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Another day, another article gushing about Christina Hendricks’s luscious hips, ample ass and generous cleavage. This would be fine, if it weren’t at the expense of body-shaming her supposed mirror-opposite — the UK’s Mail Online proclaims that 8 out of 10 women would rather look like Miss Joan Holloway-Harris than former Spice Girl and size 0 extraordinaire, Victoria Beckham. This is being reported as if it’s groundbreaking news, but almost this exact same article was printed last year (and covered by Zelda Lily) with Kate Winslet’s name in the place of …
… Hendricks’s. Ugh.
However, report this stale fluff piece they did:
Over nine in ten said they felt women of all sizes could be stylish and a further six in ten wanted to see more pictures of ‘real’ women in fashion magazines.
A fuller-figured woman is no more real than her skinnier counterpart and that mindset is extremely negative and extremely hurtful to all girls out there who just don’t have round hips and huge tits naturally and are slyly presumed to be throwing up at every available opportunity.
And, for the love of God, can we stop talking about Christina Hendricks’s body already? We’ve gone beyond objectifying her — we’ve turned her into a symbol for this entire “real woman” movement that is not only bullshit, it’s equally as destructive as the “anti-fat” school of thought.
The problem is that this whole “skinny vs. curvy” issue doesn’t get us anywhere.
Privileging one body type over the other — no matter which it is — perpetuates this concept that all women must conform to one figure and that, depending on the decade or culture, the alternative is “gross,” “unattractive,” or in this case, “not real.”
Is it easy to say objective whether mysterious journal-writer Marilyn Monroe was prettier, sexier or more iconic than Audrey Hepburn, for instance? I think the point here is that Christina Hendricks wouldn’t necessarily look good at Victoria Beckham’s weight, but Beckham might not be able to pull off Hendricks’s either.
This is always going to be a question of personal taste — and it always will and should be. It is just as bad to wrinkle your nose at stiletto-addict Posh’s jutting collarbones as it is to raise your eyebrows at Hendricks’s curvier frame.
But what do you believe? Is it good that women would prefer to be curvier than skinny? Should we privilege one body type over another? Do you think that this concept of “real” women is potentially just as hurtful as “fat” comments?
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Body snarking is always lame. It’s deprecating one group of people to make yourself feel better about your own body. If that’s the way you need to make yourself feel better, you’ve got some self-esteem issues to sort out.
The thing that makes Victoria Beckham’s weight “unreal” is that she starves herself to get it. She’s said so, and so have many women in Hollywood. They take it for granted that they aren’t allowed to eat and act at the same time.
When you’re always eating just enough to keep yourself alive, for the sake of beauty, that’s dangerous, and it needs to stop being applauded.
Healthy comes in many sizes and shapes. But what if someone is emaciated or obese? Do we pretend that’s cool too just because we need to accept everyone as they are? Is embracing unhealthy body images the goal here?
I think that we can absolutely *accept* everyone as they are, and that a person shouldn’t be judged by their weight or any part of their physical appearance, which is such a small part of who they are.
I don’t believe that it is necessary to say that everyone is perfect just the way they are, or that people have nothing to improve, or that all bodies are healthy. But I think a person can like themselves while knowing they need to lose some weight, and I can accept a person despite thinking her eating habits are out of whack and she’s hurting herself.
if those aren’t fake , I’ll eat my bra . I’m talkin about the woman on the right . I’m experimenting with voice activated typing . I’m loving it
That’s me up above by the way.
I think your instincts are good Blurry-
http://theblemish.com/2011/01/playboy-implies-christina-hendricks-got-a-boob-job/
Christina Hendricks. The jury is still out on her breasts.
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http://www.entil2001.com/series/firefly/season1dvd/ff1-6.html
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If you ever watched Firefly she seems a little smaller, but it could be the bra. It could also just be that she had naturally large breasts and decided to add another cup size and that is why its hard to tell.
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Does it really matter though? Honestly it should not illicit a reaction if they are real or fake. Skinny vs. Curvy or Fake vs. Real, if they are healthy I say let them be.
It absolutely matters that “beautiful” women who may not have started out naturally so, not present themselves as such. Part of the problem of this whole body image thing that’s negative on young girls, is that these “stars” present an unrealistic image. The message needs to be, “yes, I look fabulous, but don’t feel bad that you don’t look like me, because I used to not look like me either”.
I respect a woman who gets plastic surgery and is honest about it- otherwise it’s fraudulent beauty. There’s just something icky about someone who wants others to believe they’ve always been un-naturally gorgeous.
That’s my opinion anyhow…
I noticed that too. I mean, they were still pretty big on Firefly, but not that big.
Also, can I take a moment to lament the unfairness of the fact that she’s married to the snozzberry guy from Super troopers? What is that about?!
I think her boobs are really mashed up in that dress, so they look even bigger than usual. But they were definitely….gratuitous…on Firefly as well. Just not giant push-up boob-masher gratuitous.
I agree,fake,and if I’m wrong,I’ll eat Blurry’s bra also!
You just want an excuse to eat her bra…
I’ll talk to my shrink about it.
No need.
You simply have good taste. Or will. :)
Those look very real to me. From what I think I see in the Firefly pictures, she was a lot leaner everywhere back then. If she’s twenty pounds heavier today, it’s very likely that her breast size would increase significantly. Many women who put on some weight add fat (and size) to the breasts.
The picture makes them look very real – they still look soft, even pushed up to her chin, there’s no gap between them, and I bet if anyone could find a side view of the same dress, they would look somewhat flat – because they’ve been pushed up and to the sides instead of out front.
You’ll also notice that there’s not a lot of fullness on the underside of the breasts.
My boobs look exactly like that if I push them as high in and up as they will go. I find it really really unattractive.
If you look at the link that Jess posted, you’ll see what we mean.
But yes, you are absolutely right about accepting people as we find them.
I couldn’t load it before, but have now had a look. Hard to tell there. She has a lot less in the hips and thighs in that photo, so I can believe that she gained as she got older in all areas.
I can’t rule out that she has a small bit of implant underneath, but the bulk is definitely real breast tissue and fat. It just looks very different from full fake breasts. It’s pushed way up rather than being filled up.
Agreed; she was very slender in Firefly and still had quite the cans, so the simple fact that she’s filled out everywhere a bit more would indicate to me that they’re real. The Playboy pictures are certainly smaller, but she was also much thinner and definitely younger. Plus, the fact that she’s wearing a swimsuit instead of a gown that shoves her boobs up and together makes a huge difference.
On a side note, having her boobs mashed up that high really just looks like it hurts. Do not like!
Here are pics of the one from the right, Christina Hendricks, 12 years ago.
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Before these pics came out last week everyone swore they were real.
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Now, after seeing these, not so much.
http://www.styleite.com/media/christina-hendricks-playboy/
Yes I completely agree and thanks for this article! Tbh though it might seem in magazines and on TV, in movies etc. skinny girls are always praised and curvy girls bashed- then all these concepts about real women and real men like curves come up- in society and real life I find it seems more acceptable to bash skinny chicks such as me with all these sayings and talk about being ano, not eating enough, not being healthy, not being real… of course there are naturally skinny chicks around and bashing one body to help another one’s self esteem is just gonna bring more hate and disrespect. People should be accepting and appreciating of all body types- learn to love their own but appreciate others at the same time! I am a skinny, small boobed chick but love my look and at the same time know my curvy friends with their bigger curves and all are gorgeous :)