This intense scrutiny of celebrity women’s bodies demonstrates the kind of pressure all women are under, the expectation that women’s bodies are for others and not themselves, and the entitlement to judging women’s bodies that both men and women in our culture appear to share.
Below is our series on fat scandals:
(1) Czech model Karolina Kurkova (who models for Victoria’s Secret) horrified the Brazilian press by showing up to walk the runway at a recent Brazilian fashion show looking “fat,” or what counts as fat in the industry. Just Google her name and tons of stories about the controversy come up. Here are some photos of her offending body (found here):
(2) Here is a video of model Ali Michael, who appearing on The Today Show to discuss being shut out of the Paris fashion shows this year (after being wildly successful last year) because she was told her legs were too “plump” for the runway:
Tatiana, an model who writes for Jezebel.com (her name is a a pseudonym), writes about the problems in the modeling industry and the need to unionize.
(3) In July of 2008, gossip columnists wondered whether Eva Longoria was pregnant or just fat (see here and here). The offending body:
See all the pics here. Tip from Jezebel.
NEW!
(4) In early 2009, Jessica Simpson was the target. Here’s the terrible transition (via Shakesville):
Included in the New York Post’s 50 Fat Celebrities list. And the rag also ran this cartoon:
Media Matters highlighted this obnoxious Fox News coverage (found here):
5 Comments
I think the fashion industry should rather try to make clothes that make people look good, instead of finding people to make the clothes look good.
Having said that, I see nothing wrong with her figure. Might even be fatter for my personal taste. If we saw more natural body “wrinkles” (like on her back) on fashion models, we might get less people who worry so much about their fat, just because their stomach isn’t completely straight and flat when they bend forward.
Longtime lurker - first time commenter:
I find it fascinating how the media portrays eating disorders vs obesity in terms of health conditions. That is, anorexia (I assume from how the young model very vaguely referred to ‘eating problems’) is something that is forced by society onto someone, whereas obesity is something that people bring upon themselves. There is a small movement for fat acceptance that sometimes blames McDonalds etc, but that is by no means a culture-wide phenomenon, and is often laughed at. However, can you imagine if this model was portrayed as being weak for succumbing to the modeling industry’s standards? It wouldn’t happen.
“There is a small movement for fat acceptance that sometimes blames McDonalds etc”
Where on earth did you see that the fat accepatnce movment blames Mac Donald’s? Sources please?
Um… Sorry, can’t type this morning. Hangover is a bitch.
I haven’t lived in NY for 3 years, but I’m not surprised (and still absolutely disgusted) that the Post is still filled with the same inflamitory, insulting bombasts that have always knocked them down several journalistic pegs. I still remember the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal. The Post simply couldn’t “report” on the situation, they had to add some needlessly scathing or inappropriately insulting descriptions in articles as well as photos. The ‘portly’ Ms. Lewinsky was a common one, and absolutely unnecessary!
Anorexia and bulimia are disorders–they aren’t forced onto us by society; many times controlling food intake it is a way of feeling in control of their lives and easing anxiety. Yes, current cultural definitions of beauty do contribute to these disorders and anxiety about body image–not to mention a distorted image of their own bodies (which is why so many anorexics waste away to nothing, destroying their organs–they never feel they are thin enough). This is why accepting and celebrating the huge breadth of body type possibilities is so important, and why the above images and the associated negative comments are so problematic. No one deserves to feel like less of a person because of the way their body looks, and I know so many beautiful people (guys included) that have done self harm to fit in with the popular and impossibly thin standard.
3 Trackbacks
[...] (like a blemish), it’s about creating an unrealistic image. These images remind me of Gwen’s post on the “fat” supermodel, Karolina Kurkova. Kurkova is still incredibly thin! The [...]
[...] נוספת: נשים שמנות ב”תמונות [...]
[...] We added some of the coverage of the policing of Jessica Simpson’s weight to our post chronicling fat scandals. [...]