I agree with you, but I think a little push back is taking hold. For instance, Scarlett Johansson, Kate Winslet, the woman on Dollhouse, that Secretary on Mad Men. . Some of the female stars of TV shows are permitted to be a bit bigger than I believe that would have been in the past. Examples include Medium, Rita Rocks, Sherry and some star of some show on lifetime who was skinny and died and woke up in a fat girls body. That being said, I think all it will amount to is tokenism. It will never be the trend any time soon. However, thanks to Monsanto, and increasingly in industrialized countries around the world, women are getting bigger. So, I am noticing bigger women in commercials who would never be in commercials in the past. They are possible coming to terms with a new bigger demographic. That is also why women’s close sizes are getting smaller. So the large number of big women will feel normal. Hail Frankenfood! What a horrible solution to Lagerfeld and Ralph Lauren
From: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com [mailto:scifino...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Mr. Worf Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 8:41 PM To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] OT: Was the photoshopped Ralph Lauren model fired for being overweight? That won't happen because the super thin women is ingrained into the minds of the people that control the industry. So what was considered thin is the new fat, and what was healthy is now the new obese. I am glad that there was a little bit of sanity that stopped people from going over the edge though. When people like Allie MacBeal and had to be hospitalized people said ok, that is too skinny! Skeletor's girlfriend or something. Waking death just isn't cute or sexy. On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 8:25 PM, Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@comcast.net> wrote: My wife says the same thing about a little weight going a long way. She's only 5'1", and often complains I don't get it because I'm 6'1"--and a man. The funny thing is, this model looks better to me in shots where she's obviously gained a bit of weight over older shots. And to your point, I just see it as her getting back up to "slim", not even close to fat. A couple of years ago I read an article about Scarlett Johannsen in one of my wife's magazines. The writer--a man--said that she was a pretty woman, and then added "she works with her size". There were other words, but the guy's point was obviously that she was borderline too big. I remember being surprised. I'm still not sure how the desired female body type in America changed. When I was a kid it was those curvy women I mentioned. Sure, people liked Twiggy, Mary Tyler Moore in her capri pants was a cool thing. But men and women also sang the praises of the likes of Marilyn Monroe. Now it's weird. Maybe it's slowly changing back? At least, I've noticed that brunette actresses and models seem to be making a resurgence, so maybe the "fuller figured" women will come back too? ----- Original Message ----- From: "Adrianne Brennan" <adrianne.bren...@gmail.com> To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 8:21:11 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] OT: Was the photoshopped Ralph Lauren model fired for being overweight? Okay, I'm going to give some stats here for a sake of comparison. At 5'4" at 120 lbs, I wear a size 2--size 0 in some clothing if the hips run loose because my waist is significantly smaller than my hips. I am also rather small-boned. For someone at 5'10" to be "too fat" at 120 is fucking insane. I actually will deliberately gain weight if I go below 120 because at that point I start to look unhealthy. At my height, 5 lbs goes a LONG way. ~ "Where love and magic meet" ~ http://www.adriannebrennan.com Experience the magic of the Dark Moon series: http://www.adriannebrennan.com/books.html#darkmoon Dare to take The Oath in this erotic fantasy series: http://www.adriannebrennan.com/books.html#the_oath The future of psychic sex - Dawn of the Seraphs (m/m): http://www.adriannebrennan.com/dawnoftheseraphs.html On Wed, Oct 14, 2009 at 7:21 PM, Keith Johnson <keithbjohn...@comcast.net> wrote: I don't know what's more disturbing: that they think this model in her current true form is overweight, or that anyone in any country in the world thought that doctored photo of her was either realistic or attractive. I have tried over and over to understand the American obsession with thin models and actresses. My wife always explains to me that clothing looks better when hung on a thin frame, since designers feel a woman's curves detract from the dress, and a thin woman's body doesn't do that. (she doesn't agree with the philosophy, but understands it). Assuming I bought that--I don't--why then do even actresses, who ostensibly aren't modeling clothing, get told to lose weight? Why are so many makeup models thin when all we should be looking at are their faces (the Queen Latifah's of the world notwithstanding) As a black man over 40, raised to think a good body was represented by the likes of Nichele Nichols, Chaka Khan, Pam Grier, Sophia Loren, or Racquel Welch, i guess I'll never understand how "voluptuous" can either be a dirty word, or applied to someone as relatively slim as Cindy Crawford or Claudia Schiffer. I do know it must be crazy to be a woman trying to survive in the fashion or movie industries as long as this skewed view of beauty persists. No wonder so many models are anorexic and addicted to amphetamines! Remember back when TV Guide grafted Oprah Winfrey's head onto Ann Margaret's body? Man, do we ever see anyone as they really are anymore? ************************************** http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/beauty/was-the-photoshopped-ralph-lauren-model-fired-for-being-overweight-525248/ Was the photoshopped Ralph Lauren model fired for being overweight? Error! Filename not specified. photoshopdisasters.blogspot.com Last week Ralph Lauren came under fire for (what looked to be) an <http://shine.yahoo.com/event/fallbeauty/image-of-ultra-thin-ralph-lauren-model-sparks-outrage-521480/> extremely altered photo of a model in one of its ads. Bloggers at the website BoingBoing.net posted the image online, and lawyers for Ralph Lauren attempted to sue them for copyright infringement. Unfortunately for Ralph Lauren, this only furthered public interest and outrage over the dangerously thin looking model and, eventually, the clothing company released this apology: "For over 42 years we have built a brand based on quality and integrity. After further investigation, we have learned that we are responsible for the poor imaging and retouching that resulted in a very distorted image of a woman's body. We have addressed the problem and going forward will take every precaution to ensure that the caliber of our artwork represents our brand appropriately." Unfortunately,"addressing the problem" may have included firing the model, 23-year-old Filippa Hamilton. She is 5'10" and weighs 120 pounds--clearly more full-bodied than the photoshopped girl we see in the advertisement. Though Hamilton has modeled for Ralph Lauren since she was 15, the company let her go "as a result of her inability to meet the obligations under her contract with us." But the story gets worse: Hamilton says she was let go because she'd become too fat to model for them. "They fired me because they said I was overweight and I couldn't fit in their clothes anymore," she explained. "I was shocked to see that super skinny girl with my face...It's very sad, I think, that Ralph Lauren could do something like that." Error! Filename not specified. Filippa Hamilton in a past Ralph Lauren ad Most of us know that a tall, young woman who weighs 120 pounds is not overweight. But Hamilton claims Ralph Lauren was dissatisfied with her body, and therefore fired her six months ago. However, the company continued to use her image, whittling down her arms, waist, thighs, and possibly several other body parts in the above ad. If they were so unhappy with how she looked, why not get another model for the campaign? Why use the photos and alter and distort them? Today, Ralph Lauren himself is distancing himself from the ad, claiming, "The image in question was mistakenly released and used in a department store in Japan and was not the approved image which ran in the U.S." So we're confused. They say the photoshopping was an error, that Hamilton is "beautiful and healthy," yet they allegedly fired her for her size? With all these apologies and statements it sounds like the brand still has yet to accept responsibility for their actions. Error! Filename not specified. Hamilton in Italian Elle Error! Filename not specified. Hamilton in French Vogue When I searched for more images of Filippa Hamilton, I instantly remembered her—she was the face of Ralph Lauren's fragrance, Romance, has been featured on the cover of international editions of Vogue and Elle, and has appeared in many ads. She's a gorgeous woman. "I think they [Ralph Lauren] owe American women an apology, a big apology," says Hamilton. "I'm very proud of what I look like, and I think a role model should look healthy." The truth is, models get fired or overlooked all the time for being what the industry considers overweight, we just rarely see or hear about it. Eating disorders are not only common among models, but they're also common among the women and young girls who emulate them. We're happy to see that Hamilton has come forward, and wish more models and celebrities would do the same. It's awesome and empowering when stars admit they've been photoshopped for an ad or movie poster and say how dissatisfied they are about it. With foreign countries banning underweight models from their fashion weeks, and the increasing presence of "plus size" models in women's magazines, we wish the unhealthy representation and falsified depiction of models—and women—would come to an end entirely. Do you think the day will ever come? Sources: [NYDN <http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/fashion/2009/10/14/2009-10-14_model_fired_for_being_too_fat.html> ] [Extra <http://extratv.warnerbros.com/2009/10/blog_and_ralph_lauren_fight_over_skinny_model_ad.php> ] [Hulu <http://www.hulu.com/watch/102044/nbc-today-show-model-i-was-fired-for-being-%E2%80%98too-large%E2%80%99#s-p3-sr-i0> ] -- Bringing diversity to perversity for over 9 years! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/