Fat without any fat in it

[firebreath613]

Explain to me what universe we're living in where Mandy Moore is "big" or "fat"? Maybe she's tall and has large bone structure (really, I had no idea), but the girl is skinny. Really, I always thought of her as a teeny, wispy girl. And Alicia Silverstone? Fat?

http://www.comicbookhotties.com/models/alicia-silverstone-batgirl-pictures.asp?i=6&l=true

Also, America Ferrara has a beautiful hourglass figure, as do so many "fat" starlets, where as real-life "fat" people are not so pleasantly shaped. I like that Sienna Miller is straight-up about airbrushing.



http://entertainment.msn.com/music/hotgossip/4-16-07?GT1=7702&

The weight debate continues to rage in Hollywood, a town where a painfully protruding sternum is considered the new black. In recent days, stars ranging from Mandy Moore to Gwen Stefani to Alicia Silverstone have opened up about the pressure to achieve a fat-free figure. Here's a heaping helping of the latest diet dish:

Mandy Moore is still coming to terms with being naturally robust in a bobble-head-crammed town.

"Sometimes I feel fine. Sometimes I don't feel so great. I'm a regular person. I'm not that thin," the statuesque starlet tells the May issue of Elle. "I'm OK with representing a different type than the Hollywood beauty ideal. But other people aren't so OK with that. I've been told that I have to lose weight for stuff before."

Sighs Mandy, "It's mortifying. It's hard to have someone come up and go, 'You should lose a few pounds.' And they don't say it delicately ... It's only happened to me once before. But once is enough to make you feel awful."

Turns out she's talking about her forthcoming romantic comedy "License to Wed," in which she stars as a bride-to-be. According to Elle, a studio suit saw Moore in "American Dreamz" and decided he wanted to see a whole lot less of her when filming began.

"All I can tell you," director Ken Kwapis acknowledges to the mag, "is that I've never been on any production where some executive didn't say, 'Can't that actress lose weight?'"

Gwen Stefani, meanwhile, is fessing up to her decades-long campaign to squeeze herself into a size 4.

"It's very boring and embarrassing and I hate talking about it, but it's true: I've always been on a diet, ever since I was in the sixth grade," the rocker-cum-fashion designer discusses in the May issue of Harper's Bazaar. "It's an ongoing battle, and it's a nightmare. But I like clothes too much, and I always wanted to wear the outfits I would make. And I'm very vain."

Gwen says that after the arrival of cutie-pie son Kingston in May 2006, she set out to lose the baby bulge, without realizing how tough a job it would be.

"It's so much work afterward to get the weight off," she admits. "I thought I was going to throw up [during her first postpartum jog). [But] if you just do it, it comes off. And when you're nursing, like I am, your metabolism is like, whoosh!"

Hilary Duff is also coming clean about how she went from adorably healthy to scarily scrawny and back again.

"I have the same insecurities about my body that every girl has and I made a conscious choice to get in shape. I've always been a junk-food eater, but I started paying more attention to what I put in my body and cut out foods like pizza, chicken fingers, and French fries," she explains to CosmoGIRL. "If I knew I'd want dessert one night, I wouldn't have bread that day. If I wanted to eat bread, I wouldn't have dessert."

But Duff, who is currently out stumping for her new album "Dignity," in which she allegedly disses ex-boyfriend Joel Madden's rickety new love, Nicole Richie, concedes the twiggy bod she showed off in 2005 wasn't her best look.

"Seeing how well it worked motivated me to keep going, but I hit a period when I got too skinny. I wasn't too obsessed with it, but I did learn that there have to be days when you just don't think about it."

Alicia Silverstone received no end of mocking when she slipped into Batgirl's rubber suit in 1997's execrable "Batman & Robin." Despite being enviably slim, she was still on the receiving end of cruel taunts (i.e., "Fatgirl").

But the actress tells the latest issue of InStyle Home that her onetime diet of "steak and donuts" has since been replaced with a vegan regimen.

"Now I'm a total health nut," says Silverstone. "I don't get sick very often and when I do it's for a short period ... It's empowering to know that you're responsible for how you feel each day because of the way you treat your body."

Chances are Alicia won't be breaking bread with Sienna Miller anytime soon. The semifamous starlet recently took the pages of In Touch to talk up her love of meat.

"I don't really exercise and I eat all the burgers I want," she asserts to the mag. "But I'd rather be lumpy and heavy than skinny and miserable."

According to Miller, "My so-called fabulous shape is the result of very clever airbrushing. I have small boobs and cellulite!"

But not even her harsh self-criticism and supposedly slowing metabolism are enough to convince her to give up her favorite foods.

"Soon, all the burgers will attack my rear end and I'll be a whale," says Sienna. "[But] I'll remain an eggs, bacon, waffles girl."

America Ferrera may hide her fit figure under frumpy and lumpy sweaters on "Ugly Betty," but she tries to maintain a positive outlook when it comes to real-life body-image issues.

"There are times when I go to the gym and really try, and there are times when I just don't," she says in the May issue of W. "I gain a pound; I lose a pound. But I think I've developed a really good sense of when I'm doing something for myself as opposed to when I'm doing something because of other people's expectations of me."

Besides, the affable actress quips, "Even if I wanted to be anorexic, I just don't have what it takes. After four hours of being anorexic, I'd be like, 'It's been four whole hours! Feed me!'"

Also unwilling to forgo food is Jennifer Lopez, who is more than happy with her va-va-va-voomy voluptuousness.

"I have a butt, I have boobs and I have a woman's curves," she says in the latest issue of Elle UK. "There is no way I'd see them go to zero. I just don't see how I could get down to that size and still be healthy. It wouldn't work."

And although J. Lo readily reveals, "I eat meat, I eat carbs, I even eat McDonald's," she is quick to point out, "What I don't do is ever overeat. I don't eat desserts and I can limit the chocolate chip cookies to one or two."

When there's a little extra junk in her well-ogled trunk, "I feel it immediately and I just get a bit more strict with myself."

Declares Lopez, "For me, looking good is all about looking healthy, and the ultimate beauty secret is about being happy in yourself."

But just how ridiculous has Hollywood's beauty obsession become?

Keira Knightley, who just a couple months ago revealed how a photographer bruised her self-esteem by telling her to keep her shapely stems covered at a photo shoot, was supposedly supplied with a foot double for her forthcoming drama "Atonement."

"Keira's feet were too big and veiny," a source alleges to Britain's Closer magazine. Luckily, the sylphlike actress "thought it was really funny.

Comments

[hotshotrobot.livejournal.com]

I was thinking about this when watching Death Proof's second half. I dunno if you've seen it, but Zoe Bell looks like a big, thick chick next to the three actresses she works with in the movie, and i couldn't help but keep thinking, "damn, Zoe's totally normal sized, but these other three chicks are making her look huge." Guh.

On the flip, did you ever hear about how Joss Whedon kept insisting that Jewel Saite (sp?) gain weight for her role as Kaylee on Firefly? he wanted her to look like a real-sized girl who loved food and doin' it and other such indulgences, but she struggled with keeping the weight on. I guess she agreed to do Serenity only if he'd get off her about being bigger than she was naturally.

[firebreath.livejournal.com]

Well, it's awesome that Joss would say, "I want you to eat and have a healthy figure for this part." But it could turn into some weird reverse body control issue, like wrestlers have. She always super cute - even with the extra pounds she had a great, and still slender, figure. Maybe her checks were chubbier than they normally are?

I haven't seen Grindhouse yet, so I look at some pictures, and you're right. Being in a movie must be like walking through a weird funhouse where everyone is unnaturally small.

[hotshotrobot.livejournal.com]

Yeah, i don't wanna imply that Joss was trying to exert some sort of weird body-image thing on her, because he's one of the foremost male feminist tv/filmmakers out there. I'm sure that when she put her foot down before the movie, he was all "ok! ok!"

She's amazingly hot, with the extra weight or without. That entire cast, male and female, was damnedable purty.

[firebreath.livejournal.com]

That's true. I love Joss. Did you see his "strong women" speech?

The cast of Firefly was SO FREAKING HOT. Mmmmmmmm, Nathan Fillon ... Have you seen his new TV show?

[hotshotrobot.livejournal.com]

I may have, but i can't remember it off the top of my head. Have a link or anything?

I haven't seen Drive yet. I'm nervous.

Thanks, YouTube

[firebreath.livejournal.com]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYaczoJMRhs



I'm nervous about Drive, too. I'm thinking I could at least enjoying with the sound off.

[jade.livejournal.com]

god hollywood is so fucking fake with how their women look. i'm all for beauty and "personal best" but come on, it has to stop with the protruding sternum and "sexy backbones sticking out."
i'm fine at the weight i am now but when i flip on something like Entourage i'm reminded just how "fat" i am... bleh

when are you starting that magazine for teens, woman? are you coming to ny again anytime?

[firebreath.livejournal.com]

It's like a twisted caricature of what women are really like. You are obviously a slender, beautiful woman. You just happen to be real and not paid to spend every moment of your life in the gym. What a crappy life that would be! I can barely stand the gym as it is.

I don't know when I'll have time to do my own project, but I might be blogging for About-Face soon!

NY, sadly, will probably have to wait til October. No money!

[hotshotrobot.livejournal.com]

Time it for CMJ! With any luck we'll be out there playing it.

[firebreath.livejournal.com]

Hey I WAS there for CMJ last year. If you played, that would be rad. Will you guest list me? I might be able to get you guys into the excloo Flavorpill Halloween party - with free beer!

[hotshotrobot.livejournal.com]

If we even have a guest list we totally will.

[firebreath.livejournal.com]

Sweet!

[jade.livejournal.com]

wow that would be awesome if you blogged for about-face. that was my favorite website when i was in college. :)

[firebreath.livejournal.com]

It's coming back. Take a look!

[jade.livejournal.com]

when you come in october you can stay with us. by then we'll have our own apartment. yay!

[firebreath.livejournal.com]

YAYYYY!!!!

[girlvixxxen.livejournal.com]

As someone who's struggled with weight for the past 13 years of my life, I'm finally starting to embrace my "normal" physique. Binging and purging and not eating for days can sure make a girl nutty, and the passing out isn't really awesome, either.

I have noticed, though, that Hollywood's standards are working some evil on a lot of people I know in that I've encountered a lot of men recently that think size 2 girls are "normal" sized. It's frustrating and disheartening. I actually went on a blind date with a guy a few years back to a rock show, and he was obviously disappointed in my body, even going so far as to say, "Huh, you're bigger than I thought you'd be." He then ran away and didn't speak to me again. I weighed about 135lbs then at 5'9", I'm the same height and roughly 155lbs now.

Granted, I have no problem with people being tiny if they are healthy, and/or that's just their natural body type.

[firebreath.livejournal.com]

My housemate and I were talking about it: I meet so many women who want to fight the machine that spits out all these unrealistic images. They want to see real women with real bodies instead of these fake, airbrushed and surgically altered women. BUT who DOESN'T want that to happen?

The people with all the money and power, AKA corporations, who make so much money off of our insecurities. Thank God for Dove's who figured out a counter message also makes money.

It just feels like we're up against a monster that has all the money and power to keep things exactly how they are.

[almostgold.livejournal.com]

I am 5' 6 1/2" and have gone from 107 at my lowest to 150 now thanks to a thyroid issue. But back when I was 125ish, and a size 6, someone at a bananarepublic wanted to try on the pants I was trying on, and asked what size they were, recoiled in horror and said "OMG that's so big! I need a zero"

I nearly crawled into the floor to hide.

[firebreath.livejournal.com]

When I was skinner than I am now, I went to a Korean clothing store in LA and tried on some pants. They were a crazy size like 96 or something like that. I couldn't them over my hips. I asked the girl if she had any bigger, and she shook her head in digust. It was sort of absurd. The biggest size they had was 96 and I didn't fit into it.

[agirlnamedlucky.livejournal.com]

Ah man, this is ridiculous. But yeah, I've written about it before (http://agirlnamedlucky.livejournal.com/494312.html).

What's this about you starting up a teen mag?

[firebreath.livejournal.com]

Oh I have a dream about starting a teen magazine, but I was recently told it's been tried before and failed. I intend on doing a positive body image web site, though.

[erg.livejournal.com]

I know nothing about Miss America Ferrara not having a T.V. at this point, but I've a friend who recently sent me a link, because this is what the girl she likes, looks like. As in, she wants to date a friend, and sent me a picture of America. She doesn't look big to me, she just doesn't look a waif. Waifs are okay if they come by it naturally, but you know, I think the message about weight is just a control issue. What's an easy way to control a person? Get on them about their weight.

[firebreath.livejournal.com]

What's an easy way to control a women? Get on them about their weight.

That's very astute.

[erg.livejournal.com]

I've found it works w/ men too.

My mom worked for a company which sold diet health shakes. Her job for the in-house magazine, was to write the research into stuff the distributors could understand. I don't recall the exact ad copy line she came up with about the fork being the most dangerous implement in America.

But, what is more personal, than what's on the end of the fork, our relationship to food? One has to have it, and all the power structure has to do, is interfere with it, and they interfere with ones entire day, the very basics of how they relate to themselves & others.

I know a woman who can barely eat in front of anyone. Because being watched while she eats opens her up to the vulnerability, to the conversation about her weight, and she's "A big girl". I *get* to have dinner w/ her because I don't think of such a thing as dinner conversation, so she can almost get through dinner with me without being too self conscious about being watched while she eats, and when she does become so, I try to go on as if I haven't noticed, but look away from her face or her plate, so she can eat in peace, so it doesn't put her off her meal.

That, is despicable. Fundamentally, she should be able to throw the gristle to the dogs and drink half a tankard, spill the other half and laugh loudly amongst her friends, rather than having to turn down most outings which may include getting food, if she hasn't had a chance to eat alone, earlier.

For men who do eat whatever whenever, can one imagine telling them that they have to get down to a certain weight, that no, all that muscle is actually part of what makes them into, oh, say rapists, and say, cave men, that the only acceptable body weight is 25% below their base weight, that real men look like those who take up ballet? What would we get? Same things: Rage, shame, helplessness, and if they were allowed to deviate only 5 pounds, not 7 pounds through each season but they had to return to this imaginary perfection...all we'd have is a whole lot of people feeling utterly powerless, weak and hungry. Such distractions are ultimately boring, it's obviously clear to anyone who's gone outside, love has nothing to do with weight.

[pene.livejournal.com]

ooh. your lucky friend :)

[erg.livejournal.com]

:) The woman lives with her g/f, But, they've all made friends.

[omgteaparty.livejournal.com]

Urgh, Alicia Silverstone, fat?!?! LEATHER MAKES ANYONE LOOK FATTER THAN THEY REALLY ARE. Sigh. This post really struck a chord in me. It's bloody embarrassing to admit, but all of a sudden, these past 3 months I've been struggling with hatred over my body image. And the reason why I don't mention this a lot is because people will usually go WHAT YOU HAVE BDD YOU ARE A SIZE 6 blahblahblah. But it's the PROBLEM spots that really frustrate me. We all have them - it's either the arms, the tummy, the thighs etc etc.

I used to be the kind that ate like crazy and stayed skinny all over, but when I turned 20-21, my metabolism CRASHED. And I started to put on weight. My clothes STARTED TO NOT FIT. It was terrifying because something I always took for granted is no longer there. And I TRIED dieting but it didn't work because I don't have enough willpower to not eat.

Most people are going to find this rant insane coming from me, but as an Asian girl who happens to always be around MUCH MORE petite, TOTALLY skinny other Asian girls, you can't use the Western average sizes to compare. I look normal by myself but next to my friends people are always telling me "DUDE YOU COULD LOSE SOME WEIGHT".

[erg.livejournal.com]

Dude, I just looked at your LJ. Your friends are, well, whatever. Don't not eat, just eat more veggies, but you need to lose weight the same way we need someone to invent edible shoe laces.

[firebreath.livejournal.com]

Hey lady, I know. The skinny version of me tried some Korean size 96 pants, and they didn't fit over my lovely lady hump. Be proud of that ass! You just have to move to America, where outside of LA, you'll be the teeniest, cutest girl ever.

Tell those people they can bite me!

xoxo