What message is hollywood sending us?

I recently received the October 16 issue of PEOPLE magazine in the mail. The main headline? "How Thin is Too Thin?" The cover photo? Pictures of three super skinny actresses and one painfully thin musician (ok, she's a Spice Girl, but we'll call her a musician for the sake of arguement...)

Kudos to PEOPLE for pointing out what so many of us have noticed for years now.... that Hollywood and the entertainment industry, seem to live by different standards of a healthy body than all the rest of us. The negative to an article like this? All of us warped individuals who KNOW that being that skinny is unhealthy, still scan the pictures for minutes on end... secretly yearning to be that thin again. We voraciously gobble up every word of that article, looking for some little hint to the secret way these hollywood types are able to maintain their tiny little bodies. Maybe, just maybe, there's a "healthy" way to stay that thin. Maybe, just maybe, we can do it too... without being diagnosed with an eating disorder.

Yeah right. Been there, done that. If I was as thin as Victoria Beckham (Posh Spice), I would have friends and family members swarming all over me to get help... go into therapy, check in to a program.... do something! (And... if I only gained 14 pounds during my pregnancy, as the article points out was true in Victoria's case, my doctor would have smacked me over the head with an ultrasound wand. 14 pounds???)

In my case... I've been through therapy and groups and hospitals. I've gotten better, and I've backslid right back into my disorder. Anyone who met me now would never guess in a million years that I was ever diagnosed as anorexic and/or bulimic. I mean heck, here I am... 9 months pregnant and big as a house.... me? Anorexic? Yeah right. But "cured" or not... "healthy" or not... once you have an eating disorder, you ALWAYS have an eating disorder... and seeing these ultra-thin women can really stir up old yearnings inside, that I thought (or hoped) were long gone.

Ok... back to these hollywood babes. I'm sure that some of you reading this will be thinking that I'm just envious or jealous of these beautiful women with their hollywood physiques. Well you'd be partially right. Yep, I'm envious and jealous of them... and sure, I'm envious that they can waste away to these absurdely low weights, and considered more beautiful for it. Yes! I'm jealous that I was forced (ok, not forced... taught is probably a better word) that maintaining my 5'7" frame at under 100lbs was dangerous and unhealthy.... yet Sarah Michelle Geller (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) is admired for mainting a lean 98lbs.... and that Calissa Flockhart (Ally McBeal) is considered beautiful when she slinks down the red carpet with her collarbones and ribs jutting out. UGH! Yes, I admit it, I'm envious and jealous.

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic