LeAnn Rimes lost weight: why do we care?
LeAnn Rimes lost a lot of weight recently. And Kate Middleton is skinnier than ever, according to some. Both have recently fallen under the gossip headline 'Too skinny?' But is that really the question?
We've known for years most famous women are too skinny. It's a problem that didn't go away when Ali McBeal did. We also know that images in the media can have a negative influence on young girls. But that's not what this concern over Rimes or Middleton is really about.
Real talk: it's an excuse to look at their bodies, to pull apart every aspect of their dimensions, and to criticize them for it. It's not so different from tabloid photo features of "celebrities with cellulite." It's the same amount of looking, pointing, and shaking of heads and none of it is very healthy.
On the bright side, at least we're being critical of weight loss, not weight gain. But is it any better? Obsessing over the body image of a celebrity, is one step removed from obsessing over your own body image. It's just another way of talking about the minutia of a woman's figure, and another opportunity for a woman to have to defend themselves. Rimes, who first got people talking when she appeared on the red carpet significantly slimmer than she'd been just months before, took to Twitter to defend herself.
"I don't care about the dumb articles. I know how healthy I am," shewroteon Wednesday. "Maybe those people should start taking care of themselves ... inside and out."She may have a point. Are we really talking about her body issues or our own?
Related:
6 year old girls who wish they were skinnier
Survey reveals how women hate their body
6 ways to love your body
3 steps to a healthy body image
