Not to get all Chris Crocker here, but leave Jessica Simpson alone. No, really. I mean it. The thing is, the girl is relatively harmless. Occasionally clueless? Absolutely. Owes me 104 minutes of my life back for being forced (against my will) to watch the “Dukes of Hazzard” movie. Hell, yes. But more often than not, Jessica actually seems sort of sweet. (Yes, I watched “Newlyweds.” A lot.) No, I’m not a fan of her music. No, I’m not a fan of her taste in men. No, I’m not a fan of her home economics teacher (really, who else can we blame for the Chicken of the Sea confusion?) But what I do know is that people need to shut up about her weight. Seriously, fucking zip it. First, it’s ludicrous to call her in any way overweight (then, now, ever). And second, it’s not a crime to no longer be the size of a lawn ornament. The world is hard on attractive women who show themselves to be, in any way, human. Heck, the world is hard on women, period.When people mock Jessica’s body (like that beyond-dumb Fox Sports/Burger King ad and assholes on Twitter telling her recently “I highly doubt God’s plan for you is bigger than your ass.”), it’s pointlessly cruel and incalculably damaging. We can rail all we want against the impossible standards projected by the fashion and beauty industries, but it ultimately comes down to us. Are we going to regurgitate that garbage or are we going to stand up and give it the finger? We only perpetuate those industries’ inherent hatred of real women when we scorn people like Jessica for the so-called crime of gaining a few pounds. Beauty is not one size fits all, nor are women.
Sure, Jessica is an easy target. Heavens knows there are plenty of other things you can legitimately poke fun of the poor dear for, but how big or small her ass looks is not one of them. This needs to stop, not just about Jessica but everyone who has the audacity to not fit through a keyhole. Like just yesterday when I pulled up a post about Kelly Clarkson accepting a shot from a fan and the first commenter said: “She should throw back shots of Slim Fast instead.” Stop making me want to stab things, Internet! Also, what is wrong with people who were mean about Jessica’s dog getting eaten by a coyote? Get it together, humanity.
p.s. Tony Romo sucks all on his own. So stop blaming Jessica for that, too.
22 comments:
Wow, I agree with all of that. Even about Romo sucking. It's both amazing and horrifying the degree of cruelty Simpson has been subjected to...for merely existing. Wtf, world? Really?
People project their misery to others and female celebs are easy targets.
Beauty is not about weight, it's about character and personality, self-esteem too.
And who really likes a skinny woman? Isn't it like being with a man? Yuck!
Spot on, DS!
"Stop making me want to stab things, Internet!" SERIOUSLY! Just, seriously!
"Beauty is not one size fits all, nor are women."
I think I get what you're trying to say, but honestly to make your point, I think it should say, "Beauty is one size fits all" because otherwise, what size is beauty? 0? 2? 4? Hardly---beauty comes in 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24....etc, etc.
Maybe I've just interpreted what you've said incorrectly..afterall I did just wake up like 10 minutes ago..lol But I love this post and agree with your sentiments wholeheartedly. :)
I absolutely agree!
(And Tony Romo's an A-hole.)
Agreeeeeeed.
Also, I just have to point out, and I think it's because your recent post about horrible photography and/or photoshopping has this very much in my consciousness, that Jessica's arm on the fence looks really really weird. It's like it got a chunk cut out of it.
I was with you until Kelly Clarkson. Sorry.
I too agree, people should stop acting like weight was something so important, the ultimate factor on beauty.
And that goes both ways, because I, as a skinny woman, recent the "And who really likes a skinny woman? Isn't it like being with a man? Yuck!" comment. Seriously, it hurts.
A Lurker
I'd take Jessica in my bed 100x over some of the skinny things I keep meeting in bars...
She's not even close to fat!! Take a gander at some of the pot bellied pigs making comments about women. Inevitably there's some beer gutted creep who hasn't even been touched by a woman in years tearing down a beauty like Jessica. Please, they're not fooling anyone.
Oh yeah, ditto Romo.
I could agree more on your post, especially about her dog. WOW. It happens to people in California because there are NO natural controls for coyotes.
Of course, how can we expect people to have humanity? Did you hear about the people who witnessed a gang rape of a 15 year old in Richmond CA, shot footage for youtube and failed to report it to police?
Here! Here! Aight.
It annoys me that you constantly defend celebrities that are considered "heavier" when they have nothing to do with being lesbian.
They chose to be a celebrity. They get paid big ass bucks to be a celebrity. They will be OKAY- trust me on that.
Keep this blog about gay women and issues that relate to us- we all know about the problems celebrities face in media scrutiny.
Jessica Simpson has nothing to do with the gay community, nor does she care.
Agreed: http://www.endfattalk.org/
well said. this culture has some work to do around women & weight. thanks for being so clear, candid & upfront about it. Pointing out absurdity is a very powerful step to de-escalating it - Truth is a powerful tool, thanks for speaking up and OUT!
Mmm, not sure I agree with you Anon #7. Unless Gay women can pluck themselves from the culture at large and live in one big fat gay bubble (tho there is some appeal there) - general societal attitudes against any woman affects us too. Just sayin'.
And I think even a comment like "Come on, she's not THAT fat" are a rather weird, conditional reproach. So if JS (or anyone else) did get above some personal standard of what weight is unacceptable (50# over? 75#?) then it would be understandable and OK to hurl verbal abuse at them?
*sigh* People just have a mean streak in them. It's why I prefer animals. (Not like THAT)
I agree with Carol... And you, obviously, Ms. Snarker. Frankly, anything that has to do with women has to do with gay women, unless it has to do with sex with men... In which case, it's just WRONG. I wish people would see that. Women are women, no matter who they sleep with. Close-minded talk that tries to isolate us gays from society at large are the primary problem in our fight for equal rights, and it doesn't really matter if those who are close-minded are gay or straight; it's all bad.
... Whew. Sorry. Anyway. I agree with you. That was the main point.
Love the post and I'm astonished at what is considered "fat" in celeb-land.
Carol said: "And I think even a comment like "Come on, she's not THAT fat" are a rather weird, conditional reproach. So if JS (or anyone else) did get above some personal standard of what weight is unacceptable (50# over? 75#?) then it would be understandable and OK to hurl verbal abuse at them?"
I think that's taking the ball and running with it a bit. People are just expressing incredulity that one of the many insults hurled at Simpson is "and you're fat" at a size 2 or 4 or whatever. It shows how distorted the insult hurler's view is, not that eventually, some magic number of pounds later, it's ok to hurl fat insults. No one here is saying that.
Sorry Lurker, I didn't mean to hurt skinny women! I meant those anorectic skeleton women. I used to be seriously skinny myself in my younger days. Not anorectic, though. Anyway, I'm sorry.
And of course most men nowadays are far from skinny.
Damn, I think Gail Simmons wore that exact same dress in last night's Top Chef. In green.
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