Everything Girl

Being saddled with hips and a few other generous, er, assets in a culture that celebrates the Skinny Model can be hazardous to your emotional health. Or at the very least, your self-esteem. I contemplate this as I stand in my full-length mirror and study the hips I’ve inherited from a long line of women with “child-bearing hips.” Stories of big bones and slow metabolisms aside, my biggest problem is that I like food. A lot. I like exercise a lot less. Period. Are there mitigating circumstances surrounding these oh so simple statements? Sure. It’s not the volume of food eaten, rather the types of food and the time of day that I am eating them. (You try working a graveyard shift schedule and spending 12 to 16 hours a day on your bum staring at a computer screen and let’s see what you look like, Smarty). However, all of that aside, it is what it is.

The bottom line – no pun intended – is that no matter what excuses I’d like to make for myself and extremely curvaceous hips they are just out there telling everyone my business. “She likes sweets” they whisper to the waif-like woman on my left. “She eats after midnight,” my left thigh practically screams at the beer-belly guy on the other side of the room. “And she hates to exercise,” my bum cries indignantly. “Have you SEEN me?”

It’s a shame when someone tells you to “Watch your ass,” and you actually can. I sigh, reminiscing on the momentary “good old days.” You know, the five minutes, five minutes ago, when curvy girls had the spotlight in Hollywood. Just as quickly as Jennifer Lopez, America Ferrara, Drew Barrymore, Jessica Alba, Kate Winslet, Queen Latifah and other curvaceous stars made curvy women “in” those damn stick-thin models mustered up the energy to fight back. The dynamics of Hollywood, and thus our culture, shifted and we find ourselves “out” again. We actually had less of a shelf-life than Hammer pants, if you can believe that.

Not only did the ultra-thin model make a come back, she’s taken prisoners. Many formerly curvy stars are now stick thin themselves. Angelina Jolie. Jessica Alba. Nicole Ritchie. Kate Bosworth. Keira Knightley. Lindsay Lohan. Renee Zellweger.

“It is important for all women to make being healthy and happy their goal. Not resembling a coat hanger, as many designers would have us do. Not being an unhealthy Couch Potato.”

The raging comeback of the heroin chic models and actresses, like Kate Moss and Victoria Beckham has actually prompted changes in the international modeling industries. Last September Madrid imposed rules for their fashion show, with others following suit. The new guidelines require that models have a BMI (body mass index) of more than 18 - the minimum limit considered healthy by the World Health Organization.

We have yet to see how this will ultimately affect the modeling industry and women and girls around the world’s view of themselves. Hopefully it will have a positive impact on the thousands of women and girls suffering from eating disorders. Instead of seeing the trend get better, recent years have witnessed a huge growth in eating disorders and negative body image among much older women and minorities. Yet, we live in a country (USA) where 66% of adults and 16% of all children are considered overweight or obese. Somewhere in between emaciation and obesity lies physical and emotional health and happiness.

I applaud the efforts of the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty which features real women in a variety of sizes and shapes and Project Confidence, led by Queen Latifah. It is also rather satisfying to see companies like McDonalds and General Mills - whose unhealthy, grease-laden foods, and sugary cereals have contributed to the poor health of our children – now running ads advocating exercise. Is it too much to ask that other companies join the fight?

It is important for all women to make being healthy and happy their goal. Not resembling a coat hanger, as many designers would have us do. Not being an unhealthy Couch Potato. Your doctor can help you decide what healthy is for you. But, only you can decide what beauty means to you. Only you can choose to find that beauty in yourself.I have learned to celebrate my curves. Yet, I believe that for me being healthy requires changes to my lifestyle and diet. However, my vision of me at my ideal weight does not include an emaciated frame or jutting hipbones. Rather it is a scaled down version of the curves and hips that I have come to love.

Samara Leigh is a Northeast Ohio-based writer, entrepreneur and 30-Something Rebel. She is the owner of a copywriting and virtual support services firm focused on supporting the needs of creative professionals. She also teaches entrepreneurs and independent creative professionals to incorporate low-cost and no-cost technologies into their small businesses.

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