After the curvaceous, celebrated Hollywood era-gone-by had seemingly left our peripheral vision, we’re suddenly starting to spot -gasp- some “average sized” women hitting the celebrity and fashion scenes.
This is surprising to an age where beautiful women like Sarah Jessica Parker are being compared to farm animals, Jessica Simpson snagged the cover of every smutty gossip magazine when she held a concert looking slightly over a size 6 (even Fox News couldn’t resist coverage – shocking!), and god forbid I forget to mention the fact that magazines are photoshopping their cover girls within an inch of their lives.
Thanks, FOXNews, for this informational coverage…
For what? Why, to create a completely unrealistic depiction of “beauty”, of course!
But you have to wonder, with the insurgence of beautiful women like Christina Hendricks (better known as Joan Holloway on Mad Men), Beth Ditto (lead singer of The Gossip, and recent fashion icon), America Ferrera (Ugly Betty? Please…), and Jennifer Hudson (um, what doesn’t she do?) entering the Hollywood and fashion scenes – will this have any effect on the future of female depiction?
L to R: Jennifer Hudson, Christina Hendricks, Beth Ditto, America Ferrera
Ms. Ditto was in the grasping hands of all things fashion media as she attended A/W ’09 Fashion Week in New York in February. What? But… She’s… You know! Right! Hence the media frenzy. Even more surprising? She was asked to play the Fendi show a la Karl Lagerfeld (who you may recall has not exactly been a fan of weighty women in the past).
Photo: Harper’s Bazaar
So, has the movement started? Some journalists have labeled this scene as a “fad”, or “The Beth Ditto Effect”. Lisa Armstrong of the Times Online discusses whether this signifies a change in fashion, or simply a passing trend.
Could it be that in 2009, with everything else turning upside down, fashion has finally smashed its only real taboo? Has fashion really gone and made a woman who’s at least size 20 its mascot? And if so, is this the start of something genuinely new and important?
The way I see it, Beth Ditto’s rise to fashion icon-ism was well kicked off with the announcement that she’d be gracing the cover of Katie Grand’s new Love Magazine, which debuted this month. Not only did she grace the cover, but she did so with great, garment-less power (read: totally naked, dude).
Photo: The Mardou & Dean Diaries
So is this really a Ditto-lead revolution? Or are heavy girls just the hot new must-have accessory for designers?
Or could it be that the rage of curvaceous and inspiring women have flooded the scene less because of their shapes, and more because of their extreme confidence and high level of comfort with their bodies?
Armstrong makes a good point about the size vs. confidence argument:
Beth Ditto can work a bodycon dress because she appears to suffer from about as much self-doubt as a tornado. You might find the way she looks too in your face. You might argue that she’s no more a healthy role model than a girl who’s too thin. But you can’t argue with her confidence. Maybe in the end, this is about attitude, not shape. That’s radical too.
Indeed.
So, what do you think? Is the fashion industry using the “average sized woman” as their next big thing? Or could society actually be nurturing a change in the “ideal woman”?
Leave us your thoughts in the comments!
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I really hope that things are actually turning around, and not just becoming a fad. As a woman who’s currently on the higher end of the plus-sized scale, I rejoice when I see Beth Ditto strutting her stuff and being beautiful! I hope that more amazing and beautiful and big women come out of the cracks and become seen!
At the same time, I think that EVERY body should be celebrated. Stop the discrimination and hateration surrounding everyone. Ideally, every body type would be equally represented–not only the anorexically thin, and not only the obese. Everyone!
Danielle’s last blog post..HAPPY 100!
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Posted by Danielle | April 6, 2009, 6:08 pmi cheered when i saw this cover! it’s such a wonderful celebration of a woman’s body. confidence is definitely the key to being sexy.
i have recently lost some weight and gained a LOT of confidence, and even though i don’t look all that different than before, i feel amazing and people react to it. i only wish i could have loved myself before i lost weight, since every woman should feel great about themselves no matter how they look.
patty’s last blog post..poofie: if i had even 10% of this confidence, i could rule the world: http://tinyurl.com/cqphr6
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Posted by patty | April 6, 2009, 7:16 pmNew @ The Demoiselles: Fat Girls = Trendy? http://is.gd/r2GM
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Posted by Lindsay | April 6, 2009, 5:31 pmI don’t think it’s just a trend at all, the reason being that more and more TV shows are featuring size 10 & 12+ women without mentioning their weight at all. Even on Ugly Betty (where AF is only a size 6/8 ) they make comments about her weight all the time. But on Mad Men & Dollhouse, Joan & November/Mellie’s weight are never mentioned. They are allowed to have normal bodies without any mention of food or weight from others. In fact, it’s emphasized that all the dolls in the Dollhouse are chosen precisely for their sex appeal and attractiveness.
It, as I’m sure you can tell, makes me very excited! I can’t believe we’ve come to the day where normal bodies are alright in the media! Hopefully fashion continues to follow suit.
Kristy’s last blog post..Enjoy the Weather!
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Posted by Kristy | April 7, 2009, 3:27 amI love Beth Ditto! I don’t know, I agree with everything you’ve said, but I just don’t see mainstream attitudes changing. That Vogue
‘shape’ issue was particularly irritated, since they featured Adele but very obviously photoshopped her to make her look 30 pounds lighter. Ugh. I sure hope things are changing though, it’d be nice to move into a stage of happy acceptance for ALL body types, no matter how bony (well, not unhealthily so…), curvy, wobbly, lumpy, androgynous, or angular.
Michelle’s last blog post..Daily Outfit April 3rd
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Posted by Michelle | April 7, 2009, 4:22 amI think it’s more to do with the confidence factor — the fact that women are embracing their curves is somewhat refreshing to a world that’s been dominated by haute couture models weighing approximately 80 pounds. It’s the sudden surge of women speaking out, women like Jennifer Love Hewitt (I don’t care what she says, the woman is NOT a size 0) and Tyra Banks going public with their self-acceptance and making it essentially glamorous to be curvy.
Kate Winslet is my absolute favorite, though, when it comes to curvy stars. I mean, the woman was naked 95% of the time in her last movie, and she’s always embraced her figure and has never, ever been afraid to show it off. That’s so inspiring to me, especially since I have much the same body type as she.
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Posted by Leslie | April 7, 2009, 4:41 amI’m all for the more realistic bodies being portrayed by the media. This entry evoked kind of a hell yes moment for me as it’s finally being recognized that beautiful real bodies are in and skeletor isn’t.
However, I Googled Beth Ditto because I had never heard of her and for the most part I’m against her. She does have some “yes” moments. See first link below. But many of her style choices and even the way she portrays herself is on the verge of horrific. Yes, she is confident and yes she is real, but there is a huge line being crossed here between being confident and dressing with confidence. I’m all for her naked cover picture. I think that picture is amazing, but as far as outside of the print world goes I would think that Ditto would re-think that colorful, tight wardrobe. I wouldn’t even wear spandex and as Cereal Killer said from 1995′s Hackers said “Spandex: it’s a privilege, not a right.”
http://img.thesun.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00439/beth_280_439673a.jpg
http://www.fujirockers.com/blog/BethDitto_The_Gossip.jpg
http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2007/12/07/bethditto_narrowweb__300x487,2.jpg
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Posted by Julia | April 8, 2009, 11:30 pmIn response to “Julia”‘s comment above… the thing with Beth Ditto is that her whole persona/style is just a big “FUCK YOU” to the thin-minded cultural society, and it has really made people love the shit out of her.
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Posted by L. | April 9, 2009, 8:15 amTo L and Julia – I think some of Beth Ditto’s style is amazing and awesome, but everyone has their days where their outfit is a little “WTF?!”
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Posted by Birdie | April 9, 2009, 3:06 pmI don’t realy know much about Beth, but for me, I think a HUGE part of happiness with body/self image comes from having the ability to dress it the way you want to. I am both short 4′ 10″ and plus sized, and WOW is there not an easy way to clothe myself in ready-to-wear department/mall store clothing. In order to find something that fits my waist, I end up with knee tapers somewhere around mid-calf, and forget skirts, As Jen has pointed out, there is no such this as knee length for 5ft and under girls. I would be in glorious happy harmony with my body if I could just go out and buy clothes that even sort-of fit me, but as things stand, I can’t. I spend hours trying things on, and I am the bain of dressing room attendants everywhere. So no, I don’t think mainstream fashion has realy embraced larger women, I’ll believe it the day I walk out of a store in under 2 hours with more than 1 oufit.
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Posted by Shereen | June 11, 2009, 10:19 am“she’s no more a healthy role model than a girl who’s too thin”
Obesity is a desease.
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Posted by Priscila | September 22, 2009, 6:20 pmBeth Ditto may be a confident woman, but the last commenter noted, obesity is a disease. You should not aspire to be unhealthily underweight or overweight. You should aspire to be the best version of yourself. For some of us, that means a size 2. For some of us, that means a size 14. But not for any one does it mean being morbidly obese. Consult your doctor if you are unsure about the appropriate weight range for yourself.
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Posted by Jess | October 24, 2009, 1:32 amSad to say, I think it’s all just a gimmick. In a few years we’ll be back to the old ways. Or perhaps there will be a few size 6 models instead of size 0, but the last two comments on this post just go to show how ingrained fat hatred and health moralism is. I don’t think that even Beth Ditto’s amazing confidence can change that.
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Posted by Mander | November 20, 2009, 6:25 amAs a former model who was anorexic and am now about 80 pounds overweight (by doctor standards, not my own)I would have to cheer anything that shakes the idea that women must be thin, thin and thinner until they die. I was told I had big hips when I was a size 5.
I am not as big as Beth Ditto, but I know that I am not healthy. I can’t breathe as well, my ankles and knees don’t like the extra weight, and I simply do not feel light on my feet. I used to dance and sing. Singing still works, but I notice a difference in my breathing, and dancing the way I used to can’t happen. Simply put, I am not at a healthy weight.
The ladies in the picture are all beautiful, and I think Beth looks cute in that dress, but you can also see that she isn’t healthy. I agree with what some of the others have said, neither unhealthy extreme is good. There’s got to be a balance. Women who are the size that is healthy for them are really beautiful. That’s what I am aiming for, and not by starving myself!
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Posted by Victoria | May 31, 2010, 9:27 am