. One of the tell tale signs of low self esteem is when a young woman will do anything for attention including going around half naked. This look screams 'look at me, look at me,' but what happens when these displays become so blase that the media no longer follows them? Many turn to drink and drugs.

What is wrong with being feminine and classy and to conceal rather than reveal?

I think as women and especially those who are mothers need to be more discriminating towards the magazines we are buying and to purchase those magazines which give's a woman her dignity.

What do YOU think?

Hating Britney Inc

Hating Britney Spears is becoming quite an industry and a descipable one at that!

It is obvious that this young woman is out of control. To be honest I think the poor girl is in danger of losing her mind completely. Is that laugh worthy? Is it a joke to laugh at a woman who has sunk so low?

This is a young woman who has lived her entire life in the glare of the media, where were her parents then and where are they now?

Britney and her entourage made the mistake that by titillating her audience this would then lead to a viable career. They were wrong. How can anyone respect a young girl if she has no respect for herself? Titillation is no substitute for substance.

To continually demean this lost young woman is a disgrace. What headline is going to tip her over the edge? Or doesnt the media care so long as it sells?

I hope that Britney's parents will step up to the plate, take control of their daughters life and remove her from the glare of the media as she tries to revaluate her life and where it all went wrong.

My fear is that this young woman wont live to see 2009 if something is not done.

I cannot speak for YOU, but I for one am not joining the 'lets hate Britney brigade.' Instead I pray that she will receive the help she so desperately needs.

How Tyra Got It Wrong

The other day I accidently stumbled across The Tyra Banks Show the topic was 'So What!'

Now I am all for plus size women, actually all sized women to like who they are but I disagree with how Tyra went about getting that message across.

A group of women decided to flaunt their curves by wearing hipsters and boob tube tops which allowed their stomachs to be on view. They carried around a sign which said, 'So What.'

Showing off your stomach is simply not classy. I dont care if a woman is a size zero the bare midriff is a look that is simply in bad taste.

I believe it is more classy to conceal the parts of our anatomy that makes one self conscious there is nothing wrong in that. As women, whether plus size or petite sized we need to feel comfortable as well as looking good in our clothes.

The women who were wearing the awful hipsters and boob tubes did not look good. Flaunting our bodies is not self empowerment, dressing modestly means a woman respects her body and likes who she is.

The bared belly look is simply trashy and demeans women.

Tyra got it wrong. What do YOU think?

Dress Sexy At Any Size-Tyra Banks

This is not a long video, but one can see the emotional pain felt by women who are plus size. It has a postive message. You Go Girls!

The Size Zero Cult?

Who would have thought that zero would have such a powerful impact on the world today, especially women. What is the allure, almost cult like obsession to become a size zero? I only just found out that there is a double zero?!?!

Zero is the ideal status symbol, fueled by a world in which skinny celebrities and models fit right in, where coffee, cigarettes and drugs replace food and you can order a plate of “skinny” sushi – sans rice.

Size Zero is a women’s clothing size in the US system equivalent to a UK size 4, with a waist measurement of a tiny 23 inches, the average girth of an 8 year old girl! If you have thighs that come in more than 34 inches and you have a bust greater than 32 inches you are fat according to their standards.

I have watched America’s Next Top Model and seen girls who are already stick thin be reduced to tears when being lambasted for having the audacity to have a whopping 36-inch hip measurement and told to go on a diet and get into shape. These girls are willing to do anything to squeeze into a pair of jeans with the magic number ‘0’ on the label, no matter the side effects. Experts say that being this thin can lead to loss of periods, hair falling out, dry skin and even thinning bones. Anything to walk the catwalk!

This size zero obsession is not only prevalent in the US but it is a worldwide epidemic. Stores are stocking more size zero clothing because zero is seen as the ideal and only acceptable size today. And if that’s not enough some blink-and-you’ll-miss-them women, some have become so thin that they can squish into the new double zero category, including Desperate Housewives’ minx Eva Longoria.

As the media industry idolizes ever tinier starlets, health experts warn that the super-skeletal trend is an eating disorder time bomb. The numerous ‘diets’, diet pills and miracle products that promise to make you into a stick thin model are empty promises. Not only don’t they work but it more often times than not leads to some sort of eating disorder.

More than 60 per cent of teenage girls use some sort of unhealthy method of weight control. These numbers are frightening and they tell us that we need to help our girls. We need to make them feel better about themselves, not to buy into the lie that the media is feeding to them. We need to teach them to eat healthy and avoid unhealthy weight control behavior. Ultimately, people with eating disorders look to skinny role-models for inspiration, and they have never had so many images to motivate them.

So what do we do? We start by making a stand against the lies bombarding us. We stop buying and looking at magazines and shows that promote the size zero mentality, the ‘you have to do anything to be a zero.’ We teach them beauty starts on the inside and shines through to the outside. Beauty does not have a predetermined size, beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. From the petite to the plus size, we are all beautiful and don’t have to fit into a mould that tells us what size every part of our anatomy should be. We teach them to eat healthy and exercise. we teach them that they can and do look good no matter their size. And most importantly we teach them to love themselves and be… women.

The Truth About Size Zero-MUST SEE!

Last week I watched a documentary called 'The Truth About Size Zero', it is a confronting Expos'e of what a woman goes through in order to reach the perfect size 0.

What shocked me is this young woman was told that in order to 'make it' in the U.S.A she would have to go down two dress sizes. Louise Redknapp is a perfect size 8, but that is unacceptable to certain media elements.

What Louise goes through will shock you and if it doesnt it should. This young woman begins her 'diet nightmare' as an experiment and as she slowly loses weight one can see the affect it is having on all aspects of her life, including her own health.

Through it her family life suffers in that hunger makes Louise not only irritable, she becomes ill. Her own health comes under the microscope through her local Doctor who monitors her progress. He warns her to stop, but Louise is determined.

As her quest progresses her inability to concentrate becomes evident as does her speech which slows down. Her thoughts are totally consumed with food, to the point of obsession.

Finally, she is able to fit into a size 0, but she looks gaunt, she has aquired what I call the 'concentration camp look'. There is no beauty in looking like skeleton, None!

This is a lengthy YouTube programe but I encourage all mothers of young girls to have patience and watch it.

It is now becoming the responsibility of mothers to warn their daughters that the photo's they see of 'perfect models' are air brushed. There is NO such thing as a perfect body, even models have cellulite and little bumps, but the media wont show that.

In order to stop the media war against women it is incumbent upon mothers to teach their young girls that the media lies. Every photograph of the perfect model figure is a LIE.

Once again please have patience and click each link and see for yourselves Louise Redknapp's descent into diet hell. Just click the LINKS below.

The Truth About Size ZERO PART ONE

The Truth About Size ZERO PART FOUR

The Truth About Size ZERO PART FIVE

Remember in Part One she is already considered too large. It is confronting. It is challenging. It is Must See Viewing.

Do let me know what you all think of this effort to be a size ZERO?

Jennifer Hudson-Victory Over Prejudice

When Jennifer Hudson was voted out of 'American Idol' there were screams of racial prejudice, I take a different view.

I dont think colour has anything to do with it, my own personal opinion is that Miss Hudson was voted out because of her weight.

Jennifer Hudson has talent, but she broke an unwritten rule, women who have curves must be apologetic. Miss Hudson was not apologetic if anything this was a woman with attitude, the right attitude.

The one thing that a fuller figured woman is supposed to do is to 'cower' to others. Jennifer Hudson didn't cower before the likes of Simon Cowell who made his disdain obvious. This Diva with attitude instead took him on and proved that Simon Cowell and others were wrong about her.

Unfortunately or fortunately this young woman was not judged on her talent alone but on her looks, her weight to be precise but Jennifer had the talent and the courage to step out and believe in herself.

If she had been a size 4, 6, 8 etc she may have missed out on the role in 'Dreamgirls' instead this woman walked away with the Oscar for best supporting actress.

Jennifer Hudson is a woman to be admired in that she didnt hang her head in shame but instead defied her critics by remaining true to herself.

What is YOUR opinion of Jennifer Hudson?

Against Size 0's-YouTube-Be YOU!

Just be YOU. Feminine, curvy, confident, fantastic and fabulous. That is YOU.

Weight And Discrimination

Seasons come and go, but unfortunately certain things are harder to change. Fashions evolve and trends race on, but an underlying aesthetic of body image, beauty and size continues to prevail. We have grown so accustomed to associating a woman's beauty with the slenderness of her waistline and the length of her thin legs that we hardly even realize... We have fallen victim to a terrible form of discrimination: SIZISM.

For at least the past four decades a culmination of factors and events have whetted our visual taste buds towards a decisively thin beauty aesthetic. Society has drilled into our heads for decades we need to be thin, thin, thin! Do you remember seeing many itty bitty pioneer women? And the nudes in the paintings and sculptures years ago? No way!

Through the 70's, silhouettes began loosing their curvy lusciousness and were literally stripped down to a bare minimum of skin and bones. The 'objects of desire' being portrayed in the images ceased to be the clothes or accessories but became the models themselves. Since then, it is needless to describe the media's role in infiltrating, shaping and molding our visual aesthetic. Our poor little eyes are now constantly being bombarded with image upon image of stick-thin, airbrushed glossy super-models. Our eyes are constantly being fed the same generic image of beauty and glamour over and over again and we have normalized it and accepted it as natural.

Technological developments have certainly aided this trend, images of supermodels are airbrushed to perfection, as well as aiding supermodels themselves to botox away any signs of ageing. Liposuction, plastic surgery, elaborate dieting, severe eating disorders and body dysmorphia have all been the nasty by-products of society's unquenched desire to conform to a certain SIZIST image of the beautiful.

It is quite obvious that the fashion industry and the media that surrounds it have participated hugely in cultivating our existing aesthetic stereotypes. But perhaps we must stop and question whether we as consumers are not at least partly to blame.

Have we been so blinded by the glitz and glamour surrounding the essence of super-model chic, that we have forgotten the importance of embracing beauty diversity? Have we ourselves become stubbornly addicted to accepting a limited and sizist aesthetic? Are we so insecure with our own looks and appearances that we seek guidance and approval from images on catwalks and pages of magazines? And above all, is it not perhaps time to challenge the aesthetic which prevails, in the sake of health and well-being?

Next time you look in the mirror, embrace what you see. Be glad for every aspect of your feminine physique. You are beautiful and worthy just the way you are.

I'll Do Anything To Get Them - Teenage Girls and Plastic Surgery

We live in an image-obsessed, celebrity-driven culture.The enormous popularity of reality TV shows such as "Extreme Makeover," "The Swan" and MTV's "I Want a Famous Face," as well as an explosion of Web sites that extol the virtues of cosmetic medicine, has fueled the desire of adolescent girls to alter their bodies permanently, and they are finding more surgeons willing to oblige.

The rising number of teenage girls who are given the gift of knowing that their bodies aren't good enough, I’m referring to plastic surgery is disturbing. It’s really as if we are validating to our kids that something is wrong with their bodies and it’s natural to be unhappy about it. It’s as if getting bigger breasts or whatever procedure they undergo is going to make them more confident and get rid of their “hang-ups.” Some girls actually believe that they need big breasts to be successful in life and will name celebs like Pamela Anderson as proof to their claims. !?!? Who is feeding this to our girls?

These children certainly have body image issues but I believe the parents have even more issues to deal with! What parent in their right thinking mind would allow their fifteen year old daughter to have breast implants?!?! She is still developing and so what if she does not have big breasts? Are the size of her breasts the be all and end all of who and what she is and will become?

What I find so very disturbing is that parents are now giving their teens plastic surgery as sweet sixteen gifts, graduation gifts and as incentives to get good grades! Gone are the days of wanting to do well at school to move on in life, now doing good in school is seen as a means to get their parents to pay for them to have breast implants, nose jobs and liposuction!

Its kind of hard to convince your daughter otherwise when her mom, grandmother and aunts all have breast implants. Girls so want implants that they are taking loans to have these implants. Body image trumps safety. These girls and their parents don’t seem phased by the possible side effects, what some think are going to give them a lifetime of pleasure can turn into a lifetime of pain. Certain autoimmune disorders and neurological diseases can occur if the implants rupture.

These teens pushing for plastic surgery are not motivated by their health. They want to look like the women they see onscreen and in the magazines- or at least “look like everyone else.” We cannot deny that the media has a part to play in this but it’s also a physical comparison to others. Our society places very high premiums on “physical attractiveness” and rewards those who are thin, youthful and handsome. We also live in a culture that emphasizes competition and legitimizes “self-improvement” as a way to gain a competitive edge.

Do we realize that fashion is geared toward fueling and funding the weight loss industry and the cosmetic surgeons? Clothing is cut to make you feel that you either need to lose something to look good in it or enhance something for it to fit properly. All we see are flaws because that’s what they want us to see, we see flaws and we are willing to do just about anything to get rid of them.

So what can we do to save our girls? Are we going to give in and in essence validate that their bodies were made with flaws to be fixed and when fixed you are the “perfect woman”? What are your thoughts???

Fat Tax?-Fat Chance!

No! You haven't read the title wrong. A Doctor has made a suggestion that plus size people should pay more tax to cover any medical expenses. It is his august opinion that if a 'fat' person becomes ill then it is their own fault, therefore they get sick at their own expense. Why should 'normal' people have to pay for 'fat' people?

There is something deeply disturbing about this doctors idea's when it comes to medicare and who deserves more help. His whole philosophy is a 'nazification' of the Medicare programe. What is next? That oneday only blonde haired-blue eyed people will receive help, because the rest of us may not fit his ideal of the 'perfect person'? This is obscene and it is dangerous!

Let's face facts. We are responsible for what we eat, but that does not mean we deserve such blatant discrimination.

An entire industry has been built to cure Anorexia Nervosa/Bulimia. There are facilities which cater to those who have starved themselves almost to death. This is a self induced illness. Why, then are they not being penalized for denying themselves the food they need to eat in order to live productive lives? Is this not a double standard?

If food and weight are the problem then why does the Doctor not order a 'starvation tax'? Why? Because that would be cruel and inhumane. Or is it possible the good Doctor would prefer to look at an emaciated figure rather than a fuller figured person?

If we were to start down this Moral slippery sloap, then who amongst us is safe? Should we deny a woman a life saving operation to remove leaking breast implants? Or do we leave her to die if she cannot afford the operation? After all the lady made the choice to have her implants.

This is the conundrum which confronts us all when the decision to pick and choose who deserves medical assistance will be left to future 'Dr Mengele's'.

The emaciated figure on the left would receive help while the fuller figured lady would receive none. Go figure! What do YOU think?

A Fat Rant-YouTube

I decided to reprise this video for those who have not seen it before. What Joy says is true. Being large does not lessen your rights to be treated with dignity. What does it matter what size you are? I encourage all to take time and watch this video. It is excellent! Do YOU think Joy is fat?

The Women Deemed Too 'FAT' To Act!

These are the women that the media has proclaimed too fat to act! One tabloid even suggested that Marilyn Monroe would be required to lose at least 28 pounds if not more! What lunacy! As for Jane Russell they said she wouldn't make it at all! What do YOU think?

As for Sophia Loren. This lovely actress would also have to lose weight. I chose this picture because it has not been 'touched up'. Ladies she has curves, it's not a crime! Back in Sophia's day curves were celebrated! Is Sophia too fat to act?

And now the lovely Kate Winslet is being pressured to lose her 'weight' . I have to ask what weight? Kate has the perfect hourglass figure. When did that become a crime? Do you think any of these ladies are FAT? If your answer is NO! Then why are we listening to the media when it comes to weight issues?

Self Esteem Begins with YOU!

"It's really essential that you love yourself because if you cant love yourself its really hard to accept love from other people."

This is a quote from one of the young women in the YouTube video. What she says is absolutely true, in fact what they all say is true. If you despise yourself and the way you look it will colour everything that you do and all whom you meet. Please watch it and realise that YOU are beautiful as you are.

Sarah & The Toxic Media-How it affects YOU!

Does Sarah look fat to YOU?

I remember watching on TV the emerging romance between Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew. I knew immediately that the poor girl simply wasn't suited to the Royal life. What I didnt expect to see was the viscious way the press treated her.

We think that we dont take any notice of the media and its assault on plus size women. The truth is many women DO take notice and slowly and insidiously the media infiltrates into our minds and the way we view our bodies.

Sarah, when giving her pre-wedding interview stated that she would not take any notice of the way the media were reporting on her dress size. With great bluster she continued on and said that the only opinion she would listen to was Andrew, and he loved her as she is. The sad part is that Andrew did love his voluptuous Sarah, but his Sarah despite her comments to the contrary began to read the headlines and then to believe them.

The media's assault on Sarah Ferguson amounted to mental cruelty, with such headlines as 'The Duchess of Pork' and on and on it went. Through their papers these reporters and editors were bent on destroying this young woman's dignity and self worth. They very nearly succeeded.

Just like Sarah we often think that we dont take notice of the media, but is it a case that in fact we do? Like poison gass we breathe in the fumes of these toxic magazines, papers and entertainment programs by reading and watching them and we, just like Sarah begin to doubt our self worth.

There was nothing wrong in Sarah's curvaceous figure and yet Sarah bit the bait that the toxic tabloids threw at her and believed that she was ugly, fat and unfit to live.

If a member of the Royal Family can be so affected by the media, we need to realise that we are also susceptible. By listening to the media's hatred of plus size women we begin to hate our perfectly normal body and its curves.

Do you hate YOUR curves? If so then the next question is where did you learn to hate your own body?

We are not born to hate our bodies, that is learnt behaviour. Who is YOUR teacher when it comes to your own self image?

Media VS Real Women

I remember when Titanic was being made and that wonderful actor Kate Winslet was attacked by the media for being 'too fat for the role'. How pathetic and how wrong can the media get it? Does Kate look too fat for the role? What do YOU think?

I also remember when Elle Mcpherson had her baby and 2 weeks later she was attacked for 'not losing her baby fat fast enough' how illogical and insane is the media view of women?

Then Tyra Banks had the audacity to gain some curves and yes, you guessed right she was also attacked by the media for being ' too fat for TV'. What do YOU think?

Here are the ladies that the media find acceptable half starved actresses. Is this YOUR view of a healthy woman? Why is Lindsay Lohan drunk and out of control? Could it be that she drinks to stop the hunger pangs? Is this YOUR idea of a healthy example for teens? What do YOU think?

How To Look Good Naked

There is a reality show called 'How To Look Good Naked', if it is showing in your country I would suggest you watch it.

I was amazed when watching this show to see how many women loathe their natural bodies and none of these women were hugely overweight, they were normal. Many broke down in tears when looking at themselves in the mirror and yet they were perfectly normal women with the usual lumps and bumps.

What we need to understand is that in many cases women who are models and actors are starving themselves or they are taking drugs in order to suppress their appetites. Another case in point is that when these models and actors do show up for their photo shoots the end product has been refined and 'touched up' to look 'perfect'.

In order to truly rise above this level of propoganda we need to take a realistic look at who and what we are and rely less on the media for our validation.

To see such self loathing was truly revelatory. These ladies were speaking of themselves as if they were Quasimodo, to ugly to face the world.

It is time to be more discerning in what we are reading and watching lest we join the queue of self loathing, neurotic women who no longer see their vibrant beautiful selves but instead are led to believe they do not deserve to be happy. Why? Because of their weight? Who led these women to believe they are not worthy of respect? And in the end why did they listen?

When you look in the mirror do you see a true and realistic reflection of yourself or do you think you are too ugly to be happy?

This woman was driven to tears because she thought herself too fat to be happy. What do YOU think?

Loving Our Curves - No Problem Here

When we look back at classic art, paintings and sculptures, what kind of women do we see? Women who are not a size zero! The only skinny ones are the dead skeletons. Up to some years ago, we were plump and happy. What are we today? Miserable, starving, depressed and unhappy.

I believe it was when Twiggy, this British model that looked like a twig, hence her nickname, became a total success during the 60's, women and men went crazy, embracing this body type and making it our ‘new model’. Her body shape became the norm.

Because of Twiggy and the new model body shape, everyone started dieting. The craze had begun. The food and the pharmaceutical industries, physicians, nutritionists, researchers, Hollywood and everyone jumped on the bandwagon. The billion dollar dieting industry was born.

A cult of thinness envelops us and is evidenced by the growing number of eating disorders, including anorexia nervosa and bulimia. We have suffered this self and social imposition to be skinny and shapeless for over 35 years! For over 35 years we have starved, overate, bounced back and forth, become yo-yos, suffered low self- esteem, developed eating disorders, become bulimic and anorexic, lost the pleasure of eating, developed self-hatred, searched for an identity based on our poor self-image, become addicted to exercise, gone through more plastic surgery than we care to admit, and so on and so forth.

On our quest for the perfect skinny body, we have lost hope. According to the ‘norm’, we are all at least 20 lbs overweight! But in reality we are just showing a naturally shaped body. This game we have been played lately takes no winner, we are all losers and very much unhappy. It is now time to stop.

It’s time we women wake up and realize that a body made of sticks is the illusion of few and that false reality has got give way to the real reality: women have curves! Think about the freedom you will have when you realize that it is all right to carry your body in a rounder way. This is the shape we have.

Let's stop this nonsense and accept ourselves as we truly are: more like Marilyn and Sophia much less like Twiggy. Sure, let's exercise and eat balanced and nutritious meals then, let's look in the mirror and admire our curves. They are our blueprint. They are part of us. Only then, we will be in peace with ourselves and find true happiness.

Weights On Your Mind?

Starvation figure

In Today's media we are assaulted daily with what we are 'supposed' to look like. Images of stick thin and starving models and actresses are plastered on nearly every women's magazines. Do these women magazines have it right?

I read in a magazine that in today's world Marilyn Monroe would be considered overweight, right alongside Sophia Loren and Jane Russel. Essentially these lovely ladies would never have a career in today's society because they would be considered 'fat'.

Who are these weight Gestapo? They are the publishers of magazines which try and dictate how a woman should look. They are invariably dictating to YOU! The tragedy is many women are buying into this dictatorial approach to women's issues.

Let's face it there is money to be made in making women feel miserable about themselves. Weight companies, diet books and DVD's, personal trainers etc exist on their ability to seduce you into self loathing. This is not a healthy approach to good living.

We dont need to spend billions of dollars on diet fad books or the latest diet pill what we need is a healthy approach to our bodies and what we put into them. What women need to do is to simply eat in moderation, which means you can have your slice of cake and eat it too, you just cant eat the entire cake!

One of the greatest pleasures in life is eating delicious food. There is nothing wrong in eating good and tasty food so long as we watch the portion size.

So ladies are you sick and tired of being told what you should look like? Rather than accept the dictatorial approach of making us hate our own bodies, learn to live with your shapely bumps. Don't fall into the 'thin at all costs' neurosis but instead celebrate your curves!

Curvacious figure