Below is a link to an awesome must-read article by Scarlett Johansson where she gives a solid thrashing to those heartless publications that scream lies at us when we're waiting in check out lines. No, Scarlett didn't lose 14 pounds to get in shape for her upcoming movie, and no, it's impossible for celebrities to lose their baby fat only 4 days after giving birth....... It's time for all of us to join Scarlett and speak out against the tabloid and so-called "health magazine" trash that can be so damaging to women.
GO Scarlett!!!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scarlett-johansson/the-skinny_b_186233.html
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As our society has moved away from traditional morals, it has had to find a place for its moral outrage - and has directed it at other "sins". being overweight is one of our new sins. It is fine to want to be healthy, to want to be attractive - but we as a society are fixated on people's image. in my circle, I have many friends whose first way of describing someone is if they are beautiful or not. not whether they are a kind, loving person; not whether they are smart - but are they beautiful. as one cartoon character said it - I have seen the enemy and they is us!
July 3, 2009 - 6:33amThis Comment
You've brought up an interesting point -- I know I often tell my daughters they're beautiful. But I do mean that being inside and out. However, I agree we are totally focused on the exterior, which is so not good. Thanks for reminding us of this!
July 3, 2009 - 8:39amThis Comment
I loved the article, and I love the responses here even more. But they don't surprise me. Of all the women I know -- and they range in age from just-turned-21 to just-turned-81 -- I've never met one who actually was interested in the kind of fake, fame-driven "news" these magazines and television shows thrive with.
So who buys, reads and believes it all? Who ISN'T aware that magazine covers are airbrushed? Who DOES really think you can lose baby fat in a week? Who ARE the thousands of people that bought that issue of a magazine that libeled Scarlett Johansson and made $1.4 million in profit from it?
The problem does begin with the media, but it wouldn't continue if people wouldn't buy it. (And come to think of it, I am sure I just saw a headline that said space aliens have invaded Philadelphia recently....)
April 15, 2009 - 8:53amThis Comment
Well, the only thing that motivates me to make dramatic changes is the scale. For some reason, I've gained back the 10 lbs I lost since the holidays. So, I joined a gym and hired a personal trainer. My PT told me that I've not been balancing my workouts (I'm a marathoner) with a variety of exercise methods and that I need strength training. I eat pretty healthfully, so it had to be a problem with my physical activity (and probably the fact that I've had to cut back my training while rehabbing from an injury sustained during a marathon last Feb).
We'll see what happens; but, I'm realistic about my goals: no way will I "get back" my 25-yo-body at age 57, LOL!
April 13, 2009 - 4:22pmThis Comment
There's no doubt that the body ideal set by the people who live and work in Hollywood is nearly impossible to achieve and even more impossible to maintain despite seemingly endless resources. What is more endless to me, however, is the public's hunger for this kind of information. I remember when celebrity stories about weight loss and weight gain were only tabloid fodder. Now, prime time television and once-respected newspapers and magazines are tracking the ups and downs of our favorite celebrities.
What motivates the public's need for these kinds of stories? Is it to relish someone's fall from grace? Do celebrity weight-loss stories motivate us to make dramatic changes in our own lives?
April 13, 2009 - 4:14pmThis Comment
My doctor says it takes 9 months to put it on and 9 nine months to take it off.....and she was right!
April 13, 2009 - 4:11pmThis Comment
I actually felt sick when I recently saw the cover of Valerie Bertinelli in her bikini. I know I should be happy for her for losing all that weight, and I am. But, pleeeease. There's no way that after losing all that weight, and being the age that she is (I think she's 40), that she wouldn't have some kind of stretch marks or some imperfection on her body. Her photo was so obviously air brushed. There's no way that I, in my 40's, and after having kids, can lose that much weight and look so picture perfect as she apparently does, and yet that's the message she's sending us. That it's perfectly do-able for us to all have 19-year-old bodies just by losing some weight. Yikes. I'd have a lot more respect for her, and would be cheering her on for her weight loss, if she appeared the way she really looks.
April 13, 2009 - 3:45pmThis Comment
Yeah, I saw that photo of her and it totally looked like someone had put her head on a young woman's body.
April 13, 2009 - 4:33pmThis Comment
As a younger woman ( ok older in my late 20s now) I am appalled by these women in hollywood and what they have done to my generation. I sometimes feel fat (I am a size zero) and I have not one single friend who is completely satisfied with her body. Everyone is striving to have that anorexic look (with fake boobs) of course and it is sad that these women lie and try to give the impression that what they look like is possible in a healthy way.
April 13, 2009 - 3:38pmThis Comment