July
2007
Hermione and Venus0
I’m still trying to decide if I’m brave enough to finish reading the new Harry Potter book - ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’. After I finished chapter 1 I started watching endless episodes of Spongebob Squarepants cartoons to get the ick out of my brain. I’ve been told it gets tamer after that chapter, but we’ll see.
Well, as you can tell I’m sensitive. Anyway, I caught a tip-off from the New Moon blog. J.K. Rowling just posted a suprising new note on her Web site about this skinny-obsessed world. According to her note, “I mean, is ‘fat’ really the worst thing a human being can be? Is ‘fat’ worse than ‘vindictive’, ‘jealous’, ’shallow’, ‘vain’, ‘boring’ or ‘cruel’? Not to me; but then, you might retort, what do I know about the pressure to be skinny?” She encourages girls to be more like Hermmione and less like the looks-obsessed Pansy Parkinson.
I agree with Rowling. I would rather be known for being a good friend, for being strong and caring than how thin or popular I am. I hate the fact that a plus-size model is a size 12, but the national average size of a woman is a 14. Sounds a tad off. Or that 400 years ago buxom, curvy women were considered the ideal, beautiful and desirable. If the people of the 16th century Renaissance had ever seen one of today’s famous ‘it-girls’ they would be aghast at their sickliness. An overweight woman of the Renaissance was considered healthy and well-nourished. It was also a sign of great wealth and status. If only!
From Bodywatch.us: An example of female beauty during the Renaissance can be seen in Boticelli’s Birth of Venus. Painted in 1485, this painting depicts the birth of the Roman Goddess of beauty, Venus. She has just been “born” and raised out of the sea, and divine beings rush to cover her with a cloak. Notice how Venus is indeed full-figured. If this same subject were to be painted today, how do you think Venus’s body would look?
According to MindontheMedia.org:
- 80% of 10 year-old American girls diet. The number one magic wish for young girls age 11-17 is to be thinner.
- Girls are disproportionately affected by eating disorders and cultural demands for thinness.
- 15% of young girls have substantially disordered eating attitudes. More than five million Americans suffer from eating disorders.
- Between elementary and high school, the percentage of girls in the U.S. who are “happy with the way I am” drops from 60% to 29%
I guess I could throw numerous other statistics at you, but I think it’s easier to just understand your own feelings and talk to your friends, your mom or grandmothe or any other woman you trust. Chances are they feel the same way, too.