The Portrayal of Women in the Media

[Esme echo]

Hear, hear, Chernaudi! There are no size, shape or weight requirements for a magnetic personality.

One thing I appreciate about Kristen Stewart is that she has the self-confidence to remain herself in front of cameras, in social situations, and during interviews. She doesn't feel the need to pretend in order to protect her self-image; she's very grounded that way.

Kristen's thin as a rail, though. I wonder if she's naturally thin or if she works at it as an unavoidable part of her job.

Weight is a rather insidious topic. We all want to be healthy and look nice in our clothes; unfortunately, that means exerting self-disciple (a four-letter word in disguise!), exercising, and paying attention to what we're eating. I think the problem arises when we set our weight/fitness goals to imitate other people and their perceptions, or negatively compare our body size/weight with others as a means of running ourselves down. Emotional health is just as important as physical health.

[Fighting fate]

totally agree with whats been said. it kind of reminds me of people buying clothes or products that are "one size fits all", when does THAT ever work?? just like clothes, body types are never on size fits all. trying to make yourself into something that you are not, and most likely dont want to be. Being happy with who you are is a very difficult task in my opinion, as human beings we are very judgmental of ourselves and the ones around us, but changing yourself for the sake of others, or to fit the norm, is never worth it in the end.

[Chernaudi]

I'd have to say that Kristen is natually thin. She does gain weight on occasion, but she's pretty athletic, too (she seems to enjoy running and playing sports), so that probably helps control it. After all, she's a fan of Paula Dean and Kristen does her own cooking. Maybe Kristen making most of her own food for herself has something to do with it. The only time she's admitted to even slightly dieting was for BD to play a sickly Bella before she became a vampire--and that only involved using less butter than Paula does in most of her cooking .

Considering it all, Kristen is natually thin. However, I don't see her putting on weight for a role, either. However, in recent years, as she's become an adult, she's gained muscle tone it seems.

At least she seems happy with herself, and sees a lot of the arbitrary standards of H'wood beauty to be crap. Little wonder why so many people think she's beautiful and attractive--she's just herself.

[pyrosis]

Sorry that it took me so long to reply.

Esme echo
I ment that those children are born with a condition that makes it impossible to tell if they are male or female, because their genitals are not 100% male or female, they are both at the same time. And as I said, that is just what you can see, the visible case. There are so many medical conditions that take place inside the body, "wrong" combination of hormons, women not beeing able to have babys, men with high voices..... It is impossible to draw a clear line between male and female, because there is no such thing as 100% male or 100% female. We all have and do things that are considered beeing part of the other gender. And the meaning or the ideals of male and female (bodies) have changed in the course of history and so have the expectations about behaviour and they are not the same in different cultures. There are culture who know more than just two genders. All that makes me belive that gender is just a social/cultural construct. And that we are able to change the way it is defined, because no definition is set in stone.

And the important thing is that each and everyone has to remember their power over the media. We are only the victims if we let make us victims. I agree it is hard not to let them fool us, but we are the ones who can make a diffrence, if everyone just does a little bit, it turns out as something big...

[Chernaudi]

Has anyone seen the Samuel L. Jackson film Formula 51? It's a comedy where Sam Jackson plays a drug kingpin who supposidly makes the most powerful illegal drug in the world--except, it really isn't. It turns out that the drug, known as POS51, is a harmless placebo, hence it's name: Power Of Suggestion, Formula 51.

The media thrives off of the power of suggestion. That's how bogus or questionable medical treatments get out and are easily debunked. But then again, with minor medical issues (minor pain, minor depression, etc), about 10% of the time, the placebo works, because a lot of the time, the pain is mostly mental, and boosting mental and emotional morale is a big part of the healing process.

Just remember that the power of suggestion is a double edged sword. I can be used for good, as described above, but marketers can also use it to sell you whatever useless crap that they're peddling. That's why people, especially young women, who seem to be a favorite target because of impressionablity, need to be careful about what's being said and truth and facts.

[Esme echo]

. . . which is why I think it is so important for mothers to be wise and to keep it real for their daughters. Unfortunately, a lot of mothers are deceived by media messages as well!

I think the only real defense against false media messages are personal values. The Cheshire Cat told Alice: "If you don't know where you're going, it doesn't matter which road you take." That is very true about how we respond to the media messages bombarding us each day. If we have a values road map, it will lead us around the pitfalls the media suggests are so enticing.

[Tornado]

Can I throw in my two cents worth?

I do like the fact that Kristen believes in speaking her mind, and wears sandshoes most of the time! That's great! There is only one beef (no pun intended) that I have with her, and it's the same as Esme Echo's, it's that she is so thin.

It worries me that all the women in Hollwood are so thin that if they turn sideways you can't see them. It's not realistic, and while I know some people are naturally this way, I think they're in the minority, whereas virtually every woman in Hollywood is thin. It can't be all natural, and I can't help but wonder if she's eating well. Yes, I'm sure, as Chernaudi says, she exercises a lot, but is it really going to have that much effect if she's eating well? Seriously, she is so thin it doesn't look healthy, and so I think this is one way in which she is conforming to the Hollywood stereotype. How I long for the days when women with curves were considered sexy, or even nice to look at would do me. I considered becoming an actress myself at one stage, as I enjoyed the few amateur productions I was in, but I knew that I'd never cut it as far as looks and size went, so I didn't bother (admittedly, there were other reasons too, but this was a significant one).

I have written a novel that I am trying to get published, and I have tried to make it clear in this novel that the heroine does not look like a stick. Hopefully, if it's ever published and people actually read it, it will be an encouragement to girls like me, who aren't thin.

[Esme echo]

I'm wondering how the perception of "thin is better" evolved? I had a roommate in the military (mid-1970s) who was naturally thin, and she always told me, "No one [meaning a man] wants a bone except a dog -- and he only wants to bury it."

I recently saw a commercial for "Last Holiday" with Queen Latifah; she looked so vibrant, happy, and healthy in that show -- definately not skinny -- she made other "stick-like" actresses look like faded copies of real people. Really thin people often don't have the healthy glow that makes a person feel like smiling just to see them.

My new pet peeve about television and movie theatre is the abundance of hardened women: women demonstrating how powerful they are by imitating physically powerful men; women portrayed as more clever, dangerous, and quick-witted than every man in the cast; women who constantly lure with sex and casually kill or maim -- like a black widow spider or a praying mantis. It's repulsive. It's a contant barrage of anti-feminine messages calculated to persuade women that virture, kindness, compassion, love, tolerance, and tenderness is old hat.

[Chernaudi]

Can I throw in my two cents worth?

I do like the fact that Kristen believes in speaking her mind, and wears sandshoes most of the time! That's great! There is only one beef (no pun intended) that I have with her, and it's the same as Esme Echo's, it's that she is so thin.

It worries me that all the women in Hollwood are so thin that if they turn sideways you can't see them. It's not realistic, and while I know some people are naturally this way, I think they're in the minority, whereas virtually every woman in Hollywood is thin. It can't be all natural, and I can't help but wonder if she's eating well. Yes, I'm sure, as Chernaudi says, she exercises a lot, but is it really going to have that much effect if she's eating well? Seriously, she is so thin it doesn't look healthy, and so I think this is one way in which she is conforming to the Hollywood stereotype. How I long for the days when women with curves were considered sexy, or even nice to look at would do me. I considered becoming an actress myself at one stage, as I enjoyed the few amateur productions I was in, but I knew that I'd never cut it as far as looks and size went, so I didn't bother (admittedly, there were other reasons too, but this was a significant one).

I have written a novel that I am trying to get published, and I have tried to make it clear in this novel that the heroine does not look like a stick. Hopefully, if it's ever published and people actually read it, it will be an encouragement to girls like me, who aren't thin.

Two words to describe Kristen's diet: Paula Dean!

Kristen cooks for herself, and in dishes that use butter, she uses as much as Paula does on her cooking show (!), and Paula's certainly not thin! And we have to remember also that Kristen smokes (not healthy) and, since her 21st birthday, probably drinks (though she's no drunk, but even at that, I wouldn't classify drinking as particulary healthy, either). People who've met and interviewed Kristen when she's eating say that she'll basically eat about anything, and that she probably has an active metabloism, which most people her age tend to have. Well see if her eating habits catch up to her when she's in her late 20s/early 30s when that stuff starts to slow down, or if/when she has kids (and I'm not talking about Renesmee).

I don't know what Kristen's secret is, but she said that she had to diet for Breaking Dawn to enhance Bella's sickly appearance during her pregnancy, and that she didn't like having to change her eating habits to lose a few pounds just for some scenes in the film.

[Tornado]

I certainly hope that Kristen's weight is just the product of a fast metabolism, but I do wish that Hollywood would embrace women with fuller figures.

I agree too, Esme Echo, about women being hard. I think that started back in the nineties, when there was a sudden spate of movie adaptations of 19th century books with the women turned into feminists rather than just concentrating on the story. The versions of Little Women and Jane Eyre released in the nineties were good examples of this. I think it's a sign of a lot of insecurity in women, especially in Hollywood (and from what I've heard it's hard to be a woman in Hollywood) and so they think unless they make women strong they're going to look weak.

This is something I saw creeping into Eclipse. I think MR (assuming that she was responsible for those scenes, and this may not be the case), didn't like the fact that Bella just let Edward get away with lying to her (although the motorcycle scene probably came about mainly because of their need to get Bella to La Push quickly). I think that this attitude was also behind Bella stating at the end of the movie, contrary to the book, that it's not all about Edward. Some people have an enormous problem with the idea that a woman can need a man to that extent, although no one seems to have a problem with Edward needing Bella to that extent.