Writers cross the line from harmless entertainment to cruelty and dangerous messages. In the mind of a writer of a magazine or newspaper, photographers and any type of media, they think celebrities’ feelings don’t get hurt when they talk about their weight. They feel celebrities like the fame so they shouldn’t care what they say about them. But media needs to realize that celebrities are human! They shouldn’t be judged by how many pounds they gain. The appearance of celebrities is something that is refined to make them look appealing on the television. The media thinks it is what people want to see, but what people want to see is their talent. After all, that is the reason why they became famous. The media should only critique celebrities’ performances, voices, dance skills, and their character and how they express it through their work, and their effort is what makes them a great role model.
Many celebrities get their pictures taken whether they like it or not. They are mostly taken in bad moments, because tabloids always want to find any tiny negative issue and exaggerate on details to sell their story. Recently, the issue is celebrities not maintaining their shaped figures and tabloids going overboard on their comments, which harms both celebrities and fans’ self-esteem.
One thing the media does not seem to comment on is male celebrities physical appeal. All people see is female celebrities being scrutinized for their weight. Jessica Simpson was recently photographed when performing at the Radio 99.9 Kiss Country’s annual Chili Cookoff. Tabloids say it is wrong of Simpson to gain so much weight, because fans see her as the girl of “Dukes of Hazard,” which is about a size two. In an article in Pop Machine by Mark Caro, Caro makes a point about how the Simpson issue came about the same time as Alec Baldwin, but tabloids did not say anything about his weight gain.
“So, yes, there is a problem with people obsessing over how Simpson fills out a pair of jeans. The double standards are so obvious that they shouldn’t even merit mentioning, but for the record: Alec Baldwin of 2009 looks like he ate the Alec Baldwin of 1989 for lunch, but writers and everyday folk don’t obsess over his weight gain. Instead, they celebrate his droll comic timing and talent, which is as it should be.”
Female celebrities are as talented as male celebrities. Both made their way up to the top the same way by using their talents. Sure looks go along with being a celebrity, but it is not all celebrities are about. Celebrities influence the pop culture, which is probably the most important type of culture, because it involves everything starting with adolescents’ interest in movies, music, and fashion. Again, one has to have skills or talent to promote these types of media, so if the media sits down and think about what they do and who they reach out to, they would realize that it is the pop culture who are influenced the most based on what they publish. So when something like celebrities’ weight gain is negatively commented on, the media not only hurts the celebrities, but also these adolescents.
Many fans look up to celebrities and want to look like them, so if they read in a magazine or see on television something negative said about their weight, they will take it personal and say they were fat all along. According to a teen health article, television and movies are the reason why 54 percent American girls and women aged 12 to 23 years old are unhappy with their bodies. About 5 to 10 million women and girls have eating disorders that harm their health such as bulimia and anorexia nervosa. It is ridiculous that so many women and girls go through so much insecurity at such an early age. What is needed to keep in mind is at age 12, girls are entering their adolescent years when puberty and self-esteem develop. The media takes advantage of this and attacks these adolescent girls by not only exposing them to “perfect figures,” but by harshly criticizing what seems like perfection, and this contributes to low self-esteem.
In an article in “The Huffington Post,” actress Jennifer Love Hewitt felt very strong about the media constantly scrutinizing celebrities’ bodies.
“This is the last time I will address this subject. I've sat by in silence for a long time now about the way women's bodies are constantly scrutinized. To set the record straight, I'm not upset for me, but for all of the girls out there that are struggling with their body image. A size two is not fat! Nor will it ever be. And being a size zero doesn't make you beautiful. What I should be doing is celebrating some of the best days of my life and my engagement to the man of my dreams, instead of having to deal with photographers taking invasive pictures from bad angles. I know what I look like, and so do my friends and family. And like all women out there should, I love my body. To all girls with butts, boobs, hips and a waist, put on a bikini, put it on and stay strong.”
Role model Tyra Banks gained a few pounds throughout her career, but not as much as tabloids exaggerate. Pictures expose her huge thighs with cellulite oozing out of her bathing suit. Writers were disgusted and disappointed at the fact Banks would tell models how to look and she couldn’t maintain her model figure herself. When such news was released about her, Banks responded in “You Call This Fat?” in People magazine:
“It was really hurtful to me. I get so much mail from young girls who say, ‘I look up to you, you’re not as skinny as everyone else, I think you’re beautiful,’” Banks says. “So when they say that my body is ‘ugly’ and ‘disgusting,’ what does that make those girls feel like?” Banks says.
To avoid any conflict about the news of her weight gain, in “The Tyra Banks Show,” Banks had an episode of overweight teenaged girls who have eating disorders and tried helping them by giving them advice of how their disease can be treated. Self-esteem expert Jessica Weiner, who suffered from eating disorders says recovery can take many shapes in someone’s life, but many that recover are healthier than ever.
Oprah Winfrey was known for having thyroid disease at some time in her career. In “O, The Oprah Magazine,” in January 2009, Winfrey wrote an article called “How Did I Let This Happen Again?” She expresses the struggle of her eating disorder and the depression she was going through and tells the public how she was able to overcome it.
“My goal isn't to be thin. My goal is for my body to be the weight it can hold—to be strong and healthy and fit, to be itself. My goal is to learn to embrace this body and to be grateful every day for what it has given me.”
Every women needs to take this into consideration, especially coming from a celebrity who suffered from low self-esteem. Female celebrities are humans too and no human would want to be put on the spot and get shout out for her augmentation in weight.
Not saying that male celebrities should be judged for their weight gain or loss, but it is not fair that female celebrities are judged so harshly. It has such a great influence on other women, it harms the women's self-esteem, causing a great deal of pain. (I need a better ending!)
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I think that you have a strong thesis, but perhaps you could find better examples to support it. When I read your article I thought about the one that we read in class "Boys will be boys, girls will be hounded by the media". Maybe it can give you some ideas.
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