Dame Helen Mirren: Women are to blame for the size zero problem

[sharon_b]

Dame Helen Mirren has joined the size zero debate by blaming women for pushing teenage girls towards eating disorders.


The 62-year-old Oscar winning actress said women were behind the images of skinny girls on the catwalk and in magazines giving teenage girls a complex about their weight.

[Lily]

I'm with her. We blame men. But I've never known a man to actually LIKE skinny women. When I was a zero, I was asked by guys if I had an eating disorder. I'm a size four now, and they love it. But according to this world, size four is FAT.

Helen Mirren is gorgeous, too. Anyway. She is.

[ariesallover]

Originally Posted by Lily

I'm with her. We blame men. But I've never known a man to actually LIKE skinny women. When I was a zero, I was asked by guys if I had an eating disorder.

I was asked if I were healthy and a bunch of other questions by men I met for dates. They were *concerned* about my size, even though both my folks are super skinny, and were attracted to me for other reasons, definitely not my skinny booty.

[Sweetie]

Actually, the fashion world not men or women is what's making girls skinner and skinner.

[Grimmlok]

yeah, but who runs that?

[Sweetie]

gay men

[Grimmlok]

LOL predominantly women.. gay men just design what they tell them to

[Sweetie]

[Amberstone]

Originally Posted by Lily

I'm with her. We blame men. But I've never known a man to actually LIKE skinny women. When I was a zero, I was asked by guys if I had an eating disorder. I'm a size four now, and they love it. But according to this world, size four is FAT.

Helen Mirren is gorgeous, too. Anyway. She is.

Now you're saying guys 'love' size four which is a very tiny frame. That's a uk size 8 which most people only acheive through dieting and excessive exercise. Of course men are going to love it, you're very slim!

[Lily]

^The sad part is that it's considered "fat" by today's standards. I'm five foot three, so I look different than I did when I was a zero. I saw pics of myself at that size, though, and my face looks HELLA gaunt. Yuck.

Women's magazines are run by women. What's on the cover of women's magazines? Airbrushed women who look exactly the same, and feature titles which tell you "You are not good enough the way you are.....Your hair, your weight, your skin, the way you have sex, how much you have sex....you're doing it all wrong."

Women are far more to blame than any man is (gay or straight).

[KrisNine]

I think it's a bit different here where I live. Men love woman who look artificial. Big boobs teetering on a teeny, tiny frame.

[pacific breeze]

Size 4 is considered "fat?" Maybe in Hollywood and the fashion industry, but not in the real world. I guess at a size 7/8 at 5' 31/2" inches and 118 pounds, I am obese then? News to me. I haven't been a size 4 for about 8 years now and doubt I ever will be again, and it doesn't bother me a whit.

Nobody HAS to believe that crap. I certainly choose not to, and when some of my female students say things like "I'm so fat" when they're all of 100 pounds, I tell them to be grateful that they have enough food to even consider becoming overweight. I also tell them that they should love themselves and take care of themselves and their weight will take care of itself.

[Lani]

The thing I always found astounding is that when comparing the images of women between my magazines and my brothers is that my brothers magazines displayed much fleshier women then the chicks mags. I've stopped buying womens magazines now, they're so into telling you how flawed you are so you'll buy their sponsors/advertisers products.

would it be wrong of me to state that mens magazines celebrate women more then womens magazines do?

[Lily]

Originally Posted by Lani

The thing I always found astounding is that when comparing the images of women between my magazines and my brothers is that my brothers magazines displayed much fleshier women then the chicks mags. I've stopped buying womens magazines now, they're so into telling you how flawed you are so you'll buy their sponsors/advertisers products.

would it be wrong of me to state that mens magazines celebrate women more then womens magazines do?

Oh, not at all. Every guy I know LOVES Salma Hayek. She's not a stick at all. But every guy I know goes into a trance if you mention her name.

Women are, by nature, cattier and more competitive (on a personal and unhealthy note) than men are. We're so starved for attention, and for control, and for validation, that we're constantly trying to outdo each other. Being skinny is one way to have an advantage. I know a lot of guys who would rather be with a woman who has a beautiful face and is a little "heavier" than a woman with a bangin' body and an ugly face.

But women's magazines are cruel, destructive, and superficial. I will not read them, not at all. I won't read Us, OK!, or any of those either, because they hold up a completely unattainable ideal....Every celebrity, every image we see, is completely fake--it begins with surgery, and then goes onto two or three hours of makeup, perfect lighting, a professional photog, then airbrushing.

Women perpetuate this obsession with looks a lot more than men do. It's sick.

[pacific breeze]

^^True. Most men I've ever met, and I've met quite a few since I've always worked in male-dominated professions, prefer women with some meat on their bones. It's hard wired -- curvy women look more fertile, ergo, more attractive. Can't get past that biological imperative. That's why when I look at women's magazines, especially lately, the women look half-starved to me (which they are). Be comfortable with who you are. As long as you're healthy and fit, who gives a damn? Men like them in all shapes, sizes and colours last time I looked.