Body Image: Why are other women women's biggest critics?

Why as women do we criticise other women so much? Too fat, too thin, too rich, too poor, stay-at-home mum bludger, working mum abandoning kids...It goes on and on and it is so self-defeating!

Let me just say, I think Miranda Kerr looks amazing. Why do we then criticise her for being attractive and a working mum? She must be a horrible mum if she is so beautiful and works too!! Are we jealous because she 'bounced' back after childbirth and we can't? As this article says, if you are fit and lean before pregnancy then you will go back to your pre-birth shape much more easily. I was fat and lazy when I fell pregnant so why would I expect to spring back to some gorgeous model shape 6 months afterwards? Also, my career doesn't depend on me looking gorgeous, otherwise I'd be in dire straits but Miranda's career does so she had some incentive.

She has her baby with her when she works and is still breastfeeding him which is a feat for any woman. Only about 23% of women are still breastfeeding at 6 months. She can so she does, I applaud that. Not everyone can, which is fine.

The media certainly has a lot to answer for. We see more women like Miranda than we do the average woman who doesn't make a living out of the way she looks. And magazines are notorious for using a bit of photoshop to slash those kilos.

Last year Mia Freedman posted about Kourtney Kardashian and the image photoshopping after she gave birth. When you look at the before and after it really is ridiculous. I much prefer the before the magazine art department got their hands on it. She is nestling her baby close to her body and her head is bent towards him in a sign of maternal love. After the 'touch-up" we have her strangely holding her newborn away from her body with her head turned away. She looks like she doesn't want anything to do with the child. I would much prefer to see a woman loving her baby.

and a photo of Jools Oliver - this is how a real woman looks like 7 days after delivering a baby.

Source: mamamia.com.au via Jane on Pinterest

I had no idea when I had my first that your stomach still looked like you were pregnant!!

So let's ease up on each other, ok?

Body Image: Achieving the impossible?

Cosmetic surgery is a booming industry with an increase in teenagers seeking to conform by eradicating 'abnormal' body features or seeking to replicate the models in the magazines. According to American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) 400,000 teens had some form of cosmetic procedure, and an estimated 210,000 elective plastic surgeries.

This short Australian film shows a young woman getting ready for a date given the ability to mold herself like clay to achieve her ideal body and face.

Watch it. It is only 6 minutes.

Plastic - Short Film from Plastic the Film on Vimeo.

Body Image: The Androgynous Male

While sewing my Crescent Skirt, a pattern designed by Tasia the Sewaholic for Pear-shaped women (like me)...I've been thinking about body types. Today this picture came to my attention in the Age newspaper:

What sort of woman's body type is that? Well, it actually isn't, it's a man's body with his hair and make-up done to resemble a woman. The article is here.

It has created a bit of a furore with Barnes and Noble and Borders stores requesting that the magazine be displayed inside an opaque sleeve.

A magazine cover featuring groundbreaking Melbourne model Andrej Pejic has been deemed too racy for magazine stands in the US because the gender-bending "Broady boy" is bare-chested and looks too feminine.

I wasn't confused by his torso ie. is that a barechested woman -- I think it is obviously a man so I don't think his torso is risque at all. It doesn't bother me that a guy struts the catwalk dressed as a woman. He calls it an 'art form'.

I think I am bothered, however, that a guy can easily blend in with women on the cat walk because of the issues it raises about realistic body types for women.

Now, there are women that have naturally low body fat and a very angular frame. I certainly don't think we should be saying "No to Zero" because some women are naturally a zero.

Charlize Theron, Naomi Campbell, Nicole Kidman, Renee Zellwegger and Michelle Williams are amongst the most famous “inverted triangles”. You have broad shoulders, narrow hips, slender limbs, a straight waist, flat bottom and varying bust line. You are a rare breed and the least common body type found amongst women – the “pretty pear” being the most common female body type. It is interesting that it was your unique body type that was chosen to represent clothing best on the catwalk from about the 1960’s onwards. Twiggy started off this trend! (http://youlookfab.com/2006/05/22/the-statuesque-inverted-triangle/) I'm not so sure Michelle Williams is an inverted triangle -- or statuesque. Think they were confusing her with someone else?

But it isn't the average body type and I think having men displaying women's clothing just perpetuates the myth that most women should be androgynous.