A month and a half ago, on the long car trip from Wyoming, I listened to a lot of Dennis Prager. If you don't know who he is check out his book Happiness is a Serious Problem. I love it, and every Friday he devotes one hour of his radio show to the "Happiness Hour," a discussion on all topics having to do with being and sustaining happiness. It's absolutely terrific. Download a podcast tonight. Seriously.
Anyway, one podcast that I can't get out of my head was the hour devoted to discussing the whys behind crazily thin women. His case in point were some recent and frightening pictures of Rene Zellweger, one of Hollywood's many cases of "Never too Thin or Too Rich." His point is that most hetero men do not find bony women sexy, so what is driving this obsession?
I've been thinking about it a lot, and here's what I've come to. It's just like my laundry room. See, on any given day, you can judge me by the condition of that one little room. When I'm feeling good and am on top of my game, my laundry room is a beautiful thing to behold. Everything is in it's place, and it is just nearly perfection, if you will. But when things start falling apart, the laundry room is the first casualty. Stop by sometime; you'll notice that the door is either wide open or shut tight. Look, I'm not sharing my dirty laundry with anyone, okay?
Consequently, the laundry room has become a bit of an obsession for me. It's as if I can control that one little room, I can control my universe, and when it's a mess the guilt is a burden I can't get off my mind. "You're behind, and you'll never catch up," it seems to taunt.
My guess is that is what happens to some of these skinny obsessed women. And it is just a guess because most of my friends and I still eat. I think it's all related to gaining control, or at least appearing to have control over themselves and their lives. The problem for them is that, unlike me, they don't have a door they can shut.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
10 comments:
Very interesting comparison! I think you're right. Most young girls with eating disorders, if they get help will admit it's a control issue.
For some of these celebrities, too, I think it's a way to stay relevant. I think their whole lives are wrapped up in their image and whatever will get them the most face time in the mags is what drives their life.
I so love that! Very insightful. I, too, find that my laundry room is the first casualty. I have a sick kid this week and Enrichment to plan, so it's pretty obvious that my door is CLOSED!
All I can say is- LOL!
Wow so deep. It must be the influence of Thomas Day lurking around the corner...
Can you imagine the plain depression the poor women of yester-years felt while their dirty/clean laudry hung in the wind IN THEIR yards, day after day for all to see??? How did they EVER get ahead? Like, seriously, why even try, its like shooting yourself in the foot.
For me, I try to do a little every day, that way no one, well, really me, can enter the laundry room and see clothes spewing out of the hamper bins.
And the eating...well I forgot to comment about that. That there is the answer. I don't even think about eating, my problem! I love food, I realize I have some LB'S to shed, I am cool with that. Its all good. The 1800's are coming back, they like their women a little chubby.
Good comparison..and one that i identify with.
Perhaps if Renee and her pinthin friends used their laundry rooms, instead of hiring someone else to do it, she would have an outlet for the need for control...and the rest of us wouldn't have to see her unlovely bones :)
For some reason my word alone is not proof that I actually read my wife's wonderful (and entertaining) posts. No, I have to make some comment or else I risk habitation in the perverbial dog house. Hence, from now on I will simply leave some sign of my participation. Not that we can't talk about these events in person... heaven forbid.
Hey Laurel! I have a board meeting all day at work today, so I'll email your interview questions probably sometime on Saturday!
I like that comparison! But I also feel that in addition to food being something that actresses can control (as opposed to say feral paparazzi, news coverage, and what roles they get) there is also a sort of cultural message of You Can't Everything. If you have fame, money in the bank, a great sense of style, fabulous cars, awards, etc., then you had better limit your nourishment to a Nutrisystem bar on odd weeks because by God you had better not have any thighs!
Also, I read far too many celeb gossip rags as I know exactly which article and which picture of Renee you are referring to! hehe
Post a Comment