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

[sweet and sexy]

I also thought gay men ran the fashion industry? Not women.

[Sweetie]

Originally Posted by sweet and sexy

I also thought gay men ran the fashion industry? Not women.

They do.

[sweet and sexy]

But Grimm says they do not, and take orders from higher-up ladies?

[Makedah24]

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.

Lily , i don't think a size 4 is considered "fat" in the "real" world , in Hollywood ? Yes, in the fashion industry ? yes .The "real" world ? Nah... i really don't think so.Now maybe it depends on the country you live in But i know that in France a size four is not fat but slender,thin? Definitely not fat WTF?

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

BEST.COMMENT.EVER.
That's so true. This is precisely why i stopped buying Glamour magazine.This shit can ruin your self esteem.According to those mags you ALWAYS lack something.

Originally Posted by 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.

.

Oops..i didn't read your comment,we said almost the same thing

Also,that's funny cause i'm the same height as you but i 'm 130 lbs (so technically way more heavier) yet i'm a size 6.How come ? That's weird...

[Tati]

Originally Posted by sweet and sexy

I also thought gay men ran the fashion industry? Not women.

Originally Posted by Sweetie

They do.

Originally Posted by sweet and sexy

But Grimm says they do not, and take orders from higher-up ladies?

I think he just means that it's primarily women buying what the fashion industry sells us - so we are the driving market force behind it, if not behind the design decisions themselves.

[pacific breeze]

Originally Posted by Makedah24

Lily , i don't think a size 4 is considered "fat" in the "real" world , in Hollywood ? Yes, in the fashion industry ? yes .The "real" world ? Nah... i really don't think so.Now maybe it depends on the country you live in But i know that in France a size four is not fat but slender,thin? Definitely not fat WTF?







BEST.COMMENT.EVER.
That's so true. This is precisely why i stopped buying Glamour magazine.This shit can ruin your self esteem.According to those mags you ALWAYS lack something.


Oops..i didn't read your comment,we said almost the same thing

Also,that's funny cause i'm the same height as you but i 'm 130 lbs (so technically way more heavier) yet i'm a size 6.How come ? That's weird...

Because I am quite busty and also have wide hips. I can wear a size 6 in some styles, but not all. So I usually wear an 8 because I don't like clothes that fit too tight. My weight ranges from 118 to 125, but for the past few months, I've been 118. Winter usually means a few extra pounds.

[Lani]

I think the other problem is that because so many of us put ourselves up against other womens bodies, shape, skin color whatever that when a group of people say negative things about it we turn it back on ourselves. I know I used to. When people would tease Britney or Cameron Diaz for their bad skin I would hate myself for days afterwards.

The other big problem is the diet industry makes you feel like you should always be on a diet. You turn on the tv these days and its like 'you a FAT, take this product, you are FAT be apart of this club, FAT FAT FATTY now eat this really disgusting fast food then take this weight loss product, blah blah blah'.

[pacific breeze]

That's why I don't watch commercials and rarely read fashion magazines. If I do, I put my critical thinking skills on high alert.

[sweet and sexy]

Originally Posted by Tati

I think he just means that it's primarily women buying what the fashion industry sells us - so we are the driving market force behind it, if not behind the design decisions themselves.

Oh thanks Tati, I am such an idiot. Lol.

[Makedah24]

Originally Posted by pacific breeze

Because I am quite busty and also have wide hips. I can wear a size 6 in some styles, but not all. So I usually wear an 8 because I don't like clothes that fit too tight. My weight ranges from 118 to 125, but for the past few months, I've been 118. Winter usually means a few extra pounds.

OK, i see. Plus my hips aren't really wide so that makes sense.

[thrpschr]

She's right, of course, up to a point - women watch their weight mostly for other women, most men honestly don't care that much. There's a man for every body type, you know? I'm a European size 44, and I'm being hit on and checked out all the time. I know guys (and girls) who love figures like mine, and I know other guys (and girls) who don't find it attractive at all. There are no general rules, and there's no accounting for taste.

But it's not really as easy as just saying that women are to blame, or the fashion industry are to blame - we're all part of this system and I think we all of us support and reinforce it, in many different ways. Every time we call someone a fat slob, inwardly or to their face, we reinforce it. Every time we buy a fashion mag that tells us to lose weight and keeps using scrawny, prepubescent models to sell clothes to average-sized adult women, we support it.

I honestly don't think it's possible not to be a part of it, and I'm not suggesting that we should preach obesity - after all, the whole point of trying to counteract these ideals is that they are unhealthy, as is obesity. I'm not suggesting that we stop caring about clothes and fashion either - hell, I love clothes! But I do think we could be more tolerant towards others, I do think that we could be better at seeing the big picture, and I think we could cut ourselves some more slack, too.

And we should vote with our feet. It's almost impossible not to support any companies that promote and reinforce unhealthy ideals, but we can choose not to buy from the worst offenders, and we can choose to support the companies we feel provide a better, more varied standard of beauty.