I guess I'm going to finally jump on the blogging bandwagon and give my two-cents worth on the whole Jessica Simpson weight gain "scandal." I've put scandal in quotes because I think that it's anything but. Here's why. First of all, the picture that started a week's worth of media scrutiny was obviously taken at a bad angle. The photographer was down below shooting upwards, an angle that skews the proportions of the subject being shot in its own right. The same angle was used to take the second picture of Jessica in her black blazer and leggings, the one touted as her first public appearance since the "scandal" broke. Seeing as photographers and the film industry use similar shots in horror movies to make the killer seem bigger and more towering to both the audience and the helpless heroine lying on the floor, it's not a big surprise that Jessica Simpson, having been shot with that angle, would seem bigger than normal.Second, it's a well-known fact that, even when a picture is shot head-on at the same height as the victim--I mean subject--the camera adds anywhere from 10 to 15 pounds to what that person actually weighs. That's why a lot of actors who may seem "fat" or "poochy" on our TV screens look like toothpicks in real life. Take a good look at the picture of Jessica Simpson. Seriously, take a good look. Now readjust the angle, lower the waist on the mom jeans, put her in more supportive bra, and subtract 15 pounds from what you see. What do you have? A woman who, off camera, is probably a size 6 or 8. Are you seriously telling me that someone who is a 6 or 8 is considered fat or plus-sized these days? If so, then sign me up for Noncelebrity Fit Club because that makes me fat as well.
Third, women out here in the real world--and by real world I mean the world off-screen, not the MTV reality show--have always had hips and breasts. In fact, ask any doctor who isn't getting paid by Entertainment Tonight to tell Jessica Simpson, should she ever be delusional enough to watch the show, how to slim down, and he or she will tell you that women are supposed to have hips and breasts. They aid in these two little things called child birth and rearing. So if, as women, we're supposed to have these body parts, why is it suddenly a crime to proudly show those parts in public, as opposed to, say, hiding our femininity beneath oversized fat clothes? Why does it cause the world to stop talking about more important things like the economy or our new president and talk only about that subject for an entire week? Why? Well, I'm beginning to think it's because America has lost it's freakin' mind when it comes to body image and weight. Why else would we have girls as early as grade school dieting and obsessing over every little bump and bulge when they should just be enjoying their childhoods?
Okay, now that I have gotten that all out of me, I'm getting off my soapbox and moving on to other topics, assuming I don't break my "fat," size 6 ankles on the way down.
