Have you seen the Dove Campaign For Real Beauty? There is a commercial for soap that has a bunch of women in their underwear (which I am not crazy about) of all shapes, sizes and skin tones. Of the different shapes and sizes there are some pregnant bellies, is one woman with a C-section scar, one woman who likes like, ahem, a size 10 like me.
For too long we have seen women on TV that look like mannequins and not real people. I hope this sparks a new trend. Personally, I am five foot two. I am a mesomorph, I never get skinny. At this point,I could also stand to lose a few pounds (and I am working at it). I have curly hair inclined to frizziness and is a regulation dark brown. I am the opposite of what beautiful mixed people on TV look like-I have very fair skin and very black features (wide nose, full lips) as opposed to the European featured, cocoa woman. Ah, these are gazillion things I wanted to change about myself as a teen. While I know this is far from Hollywood beauty, I look like my mother and father which is honorable. And I look the way God intended me to look. For this reason I have never been big on things like dying hair, changing hair texture chemically, plastic surgery, too much make-up etc.
I am sure every female reading this blog can relate. Maybe not to the same traits, but to the same feeling. If not, I feel real dopey writing this.
I know it is unrealistic to think the modeling industry will be replaced by real people, but to bridge that gap a bit will be nice.
I hear you, Pansy. It would be nice, as I approach my 50's to see anyone who even REMOTELY looks like me that isn't portrayed as the "saintly grandmother" type. You know, just a regular 50 year old. With a few extra pounds, and even if not a few extra pounds, at least the damage that gravity does over time.
I'm sick of only seeing either babies or women who are surgically made to look 20 years younger.
I was depressed when I saw the latest pictures of Sharon Stone. A classy looking lady, who is now, apparently, trying to look like Jennifer Anniston.
I think it is creepy when mothers want to look not just good for their ages ('cause who doesn't?), but just like their daughters.....
Terri,
You know 50 isn't even that old, but it is portrayed on TV like 83. How many times do I see people on movies who are "Grandma" and they look like my great-great grandmother? I keep asking "how old were these people when they had children?"
Yeah, I sawe Sharon Stone and she looks silly with the hair. She is a lovely woman, but I am sorry she has to cave in to that stereotype.
I know what you mean exactly. I have a sturdy body, always have, that now has carried and delivered 7 children. I have a full life, happy, and blessed. So why does seeing the adolecent boy-girls make me feel like a slacker??? These people spend 3 hours to 5 hours A DAY on exercise and make up, have a professional staff, and do nothing but work at looking good. Is that what I want to do with my life?? NO, so why do I feel bad when I see the "perfect" image on T.V.??
pansy, i am SO TOTALLY BIG on plastic surgery! BWAHAHAHAHA!
dove did a similar ad series in europe a couple of years ago, it was a big deal. then it was said, people don't want to see real people although they claim they do. whatever.
renee.. you might feel bad, because all these things you mentioned (having children, working your a** off to raise them etc.) are simply not reflected anywhere visually. there is just no equivalent to who you are on tv. that sends the message that, well, you don't exist. it's like "mothers should exist but not be seen" unless they hide and erase anything visibly motherly about them except the children of course.
it doesn't feel very good.
You know, and here's the other thing. Even when I KNOW in my head what Renee says is true (about hours of exercise, virtual anorexia, etc) and I would pick my life HANDS DOWN, how I can still FEEL bad that I don't "measure up."
On a slightly different issue, I read a devastating book called Such a Pretty Face, which detailed the life of a woman with weight problems. She wrote movingly of this dilemma. She had a PhD in mathematics (or some such), a killer career, high regard from others in her field, a wonderful husband, several children, and a close family. Yet she wrote that every single morning of her life she woke up as a failure (in her mind) because she was overweight.
Heartbreaking. But I "get" it.
At Christmas I sent out little family pictures with the cards. The only thing my grandma had to say was how much weight I gained after having Baby Fredegar (he was 4 weeks old in the pick) and she and my aunt were flabbergasted. I was so hurt that I cried, even though I know my grandmother could be cruel. It was like I couldn't argue it because I did gain weight. Anyway, I know the feeling as well.
Oh, goody...I thought I was imaginig the cesarean scar woman when I saw this ad! Now i know I wasn't seeing things. :-)