America Ferrara is exactly the kind of star I love to see achieve success. She’s humble, bright, funny, talented, adorable, classy, and NOT a stick figure. But while everyone wants to say that her upward mobility in the industry is an indication that our cultural values are changing, or that real bodies are slowly becoming more welcome in Hollywood’s ranks, I’m going to give that a flat NO. Actresses are still starving themselves for their agents, their films, and their clothes, and women everywhere are still taking “before” photos for weight loss projects that deserve to be “after” shots. Fitness, yes. Health, yes. But even in this wee, supposedly liberated space we call the blogosphere (I know. But what else can I call it? Blogtown? Blogland? Blogville? Blogiverse?) I can’t click through more than three blogs written by women without coming across some sort of self-deprecation, body-bashing, or calorie-counting remark, even by the ladies who say “all bodies are beautiful.” What? Did you mean all bodies except yours? Seriously! The most feminist voices out there turn into high school girls poking at their thighs and fretting aloud about their hips and bellies. Do you see how ironic you are? Putting up that freakin’ Dove commercial in one post, and then using the term “muffin top” to describe their body in jeans in the next. AND — while I’m at it — since when should someone like America (or Jennifer Lopez or Jennifer Hudson or Beyonce or Kate Winslet (!) be considered “full figured”? Gah! Stop comparing people to the thinnest possible example of womanhood. That’s NOT how our bodies work, save for women who are naturally disposed to that kind of frame. And if you need to starve yourself and work out for two hours a day? You’re not naturally disposed. Sorry.
I am redeveloping my love for singer/songwriters who perform as solo acts, with only piano or guitar to accompany them. I love how the lyrics, rhythms and chord progressions shine through when everything else is stripped away. Don’t get me wrong — I love a good Justin Timberlake throwdown, too — but I’m discovering a lot of talented voices lately, and they give me a lot of inspiration and joy.
Has anyone tried Crest Whitestrips? Or any kind of whitening system? I’ve abused my teeth a little more than I should have with coffee and karaoke microphones (don’t ask) and I’m curious about whether or not they damage teeth or create sensitivity.
Sometimes you just have to acknowledge incompatibility. The nicest, most lovely people in the world can be horrible in the wrong combination. That’s just how it is. Everyone thinks that being nice and being kind and being a decent human being means you should be able to make it work. Again, nah.
Fog is trying to take over the city of Vancouver. Last night, we couldn’t see the house across the street. Creepy? Yes. BUT… it’s not RAIN. And I like anything that’s not rain. And even rain sometimes. But not right now.
