Back on My Soapbox

Let me apologize in advance for climbing back up on my soapbox (well, one of them....I have several) but I heard something on The Today Show this morning that fairly made my blood boil.  The discussion was about the most current definition of thin....."thigh gap".  This may be self evident but let me explain anyway (because it increases my burn).  Thigh gap is the space between your thighs when you stand with your legs together.  You may be thinking, "what gap?" and if you are, welcome to the majority. 

 

The Today Show had a segment with Robyn Lawley, plus size model @ 6 foot 2 inches and 180 pounds, a very beautiful woman of nice proportions.  I couldn't for the life of me figure out what was "plus size" about her.  Anyway, she was talking about the deplorable "thigh gap" and how harmful it is to young women (or all women).  This has apparently hit the social media circuit and she has made the news speaking out against "thigh gap".  You may be wondering what about this made me mad....it wasn't what Robin Lawley said.  I agree completely with what she said.  I am incensed by what Carson Daley asked Ms Lawley.

 

Carson Daly noted that Ms Lawley was a plus size model and wondered about her transition from "Standard Model" to "Plus Size Model".  I understand his nomenclature, really I do.  I understand that he wanted to let her talk about how she went from an unnatural, waifishly thin, skinny model to a normal sized person model.  BUT, to call what we see as models today as "Standard" and not acknowledge the unreality of that body type is to make what we see in fashion magazines the norm....and it most definitely is not!  An anorexic, starving woman is not the norm or that which I want my daughter to aspire.

 

What we see in the media as "normal" is beyond reality for all normal people.  According to ABC news sources, most runway models meet the body mass criteria for anorexia.  The average American woman is a size 12 while the average runway model is a size 0.  Plus size models start at size 6!!  How completely out of whack is that??  I'll tell you....VERY!  (okay, now I'm really wound up)

 

What kind of society puts value on the size of a person?  Sure, let's all be healthy but let's be real.  And, let's not assume that there is value (or lack thereof) in size.  Let's help our daughters know that they are worth far more than their dress size.  Let's stop making women objects that are judged by the size of clothes they wear.  Let's try to live in a place where "standard" is really standard.   Let's value people for the wonderful creation that they are as God's children.  

 

Okay, stepping off the soapbox now but it's still there for the next time I need it. 

Ronan Farrow is a Classy Guy

So most Hollywood kids seem to be pretty messed up but I've been reading about one that has me impressed.  Ronan Farrow is the son of Mia Farrow and, legally, Woody Allen.  Mia Farrow has come out to say that she "never really split up" with Frank Sinatra sparking rumors that Ronan Farrow is Frank Sinatra's son. 

Now, I'm only interested because Woody Allen looks like this:

And Frank Sinatra looks like this:

 

Seriously, who would you want to share DNA with?  I ask you!  But Ronan Farrow has been nothing but classy about this.  Ronan is a 25 year old lawyer and human rights activist who looks remarkably like Frank Sinatra but he is taking it all very lightly.  He's more interested in talking about his new MSNBC show than his paternity.  In fact, the quote that impressed me the most involved his mother's propensity to adopt multi-culturally (something she did years before Angelina Jolie thought of it).  Ronan is quoted as saying, "Look, I grew up in a family with 10 adopted siblings, so you know, if anything, I consider it an insult to them to obsess too much over the question of genetic provenance"

I'll say it again.....classy guy.