Models, actresses, and Valerie Bertinelli on People magazine

So here is a question. What is fat? Because the answer is very different for men and women. And that answer is the motivation of tens of millions of dollars in weight loss programs, ads, diet fads, magazines and so on.

I was wondering this recently as I was looking for models for my upcoming model photo shoot for my designer clothing lines. I decided to write on it after seen the cover of People magazine with Valerie Bertinelli.



Now there is no question that Ms. Bertinelli looks good. Considering her age and being a mom, very good indeed. But it was not like she was a slobbering mass of fat previously. In fact, if you look across the nation, at 172 pounds and 5’2” just 2 years ago she was about the norm.

But such a shape won’t get you on the cover of a magazine, or in many a movie role. For a woman. Yet I have to wonder why?

I recall how the nation was ogling the shape of Jennifer Lopez. Because she was considered by Hollywood standards to be voluptuous and extremely curvy. But in fact she was just the normal size of just about any Hispanic/Latino woman of her age in New York City. Hell, in the Bronx you can walk down the street and see a dozen women with better figures every day of the summer.

I recall how I had a conversation with a friend, who informed me that Beyonce is a plus-sized woman. I still reel with amazement at that. Most Black women I know have her shape and weight – again if not better.

So why is it that women must strive to look like Gabrielle Anwar from Burn Notice. Who I equate with anorexia and would never want to touch for fear of breaking her.

This is especially true when you consider men are not held to the same standard. Jack Nicholson, which Hollywood still considers sexy, is hardly fit or trim. And there are a host of men, Will Pertersen, Sean Connery, Laurence Fishburn, ect. that have varying degrees of extra weight and yet are still considered good looking and ready to work.

Now there is nothing wrong with anyone who wants to lose weight. Or anyone losing an extra person in fat off of them. It’s great that looking and being healthy is acknowledged. But I don’t get the drama associated with it.

I have been told that some models and actresses are just too big. That they are not thin enough by industry standards. Yet I know that most men find the more realistic female models and actresses to be very attractive. In fact every model I have used or will be using in my next photo shoot is an attractive successful real woman. As opposed to the look of starvation found in say America’s Top Model.

So, I want to ask the women out there. Does it matter to you. Beyond any one woman losing weight, does it matter when you see an actress in a movie how much she weighs? Will a woman buy clothing modeled by a woman that looks anything but anorexic?

And to the guys, virtually all of whom date and marry a woman that is anything but a size 0, do you really want a woman with the shape of one of the Olsen twins – or Beyonce?

I really want to know, because I think all my models are beautiful and real examples of women. And I will not go with an anorexic looking model for my clothing lines. So I want to know if that’s shooting myself in the foot or not. I won’t change, but I want to know the battle I am facing.

Anorexia and Hi Glam dolls - revisiting a thought

Sometimes you can’t win for trying. While I am often passionate about my views, I am honest enough to admit my ignorance on some subjects. But having a view that is not popular on a topical issue can often lead to unique response from the internet.

Let’s look at my comments on the anorexic looking Hi-Glam dolls.

“But these Hi-Glam dolls are different. Yes they have various races covered. No they don’t represent women as anything more important than objects to be looked at because of how they dress. Yes it’s good they are dressed more substantially than a music video hoochie. But they are all anorexic. Seriously, they are proportioned like twigs.”

Now I do know a few throughout the internet agreed with my assessment. But when you are in a pool so big, sometimes you run into those that have a different view. And since I keep an eye out for where my posts are mentioned I do notice.

Thus I ran into these responses from girls (or women I have no idea) that love the dolls and dislike my thoughts.

Girl 1 : Cruel. It's the parent that chooses the dolls they give their little girls most of the time. XP to all those who don't understand crap 'bout the toy industry. espeically the doll market.
Note: It's best not to show me those articles cause it makes me wanna murder sumthing...

Girl 2: He did say "I don’t know much about dolls".

Girl 1: yeah, so why still insult them???

Girl or Guy 3: i need more anorexic dolls.

I like hi glam. they are a BIT essentric, but I do think barbie could benefit from slightly longer legs and a smaller waist. I mean, she IS a doll. why not make her perfect?

the 2nd article was gay and i stoped reading it after the second sentence, which said "i love anime" and they listed the silly violent cartoons they liked.

Now the poor spelling aside I find this interesting. My concern is the effect that these dolls are having on the young girls they are marketed to. It’s the same concern that has enveloped the high fashion modeling industry. It’s why Italy, England and Spain have all placed bans or made comments on the weight of models in their country.

But the above comments seem unable to understand my comments. Which I thought were obvious. Yet one wants to resort to violence over speaking honestly about the dolls, and another seems almost envious of their death-like looks.

Now I will bypass the fact that anime is a well respected art form loved by tens of millions. But the comment “article was gay” says a lot about the writer. I may be too old to know the latest slang that is out, but what is that supposed to mean? Obviously it’s an insult, but I generally enjoy a bit more in my insults. Perhaps a bit of depth and points of correction or disagreement.

But I digress.

Barbie is far from perfect, but her proportions were changed because she was so unrealistic. To be unable to accept the shape of a Barbie doll today as positive versus the Hi-Glam is to say that Marylyn Monroe was less sexy and attractive than Mary Kate Olsen or Jack Skellington.

Since it seems some did not understand my point before I will be blunt, direct and simple. I’ve lived across a good part of the globe, seen women of every race and ethnicity. I know guys in every country I’ve lived in, and between the thousands of people I have known in my life, not one has ever found an anorexic woman attractive. There is simply nothing to like or admire about someone that is scarcely more than a skeleton. It’s not appealing to anyone, it’s ugly in the most sick manner.

So I don’t know anything about dolls. But I do understand that anything that suggests a girl or woman should weigh as much as a softball and look like a corpse is unhealthy and wrong. It’s America and others don’t have to agree, but I will make my thoughts known.

If only one girl or woman decides to eat a hamburger and let it stay in her stomach then I’m pleased I wrote these posts. And if anyone disagrees they can go to hell.