Column: Winslet's figure inspires positive body image thoughts
Women should adjust their body image attitudes and advocate acceptance.
Published March 2, 2009
One of the downsides to living in Paris, besides the copious amount of secondhand smoke and wine that's cheaper than soda (no, wait, that's a good thing), is I couldn't tune into last week's Oscar buzz until nearly all of my friends changed their statuses to variants of "Hooray Slumdog!" "Heathus be praised!" or "Waltz with Bashir got shafted!" Thanks for ruining my element of surprise, guys!
Instead, I've been relegated to playing catch-up on YouTube and the rest of the interwebs. And the feedback I've found might surprise some.
For example, remember when Sophia Loren was a big-boobed, bigger-hair symbol of the kind of beauty all women should strive for? Countless ads with a bikini-clad Loren back in the day signaled to women nothing short of a miniscule waist and ageless face was acceptable for going out in public.
But she sure didn't look the part of a timeless sex symbol at Sunday's ceremony. It just appeared she was trying too hard to look timeless. Showing more signs of nips and tucks on her face than former Gov. Matt Blunt's e-mail archives, I was surprised she could move her collagen-laded mouth enough to give her monologue praising Meryl Streep. And the blogosphere caught on. It seemed to be the general consensus that Loren should let her face age naturally.
On the exact same stage, but on the complete opposite end of the spectrum, when Kate Winslet accepted her golden statue, she ushered in a type of beauty not typically lauded by anorexic-chic fashion magazines. In the Hollywood culture where the word flesh is a real F-bomb, Winslet looked proud of her curves and beautiful on that stage. What's more, she earned her Oscar by portraying a woman with au naturel armpits and "real breasts" (Oprah's words, not mine). And when Oprah all but feels up your "real breasts" on her show, you've basically won at life.
Could this be a shiny new era of body celebration for women? We've just elected a wonderful new president to usher hope and change into politics, so why can't we do the same with our mirrors?
I'm not saying last week's Oscars are anywhere near indicative of the 180-degree change in body image so many women need. Because for every girl out there who was inspired by Kate Winslet to smile a little wider when she sees herself in the mirror, there's another girl who sees any of the slew of skeletons with a CV we call actresses and gets triggered into feeling like shit about herself, or worse, an eating disorder. Believe me, I was there.
Which is why I can't help but be optimistic that, hopefully soon, there will be more real women serving as role models for their generation. And I can't help but be optimistic that those real women will extend beyond the gilded world of Hollywood, all the way to you lovely readers. So all the single ladies (and committed ladies, I just felt like throwing in a Beyonce/Sasha Fierce reference) I have a secret. Want to know the easiest way to maintain a beautiful figure? Next time you see a mirror, look at yourself and declare, "Hot damn! I have a beautiful figure!"
Who knows, Oprah might feel you up next.