Thursday, April 23, 2009

two much?

The whole size-ism debate has reared its lollypop head again in the US. Last year I was at first thrilled when I read Jennifer Love Hewitt's impassioned plea against size-ism, appreciating women for their variety, loving curves, or straight lines... until she said "A size two is not fat" and I did the classic quadruple take {you know, like a double take, to the max}. While some aspects of society may worship at the altar of size zero* of course they're not saying size two is huge - that's crazy! And then of course came all the calls that if JLH is a size two then her stylist has been seriously cutting out labels and replacing them with those of a size two.

Now, of course, Kim Kardassian, in what is for once, not just a bid for relevancy, has chimed in. After being featured in a mag with a caption stating she was a Forever 21 fan {a company who've now released plus sizes} she took to her blog, singing the praises of plus sizes, curvy girls... before stating that she's a size 2 - um, maybe one of her arms is... Honestly, why chime in with something like that? Why not just leave it with the praise? Why state that you're a specific size, when, really, those breasts and butt cheeks would suffocate in a size two. I have no idea what size she really is, maybe a six {I'm thinking Australian size 10 - 12} nor did I care. Once again the point becomes obfuscated by vanity.

I can't imagine a time when we'll just appreciate the wide variety of body shapes. Whether you're thin, curvy, pear-shaped, muscular, voluptuous... if you're healthy and happy shouldn't that be the ultimate, not the number on a label?

* Okay, this whole size zero thing is repellent, and I'm so glad that our sizings in Australia preclude it. What does it mean? You're so teeny that there's nothing of you! Even naturally skinny gals would be pressed to fit into a zero - instead you have the increasingly scarily thin Lindsay Lohan embodying {sic} the size zero - and with it the whole 3 Cs of the celeb diet world {caffeine, cigs, crack...} Soapbox removed.

1 comment:

  1. I do have a specific weight and size in mind for post baby land . . . but I am also pre-diabetic. Everyone in my fam is diabetic and I just cannot go down that road this early in my life. I don't need to be uber thin- I've been in size 0 and I looked grotesque. What I am aiming for is 125-130 and about a size 6 (Euro or Aussie size 10- I believe). I'm a petitely built thing so extra weight just sort of sits on my belly instead of spreading out nicely. Plus that's at the low end of whats healthy for my height and on me it still gives nice curves.

    I don't buy into size-ism either. I do buy into looking good for your body type and making sure you are healthy. Some gals are perfectly healthy with rounder bodies and some are not. I do not need to be a teensy thing. I look to Kate Winslet as my idol, really. Trim and toned and curvy.

    Victoria Beckham has led to this scary trend in American mothers of being unnaturally thin, trying their damnedest to not g ain weight during pregnancy and causing themselves loads of scary health problems. I don't understand people blabbering about how a size 2 isn't fat and in fact, I don't really take to revealing my size to many people because I'd rather talk about ways to be healthy, not ways to be scary and sickly.

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