Celebrities a bad example

what do people think of super skiny stars like Posh, nicole, jessica alba etc - who get increasingly skinny. Do you think they are doing it the healthy way or through extreme calorie depravation. It is a confusing message to people out there!

Well it's their job to look good. If they don't, they don't get the job or the magazine cover or something. I'm sure they go through pretty drastic means to lose the weight like juice fasts and stuff. Or eating but working out like 2-3 hours a day.

I don't know what most people think but a lot of people like me think that the super skinny stars suffer from ED and that the more they lose the less attractive they are.  There is no such thing as a "healthy way" to be underweight.  What is unfortunate is that Hollywood rewards these underweight women, it is most definately a bad example for america's youth.

I think that a lot of them are on drugs. Seriously. Not all - some just exercise a bit too much and probably don't eat enough - but many of them are "supplementing" their diets with things that aren't exactly legal (or at least not properly prescribed) and that most of us can't afford.

It's hard to say, but hollywood definitely feeds the "need to be thin" idea that seems to dominate our society. Some celebrities may do it in a healthy way and some may not. They keep very closed-lipped about such details, just like they do with rumors of plastic surgery. They don't want the public aware of the skeletons in their closets.

I actually think that Jessica Biel is a great role model because she is promotes a healthier image.

But people like Nicole and Posh look SICK. It's not natural and certainly not healthy. I think that they definitely send the wrong message to the impressionable youth.

On that note, I think that parents need to take a more active role in teaching their children what is healthy and what isn't. My parents always reminded me that harming myself for the sake of an image was not worth the dangerous reprocussions later in life. I think if more parents went out of their way to teach their children and help build up their self esteem from a VERY early age, it can help the inevitably insecure teens (who turn into insecure adults) battle peer pressure.

(This isn't to say that all parents don't try to help there children in this area, but I think it needs to start earlier than it probably does. Sort of like a preemptive strike.)

Agreed. Posh (Victoria Beckham) and Nicole Richie do look sick. I saw Nicole Richie the other day on a talk show and she looked like a 12 year old in her little yellow dress.

I think celebrities such as Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Biel are great role models.

i don;t think jessica alba is gettin skinny... she's one of the only ones that sticks to her body shape and eats well...

but the others i think are real bad role models... they even got me thinking about my weight in a negative way untill i got my act together and didnt go that way.... but they are usually just as influenced as we are and being in the limelight makes it extra easy to be pushed into super skinny mode... i don't blame them.. i just stick to the curvy and toned girls!

i love scarlett johannson!

no matter what you all are saying, i'd rather be underweight and bony then what i am now. my friend is 5'8 and 15 years old and she weights 115. when i tell her about how i want to lose weight she goes 'omg im trying to gain weight! (she's naturally skinny. that girl can pig out on in-n-out all day and still be a size 1. *tears hair out in jealousy*) shes been lifting weights and eating 3000 calories a day in the attempt to gain weight. i think she's crazy. if i was her size i would LOVE it!!

but all that aside, celebrities are paid to look really pretty. and they do.

yeah scarlett Johansen is definatly a good role model - she has a great body and promotes being confident in yourself.

These shrinking celebs though - all getting down to size zero really make a nomal person feel like an elephant ha ha. I know personally to get to that size i would literally have to eat nothing - I used to work out loads and i never would even get near being that small - i think being able to see someones rib cage - as i have noticed on a few actresses recently - is just un natural. Posh for instance in the early days was much curvier. It would be great if size zero went out of fashion - and curvier stars were more in fashion. I do think that some of these celebs are on some sort of drug - there are diet pills out there that totally supress your apetite they just arent legal! probably more of the party girls way to stay thin! like lindsay lohan!

I think Posh has an amazing body.  Have you seen here legs???  Her body is absolutely perfect and I really don't feel that she has an emaciated look.  Nicole-bad example.  You can tell she stays thin in a very unhealthy way.  Why is the focus always on celebrities?  Why is it that we find it acceptable to not be able to think for ourselves?  Everyone blames hollywood and skinny celebs but you never blame the person that can't separate reality from fantasy.  Why the heck do I care how skinny these chicks are?  Who determined that these people should even be held up as examples of what you should look like?  You have a brain....please use it. 

yes i do have a brain and i do use it. I think its beyond being logical - no matter how logical a person is they can still suffer from insecuties - its psychological. Being bomabarded with images of super thin people every where does sort of give the message that is what society finds attractive - or what we should emulate. the media breeds insecurtiy its a vicious multi million dollar insustry after all. make people feel bad so they buy your products to feel better - look better. its all a conspiricy - probably maybe! No there is no onus of blame on anyone. Fatasy reality? last time i checked celebrities are real humans with real bodies that biologically should react the same as other humans?

I m just talking on calorific terms do you really think they eat 1200 a day - i mean they have great bodies - so obviously people look to them for inspiration. ITs a just for fun topic!

the POINT IS...

its sending a bad message to the youth...who..believe it or not..CANT seperate reality from fantasy most times.

The 10 year olds grow up seeing that if your skinny, you get rich and popular...so they WANT to be as skinny as these stars, even if it means by unhealthy means.

Why dont you use your brain and read about how a few people in this thread said something to the tune of "confuses youth" instead of getting all defensive?

I'm tired of scarlett Johanson. I understand that she's not as rail thin as Nicole Richie but really, must we embrace her curves in EVERY magazine and interview. In every interview, she makes sure to talk about how she loves her curves. I will be the one to say that she is skinny as well but she happens to have big boobs so those are her "curves." If I can be that curvy, I would be too. For someone who's so secure in her body, why does she talk about it ALL THE TIME?

I'll tell you why...because she needs to GET OVER HERSELF!

Hmmm...skinny does get you rich at least.  Those that are thin and attractive earn higher salaries than their less-attractive counterparts.  Also, have you notice that wealthy neighborhoods have far more attractive people?  The more money you make, the hotter your wife.  The good looks trickle down that line.  As a youth, I was far more concerned with my peers than celebrities.  That gorgeous skinny cheerleader with a perfect bod was more pressure than someone I saw on tv.  The same is with my younger siblings that are currently in high school. 

true true

being skinny and hot for a woman is like being really well off for a man. thats why these 2 types end up together very often.

we can't change the world but we must live in it. happily!

I think the wealth/attractiveness thing is the way it is not because rich people attract pretty people but because when you have money, you clearly are not working backbreaking labor and have options to eat vegetables as opposed to fried chicken for 5.99. Wealth equals choices. The more money, the more choices and you can make healthier ones.

I did not know who any of the "famous" women mentioned here are... I had to look up their images on the Internet.

"Do you think they are doing it the healthy way or through extreme calorie depravation [sic]. It is a confusing message to people out there!"

A confusing message? I don't believe I got any message in the first place. I don't watch them to see what they are doing.

The best thing we can do is not care, not pay attention, not watch anything regarding these people. Including simply not calling more attention to them.

We need to be our own role models.

"I think that parents need to take a more active role in teaching their children what is healthy and what isn't."

Most adults don't seem to know what healthy is, although I've met a lot of people here at C.C. who do. :-)

Perhaps if people stopped feeding their children fast food every day... that would be a good start. Making their kids shut off the computers, televisions and Wiis and making them go outside and get some fresh air.

blackthorne in theory I agree with you but in practice.....if you are in any way fashion conscious or into the most popular forms of entertainment - these people are not easy to ignore. They're everywhere.

I think that the whole skinny celebrity body image goes further than just the celebrities themselves. Celebrities are "made" to make the impossible look easy. Besides their acting skills, musical talent, or whatever else they do, they have to find a way to set themselves apart from the common individual. A secure woman with self esteem may be able to recognize that becoming extremely thin is unhealthy but to a young impressionable teen, trying to build self esteem this is not always the case. We live in a culture where thin = socially acceptable.

In many ways being thin has come to symbolize much more than physical appearance.  It seems in our culture that being thin is correlated to socioeconomic status, beauty, sexuality, self control, & self discipline.  It is funny to me that Nicole Ritchie was barely heard of until she became so thin. Suddenly her image is everywhere.  Now if she would have gained a hundred pounds, she would  have made it in a few magazines, but she certainly would not receive the same publicity nor popularity she is getting now.

Although it would be easy just to blame celebrities for this problem it is not that simple. It is the media who constantly reminds us there is a higher standard of thinness we must achieve, magazines that constantly remind us that Tyra Banks is overweight because she gained some weight, commericals that remind of us of our every imperfection & us, yes us - the people who are conditoned to think if we just lose 10 more pounds we will be that much better off.

Also notice how negatively weight gain is reported, and how positive the stories get once the famous person loses.  Remember the whole Kirstie Alley thing?  Pics of her "ballooning waistline" all over the magazine covers and headlines like "what happened?"  "Poor Kirstie".  Then she loses the weight, and suddenly she's everyone's darling, gets an endorsement deal, and her face is all over the place because of commercials.  Not that what she's done isn't impressive - but anytime a celebrity gains = bad, when they lose = good.  Unless you're talking about body types like Nicole Richie, in which case the tabloids always love a "oh my goodness what happened to her" story. 

The cottage industry that has become celebrity body watching (getting fat, getting skinny, who has cellulite, is that a baby bump, 50 most beautiful people) tells young people that how you look matters.  And then that same industry writes stories about "why are eating disorders on the rise?"   (shakes head)