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Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Day 84

I am starting a new manipulation project called "Love Me, Love Me Not" based on beauty standardization that we are subjected to. I mean we all want to have that body and that look, but look how it (pardon me for my crudity) fucks with our minds if even on a subliminal level. Basically, all my manipulations so far have been pretty much this. I am just upping it a level with known icons. It is good practice for my skills as an artist/hobbyist.


"We eat a lot of lean meat and fresh vegetables".
~Jayne Mansfield
Why are standards of beauty being imposed on women, the majority of whom are naturally larger and more mature than any of the models? The roots, some analysts say, are economic. By presenting an ideal difficult to achieve and maintain, the cosmetic and diet product industries are assured of growth and profits. And it’s no accident that youth is increasingly promoted, along with thinness, as an essential criterion of beauty. If not all women need to lose weight, for sure they’re all aging, says the Quebec Action Network for Women’s Health in its 2001 report Changements sociaux en faveur de la diversité des images corporelles. And, according to the industry, age is a disaster that needs to be dealt with.
The stakes are huge. On the one hand, women who are insecure about their bodies are more likely to buy beauty products, new clothes, and diet aids. It is estimated that the diet industry alone is worth anywhere between 40 to 100 billion (U.S.) a year selling temporary weight loss (90 to 95% of dieters regain the lost weight). On the other hand, research indicates that exposure to images of thin, young, air-brushed female bodies is linked to depression, loss of self-esteem and the development of unhealthy eating habits in women and girls.[source to read more]

I chose Jayne Mansfield first because I like the Japanese Rockabilly band song "I Walk Like Jayne Mansfield" by the 5,6,7,8's. They were in the movie Kill Bill. I really only knew she died and was decapitated in a car accident, so today I was researching that and found a flashback article with some real interesting facts about it [here]. It was surprising.

I am keeping with the same plan as last week since it was successful for me. I am not stressing on the scale, but will do check three days before weigh in to see if I need to buy some cocaine...just kidding. I am in a good mood due to this initial success  with not as much exercise as I should.  Low carb supplemented with vitamins, fish/flax oils, red rice yeast and intermittent fiber pill is being good to me. And the 8 sixteen ounce bottles or more of water.

Stay cool my fellow diet bloggies!

 
[my daily food diary link here]

Here is a healthy large and lovely icon that we all can relate to. Yet still there is the association of slim beauty hinted on this...how can you not just love Jane and how she looks?



Link to Study by University Of Texas professor of psychology Dr. Devendra Singh
with a lengthy title called "Body Weight, Waist-to-Hip Ratio,Breasts, and Hips: Role in Judgments of Female Attractiveness and Desirability for Relationships"

Look inside the book if just to read the author notes in "You Can Be Sexy At Any Size" written by plus sized model Nancy Hayssen  also her FAQ page.

Love yourself. See beyond the media bullshit. You are beautiful. Lose weight because you want to be healthier and maybe more physical, but know you are beautiful at any size.

Marilyn Monroe was a size 14.

8 comments:

  1. I am grateful to be with a guy who loves big girls. He would pick the Jayne Mansfield on the right over and over again. He thinks thin women are not attractive. He doesn't think obese women are attractive but he definitely likes meat. Dieting because you want to feel better is one thing but this country is obsessed with it is so true. Good post.

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  2. it's interesting you picked jayne she was considered voluptuous in her day and was never really appreciated. her daughter is an average size (not skinny) and BEAUTIFUL woman (mriska hagarty of law and order svu) in todays hollywood neither jayne nor marilyn monroe would make it. they'd be considered fat (ridiculous!)

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  3. I read of a study done where men were shown pictures of various women and asked to rate the desirability of each one. They chose overall a size 14 woman - not skinny by any means. Little girls learn very young about the importance of looks in our culture. Too much too soon has been the downfall of many of our young girls. They have become shallow due to these impossible standards they are expected to meet in order to be popular. How sad for us.

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  4. Myra, I agree. As a mature woman I am not affected by this media trick as much as I was when I was younger. Some girls are insanely affected and take it to a level of unhealthy mind. I know just the fact that I am altering pictures to put on my blog is a bit out there mentally. (I still have not printed out the face pics and cut them out and wore them neked while I dance to heavy metal, though. Seriously bad joke?)
    I see beauty in a size 14 as well. And if I were size 14 I would just be working on toning if I felt out of proportion. And on maintenance.

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  5. Many of the starlets of yester-year were a size 12 or 14. THAT was considered a healthy, average weight and those women were beautiful and considered so sexy.

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  6. You are really doing good, very inspiring!! I love checkin out your blog each day.

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  7. I see beauty in men and women in assorted sizes, from those skinny petite girly Japanese-Rock boys to the beefy type to the lanky tall Jaeger types, from the small girls to medium to big girls. Beauty for me is not just ONE thing.

    For me, accepting I have aspects that are beautiful has been hard. I'd felt so homely as a kid that seeing anything positive about myeslf physically was..daunting. But I decided late in life to embrace my own attractiveness, limited as it may be according to the narrower societal norms. I'm not slim. I'm not taut-fleshed. I'm not X ratio or Y symmetrically. But I embrace what is mine anyway. I'm late to this party for myself--while seeing beauty in those even others didn't see the beauty in from a young age. I now give myself that same grace that I've given to others. :)

    I love your manipulations and your attitude and your smarts. You are a beautiful cookie, cookie! And Jayne Mansfield was one hot patootie. I had a bit of a girl crush on her as a kid, cause she was so BIG BOMBSHELLY. I mean...yes, she was a sort of caricature of herself she invented for her career, but in her heyday, she was one impressive looking dame. Her daughter is a more natural, strong-looking beauty. I think Mariska is more the actress and woman Jayne would have wished to have been--allowed to be smart and lovely and strong and talented, not have to play dumb blonde.

    Cheering you on this new week...let's all believe in our beauties...

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  8. Awesome job on the manipulation!! I did one from a barbie doll image to go with my blog but Im not sure I'll be using it or not. Its definitely not an easy thing to do! And I love drop dead diva -- she's beautiful and i want her wardrobe ;) So glad to have found your blog!

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