This evening, someone I know liked this image on Facebook, so it showed up in my timeline. As I had to be subjected to it I went onto Twitter where you're always sure of getting a discussion going and thankfully, many people agreed with my disgust. I said I'd pop it up here too to spread the word.
There's so many things wrong with this, I'm not even sure where to start but here goes.
Firstly, anorexia? It's an eating disorder. An illness and not as this would suggest, a choice, like implants. Also, are we to take from this that these people somehow think that anorexia didn't exist before Marilyn's death? Really? That's kind of laughably stupid.
Secondly, what's with the body shaming? Yes, she was an attractive woman but does that have to mean that those who don't look like this are by extension, not "sexy"? What happened to beauty being in the eye of the beholder? This for me is just more of this "real women have curves" nonsense. Newsflash; real women can look like whatever they choose to and if you "liked" this picture then you probably just haven't thought of the repercussions for people seeing this who have an altered body image. Imagine for a second this was the other way around; a photo of Kate Moss back in the 90's with a comment shaming those who don't resemble that one particular body type? Would that be acceptable too? I'd sincerely hope not.
Lastly and depressingly, this thing has 88,414 likes. That means that all of those people deemed this to be a good message to be put out there, something they agreed with. Sure, some of the likes are men (I know this cause they've left some fairly predictable comments about what they'd do to Marilyn..if she wasn't dead for the past 50 years, of course) but an overwhelming amount are women. Seriously? I have to say I struggle with that mentality. Women really are their own worst enemy sometimes. Certainly, Marilyn Monroe was a beautiful woman and plenty would love to have her figure but in expressing that, do we also have to shame other women who don't have that body shape? What about the naturally thin or over weight?
Also, sorry to burst the bubble of whoever created this image, but Marilyn had plastic surgery, in fact she had an implant in her chin that gave her the illusion of perfect bone structure. There is of course, nothing wrong with this, each to their own. I just find it incredible that the person behind this image has such an extremely narrow ideal of what the "perfect" woman should look like that they've ignored the reality of the situation, popped an image of a well-loved movie-star up in order to get more traffic to their page and that so many people are completely oblivious to that. Women, I think need to start being a bit kinder to each other and while you may think "this is just a picture on facebook, get over it", well, I disagree. This sort of thing is actually really insidious and incredibly damaging in the long-term and personally, I'm getting weary of seeing it everywhere.
Also, sorry to burst the bubble of whoever created this image, but Marilyn had plastic surgery, in fact she had an implant in her chin that gave her the illusion of perfect bone structure. There is of course, nothing wrong with this, each to their own. I just find it incredible that the person behind this image has such an extremely narrow ideal of what the "perfect" woman should look like that they've ignored the reality of the situation, popped an image of a well-loved movie-star up in order to get more traffic to their page and that so many people are completely oblivious to that. Women, I think need to start being a bit kinder to each other and while you may think "this is just a picture on facebook, get over it", well, I disagree. This sort of thing is actually really insidious and incredibly damaging in the long-term and personally, I'm getting weary of seeing it everywhere.
Anyway, end of rant. Let me know in the comments what you think. Am I being overly sensitive or do you agree that this just isn't acceptable in this day and age?
Well said! Such an important discussion - more of this please! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Orla! x
DeleteTotally agree with everything you said hun. Though I do think it's a symptom of and a backlash against what the media shove in our faces everyday as the female ideal. The media have a LOT to account for. Did you see the airbrushing/slimming of Jennifer Lawrence? Finally we have a celebrity who speaks up about positive body image and the media STILL edit her to conform to their standards. Oh the anger, I could go on for days...
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, it is most definitely a backlash to the media's pressure on women to be thin but neither is right- both are just pitting women against each other and I'm so sick of it!! I did see the JL stuff and it's ridiculous, seems to be happening constantly. They did it to Kate Winslet recently too even though she's been really vocal about how much she hates that. Urgh.
DeleteNo you're not being overly sensitive. I'm sick of Marilyn Monroe being held up as some kind of "fat girl heroine". Yes, the woman was pretty. But she was not a "size 16" by today's standards, and she was not a "natural beauty". Quotation mark overload there but people seem to hold her up as some kind of curvy icon when really, she was under immense pressure to change the way she looked. Originally a brunette, she was coerced into this false, fake blonde bombshell image. And had multiple cosmetic surgery procedures as you pointed out. The use of the word anorexia up there just smacks of ignorance, as does the assumption that all boob jobs are for cosmetic reasons. Does this mean that someone who has had their breasts rebuilt after a mastectomy can't be considered "sexy" anymore? I don't like things like this, I really don't. Firstly, "sexy" isn't something any of us should be aspiring to, that suggests that we have no purpose but to look sexually attractive in the eye of someone else. Jennifer Lawrence was mentioned above and she's starting to annoy me too, she constantly refers to herself as a fat girl. While I appreciate that in twisted movie land she is larger than the average actress, I think she would be doing a lot of good to just say "I'm not fat, I'm normal" instead of embracing all the obese/fat/overweight comments. Because if Marilyn Monroe and Jennifer Lawrence are big girls, I am off the charts altogether. Sorry for the essay!
ReplyDeleteIt's not an essay at all and thank you for your opinion! i completely agree with you and your spot on about women who have reconstructions post mastectomy. That's another level of why this thing is offensive. It just bothers me that anyone could be that hard on so many women in such a casual manner!
DeleteGreat post, I'm so sick of people picking on women's figures as if we're all there just to be judged and held up against one another, I choose to completely ignore it!
ReplyDeleteI can't really help but see it everywhere to be honest. A couple of years ago I started reading books about feminism more regularly and it's like knowing you're in the matrix!!
DeleteI am a huge Marilyn Monroe fan and she was in fact tiny (there are some of her clothes in Newbridge Silverware) so to say she is a role model for fat girls is a bit daft - although she did gain weight and loose it cause she was a woman like us all capable of rapidly changing shape. Also she was stuck in the trap of "just be sexy" cant you tell the industry was run by men. I love her cause she also did things like stay out of the sun, protect her skin and exercise all things that were unheard of in the 50ies. I know that people put these pictures up cause they like to feel better about themselves and it is drummed into our heads to be thin, but should we not be looking to look healthy instead, not thin, not fat, not curvy just healthy and happy. I love that people jump on the bandwagon of her having plastic surgery by the way, personally I am just amazed that people did that to themselves back in the day. I am a huge advocate of our imperfections making us interesting. I do think that we are bombarded with images of women left right and center all making us feel inadequate in some way or another, I also know as a larger lady that its great to see pictures of people who are all sizes not just the model standard. Women get caught up on all kinds of thing with size be it an image or a dress size personally I think its more important that we are a little kinder to each other cause lets face it we all have things we dont like about ourselves but we also have good qualities maybe we should try and focus on them a little more.
ReplyDeletePS I still love Marilyn
I love Marilyn too and this is in no way a reflection on her, I saw her clothes in Newbridge too and was surprised at how small she was, considering how the media has always portrayed her. I completely agree that all shapes and sizes should be shown, not just thin supermodels but this is as damaging as showing only one standard body type because this is only denigrating women who aren'y "curvy", do you get me?
DeleteOh god I'm sick of seeing these pics all over Facebook.
ReplyDeleteNon stop images of Marilyn with various made up quotes as well, just to get likes. Head wrecking.
DeleteFantastic post and so well written, I actually love Marilyn Monroe but I get so fed up of people using her as a role model for things like this. Well done for highlighting it xx
ReplyDeleteThank hun, I love her too so this sort of thing is even more annoying. x
DeleteI don't think that you're being overly sensitive at all. I've seen this image and ones similar doing the rounds so often that I've taken to just rolling my eyes at it, but you're right to point out (a) why it's wrong and (b) how damaging it can be for some people to see stuff like this.
ReplyDeleteThanks Paula. I do worry sometimes that i'm a bit too ranty with stuff like this but it just really annoys me!
DeleteThere's no such thing as too ranty in my book! :)
DeleteI loved this post, sorry read it last night but could;t comment. I agree with your view and everyone should stop comparing women's bodies against one another. Everyone is different and no one should be made feel ashamed of how they look.
ReplyDeleteThanks Avril, that's exactly it. xx
DeleteCan we not just be who we are without being judged for it? Seriously now, why do we do this to ourselves? Cause alot of the time it women who are the ones doing the judging.
ReplyDeleteYep, the amount of women liking and commenting on it was just awful.
DeleteI am absolutely sick to death of these things popping up on Facebook. I have seen Marilyn's clothes both in Newbridge silverware museum and the Hollywood History museum. She may have had larger bust and hips but she couldn't have been more than a size 8. I don't know where this misconception comes from that she is a "big girl".
ReplyDeleteBut what pisses me off most of all, is the people who "like" this photo know absolutely nothing about Marilyn Monroe. Have you seen those pictures with Marilyn "quotes" on them? Where do these quotes come from? They are all made up and people are going crazy for Marilyn yet most of them couldn't name me a film that she was in.
Another thing that annoys me is "Men don't like bones, only dogs do". The likes of these quotes from overweight people who are trying to make themselves feel better while at the same time belittling small girls like me. I weigh less than 8 stone, have no boobs or hips but there's nothing I can do about that. It's just the way I am built.
Why does there have to be all of this about "body image" anyway? Hasn't anyone realised that we all look different?
I saw them in Newbridge too and her waist was tiny!! Ridiculous. Oh god, those "quotes" wreck my head. People will hit like on anything with her image without stopping to think. Those fake quote ones really annoy me but when I saw this one with the anorexia/implant thing I just saw red!!
DeleteIt's so good to see that there are lots of others who agree with you too. I think images like this can be especially dangerous when posted on to facebook where so many young teenage girls see them and don't understand their subtext and true meaning. We should try and celebrate all types of bodies and embrace what we have rather than always trying to be someone else. That is the message we should be sending young girls.
ReplyDeleteExcellent post!
Definitely, I have to say it's really reassuring to see that other people think this is unacceptable too! My worry is exactly what you've said, that young girls will be on facebook or wherever and see that and think it must be right when so many people are agreeing with it! Quite scary really. x
DeleteI'm also sick of things like this popping up on my timeline. Eating disorders certainly aren't a choice and I'm fed up of some aspects of social media portraying them as choices or lifestyles rather than the destructive mental illnesses they are, and embody. The fact so many use Marilyn as a 'curvy icon' again illustrates the disillusioned ideals society has found for women and their appearances - it places naturally thinner women under immense pressure to have curves, and conversely to this, the curvy women to unwillingly become a subject of scrutiny, double standards really... that one particular body type? Would that be acceptable too? I'd sincerely hope not. I hate the popularity images like this gain, it makes me sick to my stomach that people are being subjected to such insensitivity - social media should be used as a platform to challenge such issues, not perpetuate them! Great post :) xx
ReplyDeleteYup, it's just more of the same 'you have to be sexy and gorgeous but it has to be effortless (or look that way)'.
ReplyDeleteSO unrealistic for anyone to achieve. Unless we put effort in (more and more effort as we get older), we won't come near the stereotypical view of beauty or attractiveness. That effort will probably involve changing what we eat (though hopefully not an eating disorder) and may involved things from injections of filler to surgery.
Or we can reject the stereotypical view and forge our own path. Personally, I'm not doing that, but kudos to those who can sustain it.
You're all missing the point of this post. Basically the post is conveying a message that hollywood's too strict of what is considered attractive now. The post means leave diets alone or you'll develop an eating disorder and leave Implants, surgery alone. You're naturally beautiful the way god made you.
ReplyDeleteYes body shaming IS wrong in general but for me I understand where this post is coming from.
ReplyDeleteIn today's world, the media, especially the picky cookie cutter image of what 'is' considered ideal for Hollywood. Its actually quite sad really. The industry became more shallow now than ever. If ur not a size 2, ur NOT considered ideal. You can't be a model, the clothes won't fit you, agencies tells actresses to slim down. They always photo shop celebrities in photos, making them slimmer like Kim Kardashian, Britney Spears and Jennifer Lawrence. Its just not right! And now people are picking on Selena Gomez who gained just a little bit of weight but now they're calling her fat which is ridiculous!
Due to all of this scrutiny. The industry is way too picky now. I'm seeing less curvy women now than then. They feel pressured to loss weight. It's like a fashion trend!
I rarely see people dictate skinny people today so therefore I'm glad this post was made and you know what I'm sick and tired of seeing is that the media always favors thin people! Argue with me all you want but it's the truth and it's my opinion...