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On the ever-growing list of Shit That Annoys Xi:
This whole hot chick/tough girl thing that's been in vogue for a few years now. And what really annoys me is that so many women seem to think this is so great for the female image in Hollywood. This is why it annoys me: Nearly every woman you see who is in some kind of kick-ass role has a skinny ( Read more... )
This whole hot chick/tough girl thing that's been in vogue for a few years now. And what really annoys me is that so many women seem to think this is so great for the female image in Hollywood. This is why it annoys me: Nearly every woman you see who is in some kind of kick-ass role has a skinny ( Read more... )
What bothers me is the sexed-up women, who are usually very thin because this is what Hollywood sells, playing the role of a tough woman. It's not so much about the weight, everybody jumped on that like a pack of rabid squirrels. And gratned, maybe I'm probably not conveying my point here very well. It's the sexualization of a tough woman making it the only way a tough woman is acceptalbe. If she isn't tiny and perfect (again, by industry standards) and dressed very sexy, then she's either masculine or plain. The Hollywood tough chick stereotype is condescending because it implies that a "tough girl" is above all else sexy. Everything goes back to her sex appeal. I would even be more content to see a thin woman kicking ass in a capacity that is suited for her body type. But a 120lb, 5'10" supermodel with no real muscle on her frame is ridiculous to watch fighting a 200lb man and winning on strength alone. Especially if she's wearing skin-tight clothing. It's ridiculous.
Most of the time a very underweight woman does not posses a lot of physical strength . I never said all skinny women are pansies. I also never said all larger women are stronger than all skinny women. You can handle yourself with an attacking dog because you know what to do. You've had training and you have a natural intuitiveness with animals that most of us do not have. There are always exceptions to the rule, of course.
I ddn't mean for this to turn into a fat girl or skinny girl bashing thread. That's not at all what I'm getting at. I 've noticed that any time anybody brings up the fat vs. skinny thing everybody gets very defensive very quickly. I've been grossly underweight and been the target of hate from bigger girls because of my size. I'm now in the best shape of my life and I'm bigger than I ever have been, outside of pregnancy. This isn't about who is more oppressed or who is stronger or who is more of a pansy. It's about the condescending attitude toward tough women in Hollywood. As I said before, there are always exceptions to the rule (Zoe, for instance), but more often than not you see women who are obviously malnourished, who have little or no muscle tone who are kicking ass on screen. The idea being you can dress up tough and have a tough attitude, but in the end you're still just a sex object whose primary goal is to look good. That is what I hate, that's my point. It's driving me crazy that I can't seem to express that properly. I keep getting caught in the skinny girl/fat girl feud. Argh!
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But growing up I've had people say some horrible things to me regarding my size, and I'm sensitive to it. I've also heard a lot of women whose asses I could kick say that skinny women aren't "real" women. That's not by any means to say that I'm some bad ass, but I'm not a mewling little weakling, either.
I also know that you've had some of those same experiences in the past, so your entry surprised me a bit. I jumped on the weight issue because that was the main example of the post. Had you emphasized the hyper sexy outfits and perfectly coiffed hair in the face of explosions, I wouldn't have argued with you. But phrases like this that made me jump on the weight thing:
I despise watching some bone-thin girl with her tiny tits pushed up as far as they can get them with a push-up bra, wearing skin-tight latex or leather, doing a fight scene.
Rarely do you see a woman who has enough meat on her bones to at least sustain regular menstruation in the movies,
I swear to god, if I see one more skinny girl with perfect hair trying to work the hot tough chick line,...
It's not my goal to defend waifs in the media. Like I said, I agree with you--all sizes should absolutely be represented. But I feel that a lot of people think it's okay to bash thin women to further this cause. And while I'm all for getting women who are unhealthily thin out of the media, a distinction should be made when talking about "skinny" women between the unhealthy and those who are naturally small. It's a pet peeve borne from being called "anorexic" one too many times.
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When I say "skinny" here, I'm talking about the supermodels. I know you're sensitive about it and I understand, I've had to deal with the same thing. But in movies it's not women who are just naturally small, it's women who really hurt their bodies to achieve this twisted idea of perfection. Being small is one thing, but you have clearly defined muscles. You're thin but you are not the "skinny" unhealthy type that I'm referring to here.
And I know I zeroed in on the size thing too much. The real beef I have with it all was lost in all that because I just couldn't get the words to come out right to express my point. I should have left the post alone and waited until I mulled it over a little more so that I could have written it much better. It bothers me that supposedly strong, tough women in Hollywood still have to look like supermodels to b accepted. And what REALLY bothers me is that a lot of women seem to think this is some kind of great thing for women in general - look, we're being portrayed as tough and kick-ass now! But you still have to look like a supermodel when you do it. I know, Hollywood sells what we buy and it's a business like any other. It's not so much that I blame Hollywood, it's that I blame the audiences who buy into that mentality. Sure, seeing a woman who is tough and hard onscreen is really cool, but if she looks like a supermodel, I'm not buying it. You can be small and still look like you can at least defend yourself. Look at Sigorney Weaver in Alien. She was very thin, but she obviously had good muscle mass. She was *lean*, not skinny. Skinny is not just being thin, it's being thin and atrophied from lack of any kind of strength building. I've been very skinny. I had almost zero muscle mass and more of a body fat percentage than I do now, 25lbs heavier. But I looked good in latex! Just don't ask me to pick up anything heavier than a phone book. You are very thin, but you can pick up a 115lb dog. You're not skinny. It's the skinny women playing tough chicks that bothers me. They're still just dolls dressed up to look good. Which is fine, we all like to look at pretty dolls. Just don't tell me that putting her in a tough-looking skin tight outfit and having her do some choreographed moves makes her a frigging role model.
Am I making any more sense now? I thought about this post and your comment all nigth last night and wracked my brain trying to thin of how to express my point adequately. Maybe my brain is working a little better today. It sure wasn't yesterday and I was getting so damn frustrated with myself.
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I know you understand the difference, and I did understand the point of your post. But I was feeling a bit chatty and you just happened to make the meatiest (er, no pun intended) post of the day. So that's what I pounced on. I really didn't mean to cause you any grief. :-(
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Believe me, I can understand why you're sensitive about it. You look small but not frail and unhealthy. You put on a lot of muscle working at LTAC and you're very tenacious in nature anyway, stubborn little Taurus that you are. ;-) I still have to deal with some of that to some extent in my martial arts class. I'm just now starting to convince my instructor that I'm not frail, that I can take a lot of pain and that I am not going to complain about it. It's not that he underestimates women, he's an awesome instructor. Sherlock worked under him for a while when she was down here, she knows. I think it's because I'm clumsy and I've never taken a class on fighting so I have a hard time with holding back because I'm afraid I'm going to hurt somebody. That idea is downright silly because everyone else in the class is much more advanced than me and there is no way I could really hurt any of them. But me getting used to the idea of taking someone down took some, well, getting used to. Kevin has done a lot to help with this because when we partner up in class he shows me no mercy and he's kind of jumped on Alan (the instructor) for treating me like I'm made of glass. Anyway, not to babble about that, but I do understand being underestimated. It is frustrating and you do get pretty sensitive about it. Don't mind unrepentant. I love him, but he's a fucktard. I mean that with the utmost respect. Hehehe!
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I was running into the whole weight thing at my current job for a bit. Then my boss realized that I would pick up and carry trees that he used a cart to move. He doesn't tell me that I can't lift stuff anymore, lol.
And no worries about unrepentant. If I ever happen to be in a situation where an aggressive dog is coming at him and I'm the only one who can save him, I'll make him beg first. :-P
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