Linkspam, the weekend edition:

[nilchance]

Y'all have probably seen this, but whatever.

- Jessica Simpson, the mountain out of a molehill celebrity thing. Jesus H CHRIST, people, look at how cute she is! Lookit the wee belly! I think she's gorgeous with a little extra weight. Stupid mass media, making me side with Ashlee Simpson, but: is this the message you want to send your daughters? Is it surprising that our country has such a high incidence of eating disorders?

- Why is Venus on a diet? I FOAMED when I got this in my e-mail, and I seriously considered whether I should post it again. But if we don't rage and flail when stupid shit like this happens, people will forget that it is indeed the stupidest of shit. Also, plz consult my earlier rant about the goddess being represented as a) white, and b) too skinny to lift a sword or an apple.

- Icon Me Monday, or "I think I'm linking my thread correctly."

Comments

[thornsilver]

Do the dieting Venuses look like bobbleheads to you?

[nilchance.livejournal.com]

HEE. Somebody remarked that Venus had "lollipop" sydrome: big head, wee body.

[allthelivesofme.livejournal.com]

What in the ever-loving hell?! Okay, I'd heard a little bit about the Jessica Simpson thing and was prepared for the stupid but the second link? No. No no no no. I have to go read some Kate Harding now to convince my head not to explode. . .

[nilchance.livejournal.com]

Oh, Kate Harding, how I love her. She's kept my head from detonating many times.

(Silly question: have you seen Fat Rant?)

[allthelivesofme.livejournal.com]

I don't think so, unless it's one of those things that I've seen but am blanking on the name (always possible. lol) Is it a movie, or something up on YouTube, or. . .?

[nilchance.livejournal.com]

Oh my gosh! Vital viewing. The link is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUTJQIBI1oA

[allthelivesofme.livejournal.com]

Aie! My old, dying computer is throwing another fit and refusing to let YouTube work. Will save this link and watch in a week or so when my replacement arrives. :-)

[allthelivesofme.livejournal.com]

Now that's it's working again . . . I think I'm in love. :-D Thanks for pointing me there!! *bookmarking her website*

[bearfairie.livejournal.com]

Jessica Simpson finally is looking like a hot and healthy human woman (instead of an anorexic child), and everyone's freaking out? The media really should stfu over this one.

as for the "artist's rendition of venus" crap... asdf'asdl;kjglkdsfaljhgh.

I've lost my words in a seething fit of rage.

[nilchance.livejournal.com]

Right? I sputtered and twitched over that one. My goddess is NOT a dieter, thank you.

[lomer.livejournal.com]

Okay, for the record, Jessica Simpson with a little extra weight is gorgeous! She's got a healthy glow! She has curves! That size is not an unhealthy size. She is not "fat" she's NORMAL, and a lovely healthy normal at that. Fuck off mass media.

And as for Venus, why would we want her to look like a twelve year old girl? I consider myself to be an athlete but instead of playing sports I'm an actor. I do stage combat (including sword in shield, aka HEAVY weapons), aerial dance (trapeze and silks), dance... I need my body to be able to do everything I ask from it and I ask a lot. I used to be teeny tiny. I used to be "altered Venus" size. I see those girls now in their skinny jeans with four inches of space between their thighs as they walk and I feel sorry for them because I think it's unattractive. I was skinny because I had high metabolism and I was lazy. My body was weak. I was a stick with no curves and no muscle. I have EARNED my curves. My thighs touch now. My legs are large and toned. There are muscles in my arms, on my belly. I am PROUD to have these curves. Skinny doesn't mean attractive, skinny doesn't nessisarily mean healthy. The original Venus is so much sexier because she looks like a WOMAN instead of a young girl.

Oh and as for skinny white goddesses, I can now tell you from experience that fighting with any sword larger then a rapier or a small sword takes a lot of muscle. Again, I'm a very physically fit person. I can easily invert myself in the air. I have the muscle for this. Using a broadsword though? I've decided I definitely need to do more strenght building with my upper body because it's HARD. You NEED the strength and the awareness to wield a heavy weapon. Wee little altered Venus wouldn't be able to lift a damn broadsword let alone USE it.

I don't think muscle builders are attractive because they work towards surface muscles and not true strenght. Having a toned, fit body and the ability to use that body... THATS fucking hot and scrawny Princess Thumbalina can't do it. Give me a modern dancer with huge thighs over a model with a 20 inch waist any day.

[nilchance.livejournal.com]

Having a toned, fit body and the ability to use that body... THATS fucking hot and scrawny Princess Thumbalina can't do it. Give me a modern dancer with huge thighs over a model with a 20 inch waist any day.

Rock the fuck ON. I'm keeping this comment for my own tough chick memories.

[lomer.livejournal.com]

You actually inspired me to do a post in my own journal about body image and sexiness. And I included two different youtube clips of dancers but I realize the first clip actually illustrated my point quite well. If you watch this youtube clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BGGcU1KbL9Y) you can see one girl in sweatpants and a sweatshirt, her fellow dancers are in very form fitting clothes... you know who I think is hotter? Sweatpants girl by a mile! She's confident. She doesn't need to show off. She knows she has control over her body. She's relaxed and she's in the moment. It's fucking HOT. The other girls do a good job too, but they are completely outshown by the EASE of sweatpants girl. Sweatpants are sexy. You don't need bootie shorts and a tank top to prove you're good enough. If you're good enough that's enough. People will see it. I'd much rather watch someone who'll dance in sweatpants and socks then watch someone who's trying so damn hard to be pretty.

[lomer.livejournal.com]

Oh and by "muscle builders" I mean body builders. People who do yoga and have that core strength are so much healthier then those guys who just try to "bulk up". One of my most gleeful moments was hearing about my movement professor shoving a body building student across the floor in an exersize. The game was to try to push your partner. This guy was probably 6'5 and HUGE. My professor is probably 5'4. He didn't want to partner her because he though he'd embarass her. Instead she EASILY shoved him across the entire room. He didn't have a chance. His muscles were all surface, they were all for looks. She had core strength.

I've also gotta say, thank you for starting this body affirming conversation. Sometimes it's nice to be reminded that what we see on a runway isn't actually what we should strive for.

[allthelivesofme.livejournal.com]

"I do stage combat (including sword in shield, aka HEAVY weapons), aerial dance (trapeze and silks), dance..."

First off, wow that sounds awesome. :-) And second--

"Skinny doesn't mean attractive, skinny doesn't nessisarily mean healthy."

Too right. I've lost weight since having my daughter, and I was a stick with a fast metabolism to begin with. I'm not as strong as I should be, as I want to be, but trying to find time to exercise and everything while dealing with an infant is beyond me at the moment. Still, I get people looking at me and thinking I'm healthy just because I can fit into size-small clothes. Um, no.

[lomer.livejournal.com]

Sword and shield kicked my ASS today. The fact that I can confidently do aerial dance (which requires supporting your own weight in the air) and have my arms and back whine like a baby because my sheild and broadsword are heavy? That's awesome. That also tells me that if you're drawing a picture of someone who's supposed to be able to kick someone's ass, they better have some body mass.

And I've decided to focus a lot of my training as an actor into a physical medium. I'm such a common "type" (dark hair, fair skin, average height) that I needed something to put me apart from the masses. Being an actor/combatant with the SAFD, being competent in modern dance, and knowing how to do aerial dance helps make me a more valuble commodity in an extremely competetive field.

It's amazing how many people assume skinny = healthy. I know I used to think that. When I was in middle school I figured I didn't need to run laps. I was already skinny... but there's such a thing as "fat skinny" which is where you're tiny but you have no muscle mass. The "chubby" kid standing next to you might be a LOT more healthy even though they weigh fifty pounds more. I actually know that my body is healthier when I weigh more. I still have a super high metabolism and my weight changes daily. When I have a lazy week I'll weigh five pounds less but that's because my body isn't working hard. Appearances are decieving.

[allthelivesofme.livejournal.com]

"Being an actor/combatant with the SAFD, being competent in modern dance, and knowing how to do aerial dance helps make me a more valuble commodity in an extremely competetive field."

I imagine so! What area of the country are you in, if you don't mind my asking? I'm in small-town midwest, so it's a major find to get a good theater program here, let alone something that deals with aerial dance or stage combat.

[lomer.livejournal.com]

In live in a very Northern town in a very Southern state, sorry. My movement professor has contacts all over the country though. Want me to ask her about a particular area in the Mid-West? One of the benifits of having a professor who is an instructor with the SAFD, BASCC, and Dueling Arts International, is she knows pretty much EVERYBODY.

[allthelivesofme.livejournal.com]

I'm in southeastern Kansas-- about three hours away from either Wichita or Kansas City. Judging from looking through the area papers and stuff, most all of the bigger theater programs are at least a couple of hours away, but thank you for the offer! I just love hearing about that stuff, even if I can't participate at the moment. :-)

[quiet000001.livejournal.com]

The first thing I thought of when I looked at the 'revised' bodies was 'dude, when did we start defining attractive as 'barely-into-puberty-teenage-girl'?

It's kind of creepy.

(Also, I totally agree about being strong being attractive- I'm lucky because genetically I put on muscle easily, and yet when I was younger and very active and so my body fat % was low and I had MUSCLE DEFINITION- seriously, when I was 10- people tried to tell me I needed to lose weight. Wtfbbq? I could hold myself up off the ground on my arms. I could climb all of the playground equipment, even stuff without hand holds, much to the annoyance of the teachers. Maybe on a scale I was 'heavy' but dude, I was FIT.)

[lomer.livejournal.com]

The first thing I thought of when I looked at the 'revised' bodies was 'dude, when did we start defining attractive as 'barely-into-puberty-teenage-girl'?

Exactly! Again I was watching dancers perform pieces today and I was struck by the different body types. The ones that were really dynamic movers and interesting to watch tended to be the ones with the more normal body size. There was one tiny girl and everytime I looked at her I kept thinking "spider twitching". It was awful. I'm sure she's a very nice girl but the illusion of flow was disrupted by her skinny little arms and legs. It looked like the other girls could break her. She looked like a child amongst women.

When I was little I had the opposite issue. I had an uber high metabolism but was kept indoors at all times because that's the society I grew up in. People constantly asked if I was anorexic. I'd much rather be FIT then skinny enough that people think I starve myself.

[realpestilence.livejournal.com]

Have you ever seen Michelle Yeoh's thighs? She used to do ballet, and along with the martial arts, that helped her develop legs that could crack a man's ribcage like a twig. I saw the old movie she did with Jackie Chan, 'Supercop', and was awestruck. :)

[lomer.livejournal.com]

Strength = muscle = mass. It's simply the way things are. Even with yoga which builds core strength and lean muscle and is known for not bulking people up... you still get slightly bigger simply because muscles are taking the shape they want to be in. More aggressive training will result in more aggressive results. I like my thighs. My thighs are ROCKS. They're no longer itty bitty, but they're strong and I'll gladly trade off itty bitty for strong any day.

[realpestilence.livejournal.com]

I was reading a health tip somewhere that said one of the things you can do to help prolong your life is build strong legs. You're less likely to fall and hurt yourself seriously; and if you *do* fall, less likely to break anything major. Considering how many elderly people die or severely injure themselves in falls that break hips, etc, it's a good suggestion!

[bev-crusher1971.livejournal.com]

I must admit I think a few pounds more really really suit Jessica Simpson. She looks like a perfectly normal and happy and healthy (!) woman.

And yes, she is beautiful. I like it when woman have womanly curves.

[bkm5191.livejournal.com]

that "Remember that perspective has left the building. line really got me about the whole Jessica Simpson thing. There is nothing wrong with her body, she is an independent woman with a career and workign hard, why shouldn't she be celebrated?

[realpestilence.livejournal.com]

She's pretty and cuddly-looking, and obviously happy, so what the fuck business is it of anybody else's *what* her weight is?

[softbluebuddy.livejournal.com]

This is an absolutely wonderful post and the string of comments was perfect. I actually saved it to my mems for any day that I am not feeling like being normal is good enough.

Thank you for sharing this. It actually has come up for me in the last couple of days. I had taken a couple of pics of myself then really debated whether I should send to an LJ friend who had never seen me because I wasn't as skinny as a model.

You know what? I sent the pics and couldn't have been happier with the response.

Again, thank you and the rest of your list for sharing. A wonderful discussion and something to remind ourselves of when we are too hard on ourselves.

The Jessica Simpson link was perfect describing the restricted diet and the 2 hour workouts for months to achieve that airbrushed posed pic. Insane. Just insane that people would expect that to be the ideal *and* sustainable.

The icon is for the people perpetuating these myths that are ridiculous and unattainable and unhealthy.

[sorcha-r.livejournal.com]

I loved People's take on Jessica, where they were all Wow! Lookit her hot curvy body! And listen, when she's really skinny, it's because she's unhappy, so this is good!