Sunday 3 January 2010

Body Image: But A Wee Dimple


So Jen Hawkins is doing it. Posing nyoode on the cover of Marie Claire Australia. It's supposed to be a movement to embrace the 'positive body image' campaign. Sorry, I don't buy it. She still looks pretty damn perfect to me.
Feels to me like they're piggy-backing this. But still not getting it.
You can read more about what Jackie Frank, editor of Marie Claire Australia has to say here.
And also makes me think of this viral ad by Dove. Pretty powerful stuff (and shows that with hair, make-up, photographer, lighting and maybe a little soft focus, we all have the power to be a supermodel. For realz.)
Your thoughts?

17 comments:

Corrie said...

yeah I just saw it on the news, shock horror I saw a roll of skin, not fat on her body and apparently there is a hint of cellulite! mmmm real woman!

try a woman who's had a few kids, that's what I call a real woman!

Corrie:)

Brooke said...

i think they're definitely riding on the coat-tails of sarah murdoch a few months back. but you know what? i don't mind that at all. yes, you would be hard pressed to find a more beautiful (physically at least) woman than jennifer hawkins, and it's probably not that difficult to make her look gorgeous, but i still feel that it's a step in the right direction.

maybe, just maybe, women could look at the beauty of hawkins and say, "wow, she really is that beautiful. good for her." i think us ladies need to go easier on each other. hawko is beautiful. she won the genetic lottery. and she would work damn hard to look like that. good for her. someone else may be the funniest person alive. another lady may find the cure to cancer. etc. i think we're all pretty great.

Cat said...

It is a step in the right direction and I'm with Trove, I do feel that J-Hawk won the genetic lottery and good for her and all that palaver! BUT it's still a gorgeous woman we're talking about & what % of the population look like that? I question whether it does set an "example" given Marie Claire's audience isn't exactly little Miss 14 - 19 who are at far more impressionable a stage regarding body image than the Marie Claire audience...mind you, us gals never outgrow body image issues I'm sure. But I genuinely say snaps to Jackie Frank et al for at least trying to do something real.

Shelley Trbuhovich said...

....i'm still trying to find the one dimple and the crease....as someone the other side of the big 4-0, i have reached a stage where i am saying to everyone i know, 'flaunt it while you've got it', cause it doesn't matter how well you take care of yourself, it will disappear. you know, the collagen filled face, the shiny skin and hair, the bright eyes. but for some reason, having the gorgeous, supposed everywoman that is jennifer hawkins reminding me to be confident with my middle-aged twice child bearing body doesn't exactly feel great....i laughed aloud actually. go jen, you are gorgeous, but i want to see your fabulous 40 something self up there after a couple of kids....that's what i want to see. i want reality. and i want mags to stop airbrushing every damn thing too.
i'm with trove also, we really need to celebrate each other as women.
that's my second rant on your blog in as many days, pmm!!!

Tania said...

Nup. Not buying it either. And I'm not sure cynicism is my problem. Although it is as far as Dove is concerned. While I heartily endorse their campaign approach, I am too cynical to think it is anything other than a money-spinning notion. The fact that Lynx and Dove sit side by side under a Unilever umbrella challenges something of the essential integrity!

Hey Mrs - hearty wishes for a fantabulous 2010 - am looking forward to many more PMM-inspired chortles.

Anonymous said...

They need me to pose nude for them! She of the jiggly stomach, dimpled legs and saggy tittehs. That's real baby! Hahaha :)

suzy said...

PMM don't even get me started!!
I am over this. Frankly it just makes me feel
worse.
I can see what they are trying to do but it's like when you ask your free loading brother in law who's staying for a month to contribute to grocceries and they nick down to the store for packet of chips and a 2 litre bottle of drink.
When will the fashion industry learn that putting a modelon the cover and pointing out a teeny ripple of cellulite does not mean we are buddies.
Until they pop a real woman on the cover sans makeup and airbrushing, place designer clothes in stores for sizes larger than an jockey and use the phrase plus-size for women who have tummy rolls and useful arms and not for models who are larger then a size 8 will I listen.

Sally said...

I'm another non-buyer... whilst she may not have been "digitally remastered" she has still been photographed with professional lighting, hair and make-up.

Cath @ chunkychooky said...

what a load of cobswallop. big friggin deal. they put Miss universe ( or whatever she is- honestly in this day and age the fact that this is still a "title" blows me away!!!) on the cover without airbrushing her. so we should all stand and applaud them??? Buy the magazine? I am with Tania, I am still cynical enought to beleive that even the Dove campaign is still marketing- yes they are highlighting whats wrong about the industry but on the other hand trying to convince us their soap will make our skin softer!!!! like somewho this is suppose to be a big important thing in our lives.

Umatji said...

oh yeah - such a load of cobblers! I love the dove add you linked to - I hadn't seen it so thankyou.
I gues the thing is - it doesn't make a spit if the person photographed is one of those odd ball barbie style humans in the first place - who cares? Just do some real business - like its been said before - why can men's mag's have intelligent and ugly men on the front but women's mag's can't.Crazy world - hope it changes for someone's daughters if not for ours....

Cindy said...

I think that the really sad thing is that they would normally feel the need to air-brush that obviously quite beautiful woman.

Carly said...

Like all of the other comments, i am a little confused about how this makes a difference to feelings about body image, looking at the naked former miss world, who is obviously beautiful and now, naked. Right idea, wrongly done.

JoeyNomad said...

Total rubbish - who SITS like that? If I purchased a medieval stretching device on Etsy and posed stretching myself up to the ceiling there's a slim chance i'd look like that. Embrace the rolls and dimples and wobbly bits people! I think this is one area where we need to learn from men (shocking I know) - they like us warts, wobbly bits and all. And a deep breath... rant over!

Leonie said...

Saw the "article" on the tv the other night and had a huge laugh. What a crack up: cellulite, a crease and uneven skin tone. Well um anyone sitting like that in lighting would have a hint of cellulite we all do no matter our size, it's how our bodies work! A crease-at the waist-no really??? When sitting twisted of course, bet it's not there when she's sitting straight! Uneven skin tone-so that's a flaw now is it. Sorry for all those people with t-shirt and short marks from the summer sun-you fail!! Seiously people get a grip, she's perfect air brushed or not, it's not something to aspire to it's something to appreciate and then move on. If she can do something with her looks to help someone somewhere in the world to better their life then great but we aren't failures because we have cellulite, creases and uneven skin tone...we are REAL!!!

PS see this is why we keep coming back to you!!

Sarah said...

yup totally agree with you... I am at the stage now where I am like what ever... That aint a real woman to me. You know I go for the wise women with the natural coloured hair who don't spend fortunes trying to look good - instead they get on with it and have a wild of a ride while they are at it! Do I make any sence? I have it all in my head but cannt seem to find the right words to explain.

Referring to your post a few days ago.. I like the blog just the way it is - so keep at it and dont feel you have to blog daily if you don't really feel you have anything you want to post ...

kris said...

I just want to slep her.

How far away from reality is this?

Marie Claire obviously has NFI.

Anonymous said...

hi, just saw your blog for the first time, thought i might comment on the jennifer hawkins issue...
i know it's a big issue, many layers etc, but my first opinion when i saw her was WOW, she looks fabulous! Is there any rule that to be "real" one MUST have cellulite and stretch marks etc etc...? She's 26, she takes good care of herself, she's beautiful, and whilst she's not airbrushed she is in professional lighting and all that, but frankly, aren't we all attracted to images of beautiful things? Aren't we reading blogs that have professional photographs and photos of beautiful things in beautiful lighting? Since when is that a terrible thing? Maybe we don't need to get all in a twitch about it...
nice blog : )