Women’s Studies Faux Paux #1: Reducing Women to Inanimate Objects

May 30, 2008 Posted in Body, Style

hilary_duff7_200×400.jpg About a year ago, my homegirl Renata and I were sitting on the floor of my bedroom, looking at issues of Jane Magazine (Oh Jane! R.I.P.), when she said, “Look at how fabulous this bitch looks,” and pointed to a thin girl with frizzy hair wearing a purple dress, gray sweater, and giant glasses. I looked, and responded, “Funny, I was just thinking the same thing about the same girl,” and showed her my issue, in which the girl had her hair slicked back and was wearing a black sheath. Renata examined the two pictures for a minute, and then said, “I’m pretty sure all you have to do to look fashionable is be really skinny.”

By Ccandylyndsey

Since that day I’ve noticed that, more often than not, Renata is right – it’s easier to look chic if you’re slender. There are examples of this all over Hollywood. Consider Exhibit A, Hilary Duff. Back in the day, H. Duffs was a cute kid who certainly wasn’t fat, but definitely didn’t have that sleek boney look that we associate with Hollywood starlets. She was filled-out, normal-looking. Then one day she dropped about fifteen pounds, and all of a sudden she looked…glamorous. Elegant. Less like a kid and more like a chic fashionista woman. And while gossip magazines and news reports condemned her for looking sickly and setting a bad example for girls, she was still appearing on the cover of high-fashion magazines and being featured in designer ads like never before.

Because skinny = style.

We can attribute this national mentality to the media: for years, models and stars have gotten thinner and thinner until they’ve reached the point where many of them are barely more than skeletons wearing skin-suits. The image of ultimate high fashion that we’re presented with is that of the mutant waif, forty pounds thinner than an average person of the same height, gliding around A-list events like an apparition wearing Proenza Schouler. But why? What made the Fashion Powers That Be decide that scrawny is synonymous with chic?

I’ve come to the conclusion it’s a little thing I like to call the Clothes Hanger Effect. Once while watching a piece on the Today show about Nicole Ritchie being named Best Dressed by People magazine, the “style expert” guest commenting on the piece made mention of the fact that, since losing all that weight, Nicole Ritchie has become not much more than a hanger for designer clothing. And if you look at pictures of her, this is definitely true; the girl has no hips, tiny tits, no figure to “interfere” with the lines of the garment. It’s like she’s a walking outfit armature instead of a person. It’s the same thing on the runway. Ninety-nine percent of the time, models look nothing like women and more like weirdo mannequins. They’re gaunt, pale, washed out, alien; but damn, look at how great that Stella McCartney dress looks!

Now, I’m not trying to condemn skinny girls by any means. If you’re a skinny girl, and you like being a skinny girl, rock on. Being happy and comfortable with your body is what it’s all about (or so they tell me in 7th grade sex-ed). I’m just saying that next time you look at pictures of the Olsen twins and start berating yourself for eating that burrito last night, stop and ask yourself; am I a woman, or an aspiring clothes hanger?

926663 Comments2008-05-30+18%3A30%3A00ccandylyndsey on "Women’s Studies Faux Paux #1: Reducing Women to Inanimate Objects"

anon says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:09 am

Wow, another fat bitch whining about not looking beautiful. Diet, you fat fuck.

anon says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:11 am

fuckin fat bitch.

anon says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:14 am

Yous' a fat ho.

Get back to the field for massa.

(btw millhouse is a meme)

anon says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:15 am

You must be so fat.

anon says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:16 am

Stop trying to change people's views on beauty and just conform to the definition of it already.

By which I mean LOSE SOME FUCKING WEIGHT.

(and Milhouse is not, and never will be, a meme)

anon says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:17 am

Your fat, and don't sugarcoat it because you'll eat that too.

anon says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:18 am

4 EASY STEPS TO LOSING WEIGHT!

1. Grab gun.

2. Point at self.

3. ??????

4. Become An Hero.

anon says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:21 am

>> About a year ago, my homegirl Renata

I stopped ready after that. Fatty cakes!

Anon says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:22 am

Oh shit Shamoo get back in the fucking water.

Aynon says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:24 am

MAN THE HARPOONS

===->

anonymous says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:25 am

ANON: you are a faggot and need to go die. 7 comments in under 10 minutes? go find somebody else to bitch at! you're just jealous that she's got enough self esteem to conform to her OWN definition of beauty, not what stupid magazines say. get a life, asshole.

krissy says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:27 am

wow, ya'll are nasty.

the point of the article (if you had actually continued it) was to be happy with yourself and NOT aspire to be thin.

Lyndsey, I thought it was a great article.

Your Superior says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:28 am

Hey Anon,

"Your fat" should be "You're fat" as in "You're a moron."

Keep Smiling & Have a nice day!

krissy says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:28 am

oh its just anon that has a problem with it.

not multiple people.

wow anon, find something else to do with your time.

anon says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:29 am

Anonymous + Krissy: get your fat asses back in the kitchen and make me a sammich.

Then lose some fucking weight.

You too, whoever wrote this fat-love article.

ANON says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:29 am

FAT BITCH!

Lose some fuckin weight or be a hero.

(Milhouse is a fucking meme!)

Anonymous says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:29 am

You only write this because you are FAT.

Stupid bitch, get back in the kitchen.

anon says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:30 am

Lulz at fatasses thinking anon = 1 person.

anon says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:31 am

MILHOUSE IS NOT A FUCKING MEME!

Just like this fat bitch is neither good looking nor intelligent.

AnonMouse says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:33 am

I personally find clothes hangers to be sexy.

I find ribs, though, to be horribly unattractive.

That said, 'lose weight' 'fat bitch' blah blah blah, sigh. *rolls eyes*

You guise don't even know how to pick em anymore…the article was actually good. I bet none of you cunts actually read the damn thing.

ANoun says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:33 am

ANON=Anonymous and we are legions!

THIS

SPARTAAA

!!!

/b/ says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:34 am

this is starting to look like a /b/ thread.

anon says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:34 am

The harpoons, we must man them.

anon says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:35 am

You guise don’t even know how to pick em anymore…the article was actually good. I bet none of you cunts actually read the damn thing.

Can't speak for anyone else, but I read it.

All I saw was "bawwww women: don't care what is attractive, just do what you want because I have no willpower".

anon says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:35 am

Beauty is only skin deep.

ITS A DEEP SEARCH FOR YOU THEN FATTY

Anonymous says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:35 am

""""""""""""""ANON: you are a faggot and need to go die. 7 comments in under 10 minutes? go find somebody else to bitch at! you’re just jealous that she’s got enough self esteem to conform to her OWN definition of beauty, not what stupid magazines say. get a life, asshole.

wow, ya’ll are nasty.

the point of the article (if you had actually continued it) was to be happy with yourself and NOT aspire to be thin.

Lyndsey, I thought it was a great article.

Hey Anon,

“Your fat” should be “You’re fat” as in “You’re a moron.”

Keep Smiling & Have a nice day!

oh its just anon that has a problem with it.

not multiple people.

wow anon, find something else to do with your time.""""""""

How about you bitches go fuck yourselves, or better yet, kill yourselves.

Fat bitches should be killed via genocide.

And by the way, anon isn't one person its more than 70,000,000 now.

And Lyndsey from University of Michigan, you are a cunt, go suck on a burrito stupid nigger.

anon says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:38 am

wow fucking fags everywhere

also lose some weight fat bitch

Oldfag says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:41 am

Obvious jealous fat bitch is jealous

anony1 says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:43 am

FATTY LOVE CAKE!

Anon says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:46 am

FAT girl is FATTTTTTTTTTTT

man the harpoons, naw, the lazer.

Anon. says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:47 am

Hahaha grab the harpoons!

Lose some weight girl!

Anon says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:47 am

an hero now

Femanon says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:48 am

sick fatty, you don't deserve to breathe.

Emile says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:51 am

Wow… looks like someone's having a good, cracked-out Friday afternoon. Anon, go bother someone else, go somewhere where people care about your stupid comments.. go take another hit and be a happy junkie, not an angry one.

Jamal says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:54 am

Well dayumm this nigga like a wimmenz wit curves why you got be hatin?

Anon says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:55 am

lulz ebaums world was here

AnHero says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:57 am

Your Fat

AnHero says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:57 am

Is blocking out the sun

ebaums says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:58 am

EBAUMS OWNS ANOTHER WEBSITE LOL

/b/ says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:59 am

screw that, this was /b/ work

anon says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:59 am

Ebaums? Try 4chan

grayoak says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:59 am

Wow, fattty, go to the gym k?

David Davidson says:
Fri, 30th May 200810:59 am

Nobody likes a fattie not even another fattie

anon says:
Fri, 30th May 200811:00 am

You people that don't think its right to laugh at fat people should really watch this.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=eBGIQ7ZuuiU

Anonymous says:
Fri, 30th May 200811:00 am

/b/ owns this page now. fuck off fat asses

/b/ > Ebaums says:
Fri, 30th May 200811:00 am

FUCK YOU FAGGOTS

RAPETRAIN says:
Fri, 30th May 200811:01 am

all aboard fatties

Christine says:
Fri, 30th May 200811:12 am

I love it when people have so much free time that they must do things like this. Really? Are we four?

I liked this article. It had a good message. The only I want to lose a few pounds is to be healthier. Unfortunately I'm a few pounds overweight for my height.

jenn s says:
Fri, 30th May 200811:35 am

ummmmmmmmm… can someone explain to me what the HELL is going on here????

Crunchy says:
Fri, 30th May 200811:53 am

I swear to god she look just like these fat ass squirrel I saw on this spot called digitalfuntown The resemblance in hilarious. You've got to see it.

Kel says:
Fri, 30th May 200812:22 pm

Its possible to be skinny and yet still write a commentary on the female ideal in fashion being extremely thin. Why assume someone is fat because they make a commentary on waif thin celebs/models? I happen to be skinny, always have been. Its in my genes. I still agree that in fashion its ideal to look like a coat hanger, and that's not healthy. Rock on Lyndsey – you're smart and sexy!

Sady - The New Schoo says:
Fri, 30th May 20081:01 pm

Dear CollegeCandy,

As a pathetic idiot with no means of attaining a human connection with anyone around me, I find myself with lots of free time. I have heard that blogging the same damn inaccurate, racist, and misogynist insult over and over and over and over is a good way to deal with my rage. Would you recommend this?

Yours,

Anon

OH CRAP I FORGOT TO SIGN IN UNDER THE OTHER NAME OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOES

Angelique Nolan says:
Fri, 30th May 20081:01 pm

fuck all of you who feel the need to assume she's fat because she has a problem with the definition of beauty being skeletal, corpselike in your face self imposed hunger. I am 5'10", 139 pounds, and a size six and I think it is bullshit for the goal to be to look like a stick figure. Sure, if I wanted it bad enough I could give up my 34D breasts and starve to a 4, and even keep it up, but I like having T and A and so do most members of the male segment of the population. There is a big difference between being healthy and being fat. Being fat is not healthy, obesity, diabetes, and cardiac conditions make that very clear. But neither is the amenorrhea, heart problems, weakness, anemia, and tiredness of being rexy. Being active and eating well will keep anyone that does not have a thyroid or metabolic disorder perfectly normal sized and give them a decent body.

CC says:
Fri, 30th May 20082:02 pm

As much as you say you're not trying to condemn skinny women, I can't help but believe that you are. I happen to be 105 lbs and healthy, and yes I look damn good in my clothes. But being skinny doesn't make you chic or fashionable. Finding clothes that flatter your body type and wearing those clothes with confidence do. I know plenty of skinny girls that look horrendous in their clothing because they have no fashion sense, and I know plenty of "not skinny" or what you all would probably call "fat" girls that look fabulous because they know what to wear and how to wear it. So let's step off the weight=fashion statement-it can become quite offensive.

J - NYU says:
Fri, 30th May 20082:33 pm

Never in my life have a seen a commenter go as ape shit as "Anon".

…I think he might have a fat phobia. Which he should get checked out.

Elizabeth says:
Sat, 31st May 20089:23 am

Actually, I live with Lyndsey. She is the ANTI-FAT. My other roomie and I are laughing our asses off right now at how ridiculous this is. She works out hours each day. And then she eats whatever she wants. Is she an Olsen? Hells, no. But she is toned as hell and bitches stare her down at clubs. I don't know anyone happier with their body than her, I think that was the entire point, peeps. Anon, you're a delight.

anonymous says:
Sat, 31st May 20087:33 pm

it's amusing that i was called a fat bitch because i support the point of this article. i'm 56" 98lbs. not exactly fat.

anonymous says:
Sat, 31st May 20087:34 pm

should be 5'6". clearly i can't type.

Darcy says:
Tue, 3rd Jun 20087:44 am

I'm sad to see so many people attack you for writing a perfectly honest piece about what you think of the state of female self-image today. It's true that a lot of clothes look better on slender people (like skinny-jeans, or *shudder* tights), but they will never be able to rock a low-plunging cocktail dress. Everyone is made for something different, it's just too much work to get to that perfect point when you look good in everything (because, uh, that's called photoshop )