Official Hollywood Glamour seems predicated on difference and the unachievable. Now that many more of us can afford knock-off glamourous dresses, coloured contacts, etc. the body has become the last frontier for controlling female self-esteem.

Yet, audiences continue to love actresses in the classic films when they looked realistically more average, from Kate Winslet in Titanic to Minnie Driver in Circle of Friends, to Renee Zellweger as Bridget Jones and Jenna in The Office, more recently Christina Hendricks/Joan of Mad Men! And who can forget Elizabeth Taylor’s entire relatively voluptuous by today’s standards career, the not-so-secret appeal of cheeky Roseanne Barr, etc., etc., etc…. Dame Judy Dench has also done well for herself.

My husband always thinks I’m beautiful, size 10 or size 14. He says that if men truly disliked fat, porn wouldn’t show it at all, but in fact it is attractive to see women who are larger, more vital and likely to keep up in his opinion, in the fun things in life. We have known several ultra-slender, fit-looking people who can barely keep up to us on a hike. He also has a slightly softer shape but is very active and strong, but not interested in the bodybuilding zero fat male culture so popular here on the west coast. Regularly he amazes thin people with his agility, stamina, strength, good graces, balance, you name it while at work as a tradesman/home designer. We are not afraid for our health, and we pity the fashion industry victims that I used to be, for giving up everything that’s worth having for the sake of showing one’s ribs.

We think the best thing you can do for your daughters is to emphasize non-fashion examples of culture in their activities: the outdoors, modern dance with more full figures such as the incomparable Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre (boobs, hips, large frames, some female muscles and roundness and fantastic athleticism), music that emphasizes the quality of the aural rather than the visual, real women role models who achieved things, and so on. Above all, emphasizing healthy food and personable personality, and non-obsession with diet and thinness over other considerations… A tall order in today’s culture, but a good fight worth fighting for boys and girls.

I suppose we are all a bit subversive at heart.

So, with a little respect to the post’s author, whose observation is spot on, here’s my shot at answering the question at hand:

The most public bodies, female and male, are under more intense and total regulation (whether external or internal, or both) than before. Perhaps it is the effect of a culture in late-capitalism rooted in an ethos of maximum control, efficiency, perfection, and the appearance of flawlessness. There becomes no tolerance for so-called “imperfection.” Female bodies move particularly in the direction of extreme slenderness because….? I’m not sure. Because for women, slenderness is the most visible signal that one has conquered desire and that control has become paramount? Because, for some reason, they feel “guilty” for being successful women and thus punish themselves with this strict body regimen as self-induced penance?

Anyhow, most of the top tier of the celebrity scene either does coke, heroin, amphetamines (pharmaceutical or illicit), a few sundry exotic substances, or some combination of all of them. If consumed regularly, any or all of these drugs will eventually make anyone look at least a little bit like a runway model; the dark circles under gaunt, dull eyes, the starved-looking body (there are very obvious differences between someone naturally skinny and someone emaciated by recreational chemistry if you know what you’re looking for), and a slowly-setting hardness about them that’s difficult to describe but you know it when you see it.

Here’s my point: The self-absorbed world of pop celebrities and wannabe’s are largely whacked out on drugs that eventually make them look like warmed-up death, which they essentially are. They are also the people who dictate trends in fashion and appearance, which puts them in the unique position of being able to shift public attitudes about their own deteriorating appearance, redefining it as “in.” The public didn’t suddenly decide this look was “in” and force celebrities to adhere to it; what’s “in” is dictated to the public by the celebrities.

IMO, if someone’s appearance is changing due to their recreational drug use, it is in fact a deterioration even if everyone else they do lines with think they look great. Hollywood and the fashion industry are inbred circle-jerks, and they exalt whatever the Alphas in the scene happen to look like as “the” standard to meet. Those in the scene who are not doing the drugs have to conform to the aesthetic set by those above them (who generally are) if they want to be allowed past the velvet rope. Even in Madonna’s case, it may not be just a lot of working out. One of the top-rated/most popular yoga and fitness instructors in Manhattan likes doing speedballs occasionally and heroin or coke (separately, not mixed in a speedball) fairly often. I know this because I went to college with her; she got into the hard stuff when she moved to the City to teach yoga. She parties with this celebrity in-crowd (including two pictured above), and I got a firsthand peek into that scene when I visited last, but the years are catching up and sure enough she’s starting to get that runway-model-junkie look… thank God it’s “in!” We’re no longer friends thanks to me calling it as I saw it and expressing my aversion to the idea of going to her funeral. I was there for the funeral of her boyfriend, the second one to OD within three years and her 11th funeral to attend in the past two; being so awesome has its price (9 were drug related, one had bad luck and died while getting breast augmentation surgery, and one was shot). That’s the reality of the scene.

At the same time, I recognize that these women’s bodies are commodified by the very nature of their careers (acting, modeling), and that therefore, trends in their appearance reflect the changing tastes of the public (or at least, what advertisers and producers believe the public’s tastes to be).

I also recognize that the commodification of women’s bodies occurs regardless of whether we discuss it on this blog.

Still, I can’t shake the feeling that by discussing these women’s appearance, and not their accomplishments, we are complicit in their objectification.

It’s very difficult to gauge someone’s healthiness just glancing at their body. I resemble the stars in their skinnier state. I eat right (I certainly do not starve) and I exercise, and according to my latest physical, I am as healthy as a horse.

Also, it’s impossible to generalize one’s personal sexual preferences to those of the whole human race. “Despite” being skinny, which, according to you, means I look starved, I’ve had men tell me that I look good. There are also people who don’t even consider weight, and others who are attracted to the extremely fat or, yes, even the dangerously thin. Standards of beauty are malleable and personal, varying across cultures and individuals.