Having fond memories of your formative years? One of the channels here has started airing episodes of The Facts of Life and I love being reminded of my childhood. But something has been bothering me. In the show Blair states she is a 'perfect size 10'. Hmmm. Really? Wow! It seems so brave for a female character to say something like that. In this day and age, when being anything larger than a 'perfect size 2' is considered obese, it is almost shocking to think there was a time when size 10 was the ideal. Remember when we all wanted to be Blair? She was the standard back in ohhh 1980 or so!
Let's be realistic here and acknowledge that even with all of the images of teensie tiny women being fed to us everywhere we turn, most of us are not even close to looking like them. I read recently the average woman in North America is size 12 and even with a lovely little thing called Vanity Sizing most of us don't have a hope in hell of looking anything like the models in the magazines we choose our clothes from. I know two bloggers who model clothes for all of us on a daily basis who are both about size 2 - and the clothes look great on them! What disturbs me is the pictures in the catalogues - the models look like they are half the size of the real life women who blog about the clothes every day! I cant even fantasize I could ever be a size 2...let alone smaller!
How has this happened? I know we didn't consider Blair Warner to be fat when we were kids but when I watch The Facts of Life now I know she would be raked over the coals by every gossip columnist with a laptop. Remember when Jessica Simpson gained 3lbs and was plastered all over the internet because she 'got fat'? Poor Blair wouldn't stand a chance!
What does this do to the little girls who are growing up with these images today? When I was a child Blair's perfect size 10 looked great to me! Why is it not a respectable size now? Before I got pregnant I was a size 8 and I didn't look or feel huge and let's face it...I left Blair's perfect size 10 in the dust! Should society be teaching girls that being size 10 is anything less than beautiful?
I cant imagine as a mother what it would be like to have to battle images like this and keep a daughter healthy and happy:
This is Milley Cyrus' little sister. Where are this child's parents?! I don't think this was a Halloween costume either! I think the word 'prostitot' stems from this sort of thing.
I didn't mean for this to turn into a rant, just a sad observation.
And in case you are wondering what The Facts of Life is....
It is the show that introduced us to this man...
Who became this man *swoon*...
Have a fabulous day!
14 comments:
This is a great post!
I love me some Blair Warner. I used to think I was so special b/c there was such a classy girl on tv with my same first name, and pretty too! It's very sad that our society is so stuck on image and size. There was an article in Glamour mag last month and it had pictures of beautiful iconic women from each decade and of course, each decade they got smaller and smaller. It went from Marylin Monroe (curvy, normal bod, and stunning) to Kate Moss (beautiful but coked out and fraile looking). I was so pleased they did an issue focusing on beauty that is found in any shape, size, color, height.
AND this picture of Miley's sister disturbs me to no end. UGH, how old is she anyway?
I cannot even remember if I was EVER a size 2. I love that Blair said a perfect size 10. What a great role model compared to the girls who disappear when they turn sideways.
I adored The Facts of Life! Blair was my favorite! Well, after Mr. Clooney, of course!
I was a perfect size 10 for years and now I consider myself perfectly sized for my age. I agree with all the unrealistic hype about size. Thank goodness my 3 girls never let this become a problem for them.
And I'm not sure how many of you are aware that the sizes have changed over the years. What was a size 10 for me when I was 16 is now about a size 6 or 8. I believe they did this to make us feel better??? Sad huh!
I used to LOVE the Facts of Life... but I do remember seeing an article with Lisa afterwards and how she spoke of her battle with her weight throughout the show and the critics who DID give her a hard time. With high fashion and models/celebrities such a focal point of society, it's hard to move away from this debate and teach young girls [and even girls and women of ALL ages] that being healthy, fit and owning your body is the most important aspect. And so many studies are done that show that men [who we shouldn't be aiming to please anyways :) ] prefer women who are normal, curvy and are NOT stick thin and a size 2. With media outlets photoshopping the heck out of girls, it's almost a never ending battle that we're fighting. Like, the Ralph Lauren model who got fired a few weeks ago for being 5'10 [or was she 5'8?] and 120lbs. Too fat!? That's insane...
It's really a sad debate. I wish more people would focus on teaching young girls the importance of exercise, eating well, being healthy and keeping our minds and bodies fit; NOT to be striving towards unattainable and unhealthy goals.
And Miley Cyrus' little sister? Well, that whole family is just whack. The mother prances around like she's still a teenager and when Miley finds it acceptable to basically pole dance at an awards show... well, I don't even give them a second glance. They are NUTS! :)
Blogger ate my comment. *sigh* I loved this show as a kid. It made me want to attend boarding school.
I saw this photo of Miley Jr earlier and was in shock. Who let's their child leave the house looking like that!?
This is such a great topic Miss Princess, thank you for raising the issue. I think I'm in shock over the photo of the little Cyrus girl, my word!
Hope the rest of your week is faboo!
tp
I still heart George!! So so true, I can only imagine what challenges my someday children will be faced with!!
Well said! I agree wholeheartedly with you. I did not have daughters, but my friends do and my sons had many female friends and it disturbed me immensely to see how many of them obsessed about their weight and tried to emulate celebrities and models. But it is not only girls that it affects, I see it also in boys and young men now. My word! That picture of Miley Cyrus' little sister is very disturbing!
~ Tracy
swooning over GC.... is that little girl for real??
I know, the times have certainly changed, the outfit on Miley's daughter is horrible! I love George, my he seems to be so attractive even though he has gotten older!
Oh George. I even loved you back then, hair and all!
Miley's little sister has me terrified. Thank the good lord I have boys! Shopping for their halloween costumes this week just about did me in. All those sexy costumes for 8 year-olds made me long for role models like Blair Warner. Hell, they make me long for role models like Mrs. Garrett!
I use to wish i could go to school with Blair (lol) loved that show !
Amen!!! It's so disgusting how skinny the girls in Hollywood have become. How in the world are they staying that thin? Drugs? UGH!
It's such a bad example for young girls today. I mean I even get upset sometimes if I decide to let myself go there and compare myself to Hollywood girls. And I'm 35!!
I was at a friend's house and her son was watching a children's show. One of the girls said something about her shoes making her look fat. I thought, "Are you serious? On a kid's show."
Post a Comment