The Pursuit of Happiness

There has been a lot of coverage of Heidi Montag's plethora of plastic surgeries in the news recently, as she just publicly revealed the results of her latest procedure which included approximately 10 augmentations. We all know how classy Heidi and Spencer can be with their publicity (not) but this is really the first time I had ever paid attention to anything Heidi/Spencer related. I usually dismiss anything related to The Hills in general, as I've never seen the show, dont know who any of the people on it are, what they're famous for, or why the hell anyone gives a crap. But this situation with Heidi has gotten entirely out of control.

Details of Heidi's most recent plastic surgeries in People Magazine

As you can see, she looks like a completely different person. Apparently the woman on the left is an Ugly Duckling. Hmmm...

It's safe to say that Heidi has a lot of very deeply rooted self-esteem issues and has succumbed to the influence of the entertainment industry in terms of pursuing a perfect appearance at all costs. She explains her quest for 'perfection' in People Magazine by saying, "I was made fun of when I was younger, and so I had insecurities, especially after I moved to L.A. People said I had a "Jay Leno chin"; they'd circle it on blogs and say nasty things. It bothered me. I just wanted to feel more confident and look in the mirror and be like, "Whoa! That's me!" I was an ugly duckling before."

So obviously Heidi really lets the opinions of others define how she feels about herself and has taken the necessary steps to rectify her 'ugly duckling' appearance and please those who criticize her. Think about that, she had plastic surgery to placate the people who made fun of her under the guise that she always felt she was an ugly duckling. Now she sees the 'real her' in the mirror. Uh huh. This whole situation is totally twisted and really reveals, more than ever, the fact that Heidi is definitely not the brightest bulb in the box. I feel so sorry for her. When your entire career is based on nothing (being on a dumb scripted reality television show and having no talent) and all you have is your looks and reputation to go on, being criticized by others for the only things that are ever going to get you anywhere in the business must be heartbreaking. And will obviously lead you to take drastic measures. But having huge melons and a smaller chin doesn't take away the fact that you still have nothing interesting to say and still have no talent. Sad. At least you have Spencer, who's a real gem of a hubby, I'm sure.

Heidi Montag in 2007 before any surgery. Beautiful girl.

Two months after having a complete plastic surgery makeover.

She slightly resembles Holly Madison (pictured above), in my opinion. Co-incidence that one of Heidi's reasons for the surgeries was her goal to appear in Playboy Magazine? Probably not.


And finally a side-by-side of Heidi from no surgery till now. Scary.

This is important to think about in terms of claiming our identities as our own because Heidi obviously lacks the strength, self-esteem, and personal regard for her individuality (among other things) to resist the pressures of the entertainment industry. She has let her career completely eclipse her identity, to the point where she underwent elective surgery to re-create an identity she felt would be more pleasing to those who may judge her. She has literally become a completely different person in the pursuit of 'perfection.' I would have personally recommended that she should have spent that time, money and effort on a divorce, a better PR agent, and some dance/singing lessons. But...maybe that's just me. Judge for yourself.

Role Model

As someone who's interested in popular culture and fashion, it's always interesting for me to examine how my interest and positions on these topics are related to self-image, identity, and more generally how we see ourselves in relation to these things.

A lot of what we see in popular culture is not reflective of what real life is like and what we experience in our own lives. In a sense, the reason why we idolize celebrities, fashion models, musicians and the like is because they are idealized, produced visions of perfection. An entire team of professionals works endlessly to perfect and maintain these images because the image is a commodity. It sells. We love escapism, idealism, romanticizing and fantasizing. I suppose if the media just showed us pictures of average looking people we would have nothing to aspire to. Or at least no real reason to buy into their load of bullshit.

There are those who argue that the only people who oppose the proliferation of the 'skinny model' body type as being most desirable, fashionable, and popular are people who are overweight and unhappy with themselves. From personal experience I know this isn't the case, as even my most thin and fit friends feel the influence of images of uber-thin models. I also think its a really silly argument to say that only one type of body is acceptable or desirable and everyone else is just jealous. Humans are natural beings who differ immensely in our shapes, sizes, colors, etc. Popular culture often neglects the diversity of humanity in favor of one often unattainable idealized image, and all of a sudden we're all just jealous and fat? I don't think so.

Recently more than ever, though, we have begun to see the inclusion of a broader spectrum of female body types in popular culture and fashion. Plus sized models (usually ranging from size 8-12) are receiving more work and more attention than ever as average American women (size 14) have become increasingly displeased with the unrealistic representations of female beauty in fashion discourse. The bottom line is that the the aim of fashion imagery is to create a brand image that appeals to customers and ultimately sell products. If you create a brand image that is realistic which customers can relate to, instead of one which alienates them, then that generally seems like a better business strategy to me. Call me crazy.

It's really hard to figure out where you fit in when you find yourself in a situation where your not seeing people that look like you being represented in the media. We could talk endlessly about this topic in regards to minorities as well. You literally feel invisible and unimportant. No one cares about addressing your existence. Like I said though, there is some interesting stuff happening that makes me feel so much better about this issue.

I've recently become more familiar with the work of plus size model Crystal Renn, who is absolutely beautiful in my opinion. Her book 'Hungry' details the ups and downs in her modeling career. She struggled to maintain an unhealthily low weight in order to get more work and please those in the industry helping to launch her career. After a few health scares Crystal realized that being healthy having a positive body image was more important and more beautiful than pleasing others and the unrealistic ideals of the industry. She is more popular and beautiful than ever. Below are some pictures of Crystal which clearly demonstrate her struggle and the ultimate success she has had since embracing herself for who she is.

Crystal Renn: Plus Size vs. Regular Size - Which one seems regular to you?

'Hungry' By Crystal Renn.

Here's a great photo shoot by Terry Richardson, a renowned fashion photographer for V Magazine. It features Crystal Renn and Jacquelyn Jablonski side-by-side in identical outfits and poses, the difference being that Crystal is a plus size model. I don't think anyone is looking at Crystal's pictures and thinking she looks like a heifer. The pictures are just as interesting, fashionable, and beautiful.

V Magazine also recently featured a spread photographed by Solve Sundsbo featuring a few different models, my favorite being Candice Huffine, pictured below. The photographer told the magazine, "I loved the opportunity to show that you can be beautiful and sexy outside the narrow interpretations that normally define us."

Va-va-va-voom! Candice Huffine.


Proof that plus size can be photogenic and fashionable!

There are a few other websites that I really like that relate to this topic and I'd just like to provide them for those who are interested. About-face.org is a really great site which compiles all kinds of advertisements and other media images and examines their harmful impact on the self-esteem and body image of women and girls. Visit their Gallery of Offenders and Gallery of Winners to see the contrast between negative and positive images geared toward women. Our Bodies, Ourselves is a practical cultural institution, being one of the first publications about womens health related issues, including body image, body dysmorphia, sexuality and more. The Media Awareness Network also addresses issues related to our current culture of thinness and the self-destruction that it can lead to.

Food for thought (pun intended!): How do these images affect you? Do images in fashion and popular discourse affect the way you see yourself in the mirror? What do you think about the pictures of the models in this post? Would you like to see more images like this in fashion discourse? If your not 'model thin' do you feel excluded from fashion or popular discourse because of your body? I'm so interested to know the reactions of other girls! In order to get commentary and feedback, I first need to get more readers! So my next task is to figure out how to get more attention and traffic to this page! More posts about that coming soon!

Pornography and Sexual Identity

I was inspired to write this post after checking out one of my favorite sites - Sociological Images, where I found this great video of Cindy Gallop speaking at the TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Conference last year about her new website, Make Love, Not Porn. She's a very engaging speaker and her topic is slightly racy for the TED Talks but I love her and her topic choice! As an entrepreneur, branding consultant, totally awesome feminist and super confidant sex-positive woman, her position on pornography is unique and poignant. Listen to her speak and then read more after the jump -

First of all - Mad props to Cindy for proudly professing her proclivity for sexing up younger men! But back to the point - she addresses some really important issues.

People of my generation, who are currently in their 20's, have consumed more pornography than any other previous generation, and she experiences the ramifications of this over-exposure in her own sex life, being the fierce cougar she is. The younger men that she has sex with have learned how to have sex through watching porn. She blames our puritanical double-standard culture and the lack of proper sex education by parents and schools for this shift in how we learn sexual behavior. "Its not surprising," she says, "hardcore pornography de-facto has become sex education." She continues by saying that, "...a certain amount of re-education, rehabilitation and re-orientation has to take place." Amen sister. Her description of a particular sex act (listen/watch for yourself!) demonstrates how mainstream porn is really in opposition to the values of sex positive feminism. Her site details the myths and ideas about sexuality, gender and the roles of men and women that mainstream hardcore pornography represent and how this affects the behavior, beliefs and ideas of the people who view this content. She contrasts the way porn portrays sex and how sex happens in real life. She summarizes by saying that, "Because the porn industry is driven by men, funded by men, managed by men, directed by men and targeted at men, porn tends to present one world view. Porn says 'this is the way it is' and what I want to say is, 'not necessarily'."

Like Cindy, I would like to clarify that I am not anti-porn. There is a common misconception that most feminists are sex-negative and anti-porn. Radical feminism is generally in opposition to pornography, claiming that porn exploits women and contributes to male-centered objectification of women. Cindy's website and positions on cultural attitudes toward sex more closely relate to sex-positivity, which celebrates sexual diversity, desires and individual choices based on consent. Porn that is directed, funded, driven and targeted at men does present one world view, and I can see why the radical feminists would feel this kind of content is exploitative of women, but the fact is that not all pornography is/has to be this way.

The ideas that young women (and men!) learn about their sexual role/identity and gender role/identity from mainstream hardcore pornography can sometimes be really twisted, unhealthy and even dangerous. Personally I feel like the words twisted, unhealthy and dangerous should never be used in the same sentence with anything sex related. So I recommend checking out Cindy's site, Make Love Not Porn, and asking yourself what kind of conceptions/misconceptions you might have about sexual behavior and considering where you might have learned these behaviors or acquired these ideas. I cannot stress enough the importance of communicating openly and honestly with your sex partners about what you need/want/like, rather than succumbing to the influence of the ideas about sexual identity conveyed in mainstream pornography and other popular discourse (Magazines, TV, Movies, etc). Our identities are an ever developing amalgamation of the ideas and images that we are exposed to in our daily lives, including our sex lives, and its critical that we ask ourselves what we're learning from our surroundings and how it affects us personally.