Category Archives: Good Ol’ Rant

They’re sure abusing using Zooey’s statement to advertise the rest of the messaging they’re selling.  I’m paying attention and I’ll probably buy the magazine… just to read the article of course. Bahahaha… I’m like every other women… I get sucked right the f**k in. (I feel like I can swear in this post cause Zooey did in a quote)

“I’m a very small person, and if I lost 15 pounds, I’d look like them; it’s scary. For young girls, what does that say? You need to look this way to be successful? That’s not true. You do not need to look or be anorexic to be successful in Hollywood. The range of what’s acceptable is larger than what people believe,” that’s what Zooey Deschanel told a reporter for the February issue of Glamour.

Now ain’t that refreshing?  It’s a statement that holds true for all walks of life and I wish women could hear the message more often.  There’s room for you.  Yes, even you doubtful one.  The overwhelming majority of images we see are of photoshopped flawless size 0-6 women with perfect hair, makeup, nails, skin and wardrobe.  There’s nothing wrong with beautiful women or photoshop.  There’s nothing wrong with makeup artists, hair stylists and manicurists having work.  There’s nothing wrong with photoshop and editors and stylists having jobs.  I simply believe that we need to change the messaging.

I believe Zooey is on track and I wish more women could have access to her message of acceptance every day.

Just stop.  Stop putting crap in your faces and sucking out sections of your body.  You’re not supposed to look photoshopped in real life. Stop starving and start feeding yourself, feed your brain because you’ll need it. You already are beautiful.  Your body is meant to look, to be the size, to be the shape that is most comfortable for you.  It’s ok to have a line, a lump, a wrinkle, a grey hair and it’s ok to have a lot.  You’re supposed to have that extra fat on your stomach, your thighs and your butt; it looks good on you, it’s a sign of health.

“I want to be a f**king feminist and wear a f**king Peter Pan collar.  So f**king what?” -Zooey Deschanel

Unfortunately that messaging gets lost in a make believe world of imagine and make believe fantasy, not such a bad thing in small doses .  This cover is the perfect example of what’s f**ked up about advertising and messaging.  Zooey’s affirming statement about anorexia, women and Hollywood is the smallest sized font on the page.  Surrounding it and jumping off the page are messages: “you’re scared of your vagina so we found out the answers for you” “dressing cute for work is more important than being prepared for work” “your hair sucks, here’s how to fix it.” “lots of men like to keep secrets from you so we’ve found out for you because you’re too f**king stupid to simply ask yourself and it’s probably because you’re scared of sex and speaking up”  And then there, right next to Zooey’s perfectly photoshopped and slimmed down arm is the final message, highlighted, outshining the truth. “Zooey knows about boys.”

You may not have to be anorexic to make it in Hollywood but if I’m paying attention correctly I need to be helpless, sexually confused, scared of men and know how to play dress up with my closet to make it in the real world. 

Well… I feel like I”ll be pulling a Coulter continuing along this vein much longer.  I too love reading these magazines and looking at the images.  The intrigue of finding out something I may not know sucks me right in.  But when I put them down, I get that empty feeling inside.  I don’t feel inspired.  I don’t feel cute or sexy or informed.  I don’t feel beautiful or interesting or intelligent.  I feel like a failure.  I feel fat.  I feel false.  I feel, well, scared that I’ll never make it unless I lose another few pounds, pump up my lips, buy a new wardrobe and find a new group of bff’s to hang with.  Sadly, we don’t live in a world where feminist Peter Pan collars are successful.  Even Zooey is slimmed down, spruced up, photoshopped and talking about boys… or at least, that’s how she’s portrayed.

The message is lost.  There is nothing wrong with women.  There never was.  So my message to the magazines is please stop trying to find faults to fix.  I’m well trained to do that on my own.  What I need, especially today, is affirmative kick ass stories about women who rock and are making an actual difference in other people’s lives. I want you to go out and find ways to make me stronger not sexier, make me fitter not skinnier, sell me products that work, show me clothing I can afford, stop parading dolls and fantasies in front of me.  I didn’t like barbie when I was younger and I don’t like her now.  There’s a lot more ways to make money than making women feel like sh*t.  Can we all just agree to stop and find something else to write about?