Christina Hendricks, the busty ginger bombshell from Mad Men with curves for days, is one of many voluptuous Hollywood stars. However, she does not want her figure to define her.
The actress recently spoke out about the way her body has perceived following an awkward exchange with an Australian reporter who told her she was known as, “an inspiration as a full-figured woman.” To that comment, Christina replied, “I think calling me ‘full-figured’ is just rude.”
Why must it be assumed that simply because Christina is not a size 0 she is a spokeswoman for curvy women? Why can’t she just be seen as just another beautiful actress?
To me, this incident was reminiscent of singer and actress Jennifer Hudson’s interview on Oprah’s Next Chapter that debuted last month. When the topic of body image arose, Jennifer recalled a time following her American Idol days when reporters asked her, “How do you feel being the big girl?”
I have seen stars such as Kat Dennings and Sofia Vergara set apart in a category all their own because of their figures. Like Christina and Jennifer, their curvaceous bodies seem to be highlighted more than their talent.
Owning your shape is indeed inspirational like Lady Gaga’s recent backlash against those who harped on her 25 pound weight gain or Kate Upton’s outspokenness on her rise to fame despite having an atypical body type for a supermodel. However, should those who have a little more curve than the average actress expect to be known as “the big girl” or “the inspiration to full-figured women,” and subsequently be a role model for all curvy women? Why can’t they just be role models to women, period?
I want your opinions, lovelies. Do you think that reporter’s comment was “rude?” Is the “full-figured” label inevitable for all voluptuous stars?
guest
I think the reporters and writers should just drop it. It is not like these women don’t know that are thicker than many of the other actresses/famous skinny chicks. I can see where Christina is coming from. She wants to be recognized as a great actress in general, not a good actress of her size. But then again, if thin actresses were referred to as “svelte,” or “slender,” no one would complain. I guess being larger is still a shameful thing.
guest
Most actresses are not role models. Most of them haven’t done anything worthy of people wanting to model their lives after. They are good looking and they can act, so can a lot of other people not in Hollywood. I agree with the first poster, I don’t blame Christina for not wanting people to recognize her being a great plus sized actress. She should be recognized for her talent. They don’t call male actors that are fat, fat actor Jack Black or whatever. I also doubt she would be making a big deal out of people calling her slender, svelte, or even sexy.
guest
It is interesting to note the differences between female and male actors… I completely agree with the first two posters. You almost never hear about an overweight MALE actor being questioned about their weight, or being a role-model for larger men…So why do we have to have that for women? Ugh.
orchid / 191 posts
women look up to other women and tend to compare differences. Being called full-figured or curvy is…. I don’t know, I would not take any offense to it. If I had something similar to the rare body type of someone in the spotlight like her, I would most definitely look up to her and refer to how she dresses. Besides it’s not like the whole interview revolved around her body, she was probably praised for her acting throughout the whole thing!
guest
ehh
guest
sooo are we just supposed to ignore everyone’s body type instead of celebrating them? i hate stuff that’s overly politically correct -_-
guest
look at it this way, if you’re pumped up over it, you’re caring too much about it. If we ignored it, whatever that reporter says would mean nothing.
guest
Reporters just love to put people in boxes rather than just treating them as normal human beings. That being said, actresses do put themselves out there in the spot light every time they dress up and stand there to have their photos taken. They shouldn’t take it too seriously, and count their blessings for having gotten where they are. Look back at the 40′s, and the “natural” look women had. They were treated like normal beautiful women, who didn’t die of heart attacks because of anorexia or amphetamines. Pull up Jane Russell, Marilyn Monroe ( yes, I know she had problems with pills), and many many more who were considered beautiful, and didn’t have fake boobs, weird stuff injected into their lips, God that’s ugly, plastic surgery as early as their teens, you name it. When just being a woman in her natural size, maybe plus some, was good enough.
guest
I bet the costume designers and stylists have such a hard time when they need to deal with women who aren’t standard issue.
I agree with everyone here so far. The more we talk about this, the more we validate the reporter’s need to point out the obvious. Even Hendricks tried to avoid the topic, but the dumb interviewer couldn’t even grasp that.
This may never stop being an issue so long as people feel pressured to look thinner.
guest
Huh?
Hendricks is hawt! A girl after my own figure.
sunflower / 300 posts
@NinjaJodi@xanga - Surprisingly, not at all. On every film I’ve done costume on, there’s been zero problem finding costumes for any size; big studios have incredible amounts of clothes in huge warehouses at their disposal. Finding what you’re looking for in it all is usually the problem, haha.
guest
i think that it shouldn’t even be talked about. if you are talented, you are talented. that should be enough. She is beautiful regardless. and to be quite honest, some people look way better “thicker”
dahlia / 2942 posts
whatever you want to call it, they’re gorgeous!
guest
The reporters are trying to be politically correct by bringing up the body image issue and mentioning the positive attitude around it. They probably think that they are complimenting the actresses and indeed viewers by painting curvy-ness in a positive light. I guess in a sense it’s a noble thought, but it can be seen as kind of patronising.
The thing I think is stupid is that some women are naturally very slim and it can be an insult to them to be told that curvy women are ‘real’ women. Curvy women are often portrayed as being ‘real women’ or having ‘real’ bodies. Instead of reinforcing the ‘curves are hotter’ notion they should reinforce the ‘everyone is different’ notion.
guest
stunning works if you got THAT much going on!