I got really sick of picking up books where the heroine is the perfect package of femininity! Long, flowing, beautiful hair, sparkling eyes and tremendously sexy body. Then the author continues to rave about those attributes through the rest of the book. Pretty much the same with heroes, if you think about it. Sooooo....what's this obsession with perfection? I'm getting pretty damn sick of it.We've been told for YEARS, by this and that sort of industry, what to THINK about perfection and what's beautiful and what ISN'T.
Did you know the average dress size of the American woman is a size 14??? Shocking huh, when you consider what we see in mags and in the movies. Recall being waaaay shocked when Kate Winslett threw at FIT that a popular fashion magazine had air brushed her cover pic to make her look thinner. Holy crap! Thinner??? The woman is gorgeous just as she is so I don't blame her for being pissed. And what right does anyone have to say...this look isn't right and this look IS?
Well, I just got sick of it. Tired of labels. Tired of the powers that be's perceptions of what is beautiful and what isn't being foisted upon me. As of a few weeks ago, I started a new erotic romance featuring a very tall, beautifully plus-sized woman. Yeah, she's sassy, beautiful, full-figured and utterly enjoys her sexuality. Maybe it's just me, but I think the world needs more heroines like this. Some of the most gorgeous women in the world are plus women. I mean, today iconic beauties like Ava Gardner and Sophia Loren would be considered plump. Ummmm. HUH???? When did we get so shallow as a society that we allow others to dictate what is perfect and what isn't? A sad commentar
y.We blogged about this topic at Three Wicked Writers yesterday and I did another take of it on my personal Regina Carlysle blog. Over at Regina, I posted this pic of Whitney the newest winner of America's Next Top Model. She's the first PLUS SIZED model to win this competition. Is she fat? Well, if we listen to some, we might think so. I see beauty here, folks. Downright gorgeous, lush beauty. I see perfection.
The bottom line: it's about time we took charge and started forming our own opinions. What do you think?
11 comments:
I guess we're all guilty about making our characters in our books dashing and beautiful. I know I am.LOL
In one of my recently published books, I had the heroine with a facial scar. I'm still waiting to see if I make any royalties off this one.
The fact that the beautiful Whitney is considered a 'Plus-Size' model saddens me. I'm about her size at 5' 7". I work out every day, eat healthy and never once considered myself 'Plus-Size'. Our focus today is so out of whack. I ordered several pieces from a catalogue yesterday and the woman said 'Are you a Size 0, 1,2, or 3?' I paused and said, 'I'm a size 6, I think.' and she had to translate that for me. To think that a young girl would want to aspire to a size 0 is to think you want not to exist. For my own part in this bizarre brainwashing that goes on in the media and in most of the magazines out there, I stopped buying 'People' and 'OK' and try NOT to buy into this airbrushed, augmented, liposucted world we seem to live in. I was in a grocery store last week in Pacific Palidases, California and this man was following me around. He finally approached me and said, 'You are like one of those goddesses from the 16th century.' I just laughed and walked away but I think he meant that you just don't see voluptuous women anymore. I love my curves and I never want to turn that into body hate.
Let's start a new revolution girls - up with body love, no matter what shape that body takes...Mary Kennedy Eastham, Author, 'The Shadow of a Dog I Can't Forget' and my first novel, 'Night Surfing' which I hope to finish in early .09
I'm with you. Society has dictated "what" they think women should look like.
But the same also goes for the men. Those poor guys have it just as rough as us, I say. Muscles, pecks, long john silvers :-D.
I'll never be the six 6 I was 12 years ago, and I really wouldn't want to be. Not to say that I don't have about 15 lbs, left to get rid of *Grins*, but that's my own fault.Hehe.
I've written about average sized women, from 10-16. It makes the story more "real" to me, because not everyone is a size 6, or 8.
I agree with you all. Time to ignore the weirdos who think being "stick thin" is the THING. Remember all those beautiful paintings that hang in museums today feature women who were considered the beauties of the day. They were voluptuous and gorgeous.
Well, I write m/m, so I don't write all that many female characters. That said, perfection bores me. I want characters (male and female) to be flawed, either physically or emotionally.
Perfect people aren't real, and I can't sympathize with them. Flawed people, on the other hand, are interesting. There are many different kinds of beauty, and I like to read about all of them.
With the number of epubs asking for BBW books, I'm thinking a lot of readers want to read about characters they can relate to rather than Barbie clones.
I ranted the other day oh the Wicked Writers blog. I'm working hard at making sure my son knows that big is beautiful.
Since doctors tell me that my MINIMUM weight should be 175 lbs, which is size 18-20, I have difficulty thinking that model is plus-sized anything.
Thank you for your new heroine. Once in awhile a real-sized leading lady is nice. I will watch for your book.
Connie
Upon hearing women who wear size 12 or 14 described as "fat," all I can think (at size 22) is: "Good Lord! If that's fat then what in the hell does that make me? An orca?!"
SNICKER. I know exactly what you MEAN Catie-James. Sadly...12 and 14 is considered PLUS. Ridiculous huh?
Hey Connie!!!! Hope you don't mind that I'm still ranting about this today. We're all just STILL talking about it.
And YES...I'm damn sick and tired of heroines who are sickeningly perfect. I wanna write about REAL women.
You go, Regina! :)
Wendi Darlin
Regina,
My average herione, shifter or otherwise is a size 14 so..I have a fascination wiht the BBW though I have my limits. I'm not sure what it stems from, probably the fact that I have a fetish for European women, who are often more full figured than our American counterparts. But yeah...give me curves!
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