I told my friend I went to see Titanic in 3D to which she replied, “Why?” I said, “because I have a 12-year-old”. My 12-year-old had been asking to see Titanic for years and I’d held back because of the intensity of the content and the nude scene. Lucky for her, just as she’s old enough to see it, the film gets released in 3D. My heart sank when she told me the movie is 3 hours and 14 minutes (she looked it up on IMDB!) When I first saw the film 15 years ago, 3 and a half hours out of my life wasn’t that big of a deal but now it’s an eternity that I’ll never get back! How could I possibly sit for that long through a movie and not get at least a little fidgety? Well, Titanic is still so spellbinding I was captivated every second of the entire film and although Kate Winslet is remembered most for her nude scene in the film, her costumes took my breath away, too:
My comment from Ashe’s post featured here! The Good Men Project: Nice Piece on Male Body Image Issues
Are you your own worst critic? Daily Good: The Power of Self-Compassion
Holding on is being brave, but letting go is what makes us stronger and happier. Marc and Angel Hack Life: 10 Signs it’s Time to Let Go
What are you practising? Daily Good: Life as a Conscious Practice
It’s satisfying to see what celebrities and models really look like! Shine from Yahoo: Supermodels without Photoshop
We should also take a second to admire some of our favorite style bloggers who are also parents. Independent Fashion Bloggers: 8 Insights from Chic Bloggers Who Happen To Be Moms
So, how can you tell the difference? Dress With Courage: How to Identify Counterfeit Handbags at the Thrift Store
We tend to think “sexism” is being dismissive toward women, or paying them lower salaries — we don’t think of it as frenzied “burn the witch!” hatred. Cracked: 5 Ways Modern Men Are Trained to Hate Women
Demi Lovato is speaking out against the unrealistic standards of beauty. AOL: Demi Lovato, Body Image
We can blog about girls and women and weight, but we must also be concerned about boys and men. Huffington Post: Girls, Boys, and Body Image
I would look at pictures of me from photo shoots and that was not me and not how I looked. Fox Sports: Amanda Beard’s Struggle Yields Crucial Lessons
Did you hear the one about the woman who was saved from a speeding taxi by Ryan Gosling? All she had to do was tweet about the incident and it became instant international news. Hilarious posts about Ryan Gosling approaching perfect-man status appeared on Jezebel and The Fashion Spot, with the latter updating us on the rescued woman’s response to all the fuss. She thinks we should stop discussing her run-in with the actor because there is a war in the middle east. But that’s another story.
The visiting London journalist tweeted that Gosling did not say “Hey Girl” and instead yelled “Hey watch out!” Why would he say “Hey, Girl” in the first place, I wondered, and sought to find out. Here is what I uncovered: entire blogs devoted to captioned images of Ryan Gosling which range from a Tumblr for stage managers to a feminist forum (click on the photos). Plus I discovered the definition of a meme: a virally-transmitted cultural symbol or social idea. Gosling (or Godling as Nerve is calling him since the superhero act) appears to be more popular on social media sites than in mainstream journalism – remember Bradley Cooper beating him out for People’s Sexiest Man Alive? Of course, a social media backlash ensued.
On an unrelated note, have you noticed Ryan slide a small Canadian reference into his films? Drive opened with a Raptors game on the television and in Blue Valentine a character was called Bobby “Ontario” (Ryan’s home province). I’m not sure how long he’s been doing it but it’s fun to watch.
I didn’t want to comment on the New York Times review of the Hunger Games which criticized Jennifer Lawrence’s body for being “too big” for the part of Katniss in the The Hunger Games. I found the idea so depressing I wanted to put it out of my mind. And part of me thought that if the character is supposed to be starving then the critic might have a point….then it occurred to me how many actresses who look like they are starving play the parts of women who in real life would be a size 12 (that’s the average). The critics never say anything about THAT.
Allow me to illustrate: I watched The Descendants on DVD the other night and was alarmed at the size of the actress who played George Clooney’s 17-year-old daughter. She was noticeably underweight and if she were my daughter I would be fraught with worry that she might have an eating disorder. Of course, nothing was mentioned about her weight and the audience was expected to accept this girl as a representation of a well-fed adolescent. Indeed, we see her eating ice cream in the final scene of the movie. Where was the New York Times critic then? Why was she not speaking up about this girl being too THIN to represent a teenage girl who is not starving? You could apply this question to the majority of mainstream movies today.
Media: please stop the war on girls’ bodies. The images are bad enough. Now there are words, too? SHAME.
Oh, the Hunger Games! I actually heard someone ask today, “The Hunger Games? What’s that?” He was serious! It’s pretty cool that the three most popular movie adaptations of the past decade were all from books written by women: J.K. Rowling, Stephanie Meyer, and now Suzanne Collins. In March, Amazon announced that Collins had become the best-selling Kindle author of all time. My daughter saw the movie tonight with her dad and when she returned she told me I would have LOVED Effie Trinket’s costumes. “Who?” I wondered. So I looked it up and here they are:
Will you be seeing the Hunger Games?
Finally, with all the talk (and rightfully so!) about the proliferation of photoshopped images in magazines, here’s a cover with Cate Blanchett in all her un-photoshopped glory.
Why is it important to feature untouched images in magazines? The more realistic images we see of women in media, the less women will feel they don’t measure up. And the less men will think women are supposed to look like that. It’s not a crime to have laugh lines at age 42. It’s life.
What do you think?
According to In The Powder Room, housework is at the top of most women’s lists of most stressful things in their lives. The author of the post opined that housework is not important enough to warrant such stress. Me, I don’t just lack stress about housework, I actually enjoy it. I should clarify here by saying that for years I employed the services of a cleaning professional. While it’s a privilege and an indulgence to afford the services of a cleaning woman, I believe I felt more stressed by the presence of someone in my house for 5 or 6 hours doing a job I felt sub-consciously I could be doing myself.
Simply because I was able to afford the services of a cleaner, I used one…now that I do my own cleaning, I see I was robbing myself of a wonderful opportunity to nurture my home and family. Now, my children are joyfully involved in the cleaning with me and they never complain. It’s a terrific bonding time as we work together toward a common goal. I am not picky about the way the cleaning is done so while my detail-oriented Virgo is in the bathroom on her hands and knees with a toothbrush (practically), my big picture Aries feels that ‘tidying’ is an unnecessary and tedious aspect of the cleaning process. I embrace both these approaches.
We reward ourselves when we are through by enjoying a treat or a card game or whatever makes us feel good at the time. The sense of accomplishment I feel when faced with a sparkling home that I worked to achieve is incomparable. That doesn’t mean I’ll never use the services of a professional cleaner again, only that I feel as though taking care of your home is one of the most overlooked pleasures in life. On a fashionable note, I love to pull a June Cleaver and do the cleaning in a dress and heels. I once greeted my friend at the door this way complete with rubber gloves as accessories and she thought it was hysterical.
Photo source: Fashionista.com
Oh no! Another naked pregnant celebrity on the cover of a fashion and lifestyle glossy…this time, Jessica Simpson takes a turn showing off her belly and other assets. In a previous post I talked about the trend that Demi Moore started on the cover of Vanity Fair back in 1991…except then it was evocative and boundary pushing. Now, it seems vulgar and pointless.
What do you think?
Girls who spent more time grooming, listening to music and using the Internet generally felt worse about themselves. Health Canal: Poor body image linked with Facebook time
When I come to England, it’s hard not to want to see the England of imagination. The Coveted: Daks Taps into a Fancy England
Two of the industry’s biggest players–Ford and Marc Jacobs–have come out against the CFDA’s new rules about underage models. Fashionista: Is the CFDA’s New 16-and-Over Model Initiative All Talk and No Action?
Style Eyes Ethical Fashion Blog: The Good Fashion Show
There is something else that makes a woman extraordinary! It’s the way she behaves! Style Delights: What Makes a Woman Stylish?
People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. Daily Good: Top 5 Regrets of the Dying
Marc and Angel Hack Life: 40 Photo-Illustrated Questions to Refocus Your Mind
A greater number of people are requesting help in the area of how to deal with suffering — self-inflicted suffering. Huffington Post: Mirror Mirror on the Wall
The Palace has defended the Duchess of Cambridge over claims that she wore a real fur jacket. British Vogue: Royal Row
