Plastic Fanspastic - A Rant

So last year I watched this god awful show and it instigated this rant.  When going through stuff on my computer I figured it still relevant, and with everything that I’m doing Women in Horror based, promoting women as being more than just pieces of meat, I thought I’d share. 

A couple of months ago whilst round at my parents this programme called The Swan came on.  It actually made me feel quite physically sick that someone even came devised this concept in the first place.  Basically each week you get two completely insecure women, they meet up with a team of “specialists” who basically decide all the work that they need done on them to make them look better, and therefore happy!!!   They even supply them with a “psychiatrist” who will help them with any feelings of depression or mental health issues that they may suffer from.  So anyway, seriously plasticated and unlike themselves after, it is a contest between the two women as to who is to be put forward to a BEAUTY PAGEANT comprising of the weekly winners.  There is so many things wrong with this I don’t know where to start!!!!  Maybe it’s just me, but the way I see it, if you’re depressed and miserable, turning yourself into some fake plastic chipmunk is really not going to help. 

                                                  

A few days beforehand I had watched Jennifer’s Body, which by the way is tremendous amounts of fun…if you’re a girl, haha.  Maybe I just get Diablo Cody’s twisted girl relationship, I’m not sure.   

Anyway, Megan Fox was awesome in the title role (yes I know this creates somewhat, umm...discussion between peeps...a.k.a. Nia, haha).  As someone who frequently gets nominated “Sexiest Woman on the Planet” and all that gunf by men’s mags, it was great to see her looking crap, or as her best friend Needy says, “like shit, well for her anyway!”  And you know something…she has freckles.  A lot of them.  And funnily enough, when I look at pictures of her in magazines and what not, she’s not freckly; I guess what I’m saying is that NO-ONE looks the way they are perceived in magazines and movies, pretty much ever.  We live in a society where not just women but everyone is objectified.  Why is this? 

Mental health problems frequently breed weight issues, be it under or over.  Both of which can be extremely dangerous.  Medication plays a big part in this as well.  One of the main culprits that I know of is Lithium.  I first heard of this through one of my favourite books, Prozac Nation by Elizabeth Wurtzel, (pretty much a statement as to how everyone’s living in Prozac Nation) who was a skinny young thing and then when she started taking lithium that all changed.  After speaking to people who take this medication, I have heard of similar experiences, predominantly in females. 

Fluoxetine (or Prozac) can be known to work the other way round and is often prescribed in the States for weight loss.  Now obviously this isn’t always the case and is dependent on how the individual reacts, we’re all different and I do realise that but it is a well known fact that some medications ARE responsible for weight gain, or loss.  Now the thing is, at the end of the day, we’re all responsible for what we eat and obviously eating lots of junk, isn’t gonna agree with us or help said problem.  Now we all know, from numerous chick flics and Ally McBeal, haha…that when women are depressed, they like ice cream and chocolate.  This is okay if it’s every now and again, but what if it’s a long standing condition?  It’s like knowing that you drink too much alcohol, you know it’s bad for you but how do you stop?

Firstly having a secure support system around you is essential.  You not only have to WANT to change yourself, you also have to have people around you to help you.  It’s all too easy to remain isolated and keep on telling yourself that you’ll do it tomorrow but we all know that without the proper support, the chances of that happening are a hell of a lot slimmer, if not impossible!!!!

Women have this image that men want them to be this cetain way, like freakishly skinny, but it’s just not like that.  My boyfriend would always moan about me being too skinny.  I always thought being skinny was a good thing…apparently, not inordinantly.  Boys like women who have more flesh on them…and even women voted my beloved Kate Winslet, as most desired female body.  And when it comes to the ANTI-Hollywood airbrushing issue, The Winslet is greatly at the forefront.  As someone who supports Eating Disorder Campaigns in the UK and who publicly sued a major men’s magazine for airbrushing and making her look completely unlike herself, she is an inspiration not only to myself as the greatest actress of our generation but as someone who stands out for women’s rights with her fist firmly in the air!!!  She’s gorgeous, opinionated AND ridiculously talented.  Surely an icon of all women!!!  I know I’d sure as hell like to be more like her.  I mean, there are things I don’t like about me. I wouldn’t plasticate them out of me though.  That’s just me though.  Hell I’d totally freak out if I was plastic!!!!!  Why would I want to be that way!?!  I want people to believe that they can be themselves without being some fake plastic ideal because at the end of the day, real people, they ain’t that into that!!!