When Even Our Heroes Are On A Diet
I was happily reading a pretty neat interview with Cyndi Lauper, my childhood and current hero/heroine! It was full of these fun questions like what was the first record you ever bought and things like that. Then it came to this question:
Last meal on earth — what would it be
“I’m trying not to think about food. I’m on a diet.”
*HeadDesk* WHY?! Oh Why?! Not Cyndi?! Really? I mean, you couldn’t just say something instead of bring up a friggin’ diet? You had to just go there and say that? Ugh! NOOOO!
To me Cyndi is this heavenly creature both of this world and not. To be in her physical presence is to bask in the light that emanates from within her. I am not even exaggerating, y’all! She has a goodness that is so very good. I have loved her (and still do) since I was 5 years old. That is a long time, trust me. And well, I just cannot believe it! I cannot believe that someone so great and talented beautiful and seemingly confident and happy would be on a fucking diet?!
I was upset when Kirstie Alley did the Jenny Craig thing. I was saddened when Valerie Bertinelli did it, too. But when Carrie Fisher did it, well, I felt betrayed! Like way more than I should. But Cyndi?! Well, I guess no one is immune to such things. I just, I can’t even…I guess she was on another plane than me, such a higher plane, in my mind at least, that this seems an impossibility! I don’t want to judge her. I’m just disappointed is all. Oh well.
What hero of yours has disappointed you and how?
What makes me sad for women like Cyndi is the sense that they’re clinging so hard to control of their bodies, and yet if they stopped dieting they might gain, what, five pounds? Some negligible amount that nobody but they would notice? I see this in my slim friends, the death grip on “control” that really gets them nothing, gets them nowhere. It’s so sad and futile. But they’re convinced that if they slip just a little they’ll end up 900 pounds and carried from their bed on a forklift.
Yes! I have known women like this and it breaks my heart every time I think of it. Thank you for clarifying this for me. =0)
i was really saddned when sara rue started WW. before she lost weight she was SERIOUSLY my ideal in a woman (actually maybe a little too skinny) she was one of the plus sized actresses making it out there and i followed her avidly. now she kinda looks like a red headed, big headed alien.
YES!!! Oh man, and she was a fairly proud fatty, too! I won’t comment on her looks, but I used to enjoy her on television and now I just feel sadness when I see her.
Alton Brown. All the really nasty fat-hating stuff he’s said irritates the heck out of me, though I love his show and his humor.
YES!! That one hurt for me, too! I like so much about his show and his geeky style and everything. So that one was a huge punch in the gut for me. It still stings. Like with Henry Rollins. =0(
When Juliia Cameron wrote a diet book. Nothing I did (my art and writing included) mattered as much in my family of origin as the fact that I wasn’t thin and conventionally pretty. The Artist’s Way, woo-woo as some people think it is, helped me bust through a bunch of that crap and realize that my creativity was important. The Writing Diet, in claiming that fat artists (and from what I’ve heard, she appears to mean Hollywood fat, i.e. a lot smaller than me) are only fat because they’re blocked somehow, was a huge kick in the teeth. Valuable as her earlier books were to me, I haven’t been able to look at any of them in the same way since.
Ouch! I’m not familiar, but I can imagine. Thank you for sharing your story here.
Queen Latifah.
Oh yeah! I forgot! Ugh! Why Latifah?! Why?
When Rosanne went and had WLS. I always thought of her as tough and in your face and never one to give into Hollywood style pressure.
I wasn’t sure that she’d had WLS. Bummer, for sure. I wonder if it was Hollywood pressure though. It did seem like she went through a ton of changes in the span of 2-3 years. Yikes!
@Emerald: Dang. I love The Artist’s Way. I’ve been a bit out of touch on the Books I’m Not Very Interested In Reading front for a while (getting out of the selling books game some years ago and starting to write blogs for a living has kind of focused my interest in Where Publishing Is Going on only the subjects I care about reading for me) so I didn’t know she’d come out with a diet book.
Smeg. Frak. And lots of other swear words made up for TV shows. That’s seriously too bad. My body is not purely a manifestation of whether I’m expressing myself thoroughly as an artist.
I am also disappointed to hear that about Cyndi Lauper. I’ve loved the hell out of that woman since the first time I heard She’s So Unusual way back when it first came out. And she became something of a personal hero when I learned that she goes out on Thanksgiving and gathers up a group of homeless people for a good meal every year. That fact made me love her so damn hard.
I hope one day both of these amazing people – and all the others mentioned here and otherwise – wake up and realize they don’t need to change their bodies to be good or worthy or even healthy.
I would much rather love my body than fight it.
Yes, I hope so, too! Cyndi works very hard for a lot of different charitable organizations and causes. She is one of the few who even acknowledges the homeless queer youth and has been working tirelessly towards finding and building and giving homes to them. Brave woman, but damn this one hurt! Thanks for your side of it, Twistie. Rock on!
Dawn French is now dieting. For years, she was the poster woman for fat acceptance. But she suffered some personal and professional setbacks—the breakup of her marriage, the BBC considered her persona non grata, and Terry’s Oranges dumped her as the spokeswoman in favor of Leona Lewis.
She says she wants to be around for her daughter but I wonder if she’s doing this so she can get her career back on track. Even though British TV has been more accepting of other races and sizes when it comes to their actors, they still have it in for supersized actresses and the British press is notoriously cruel. Still, it is a bit disheartening to see someone who’s been such an ally for years feel pressured to slim down.
See I thought Dawn French has denied being on a diet or dieting at all. I think the quote I read was something like she stopped eating one thing (crisps or chips or something can’t recall now) and that she’s trying to be more active. From an FA/HAES standpoint, no worries. But if she is in fact dieting, especially due to industry/career pressures? That is a major disappointment for me as well. =0(
Yeah, I blogged about the Julia Cameron thing a couple of years ago. That was a letdown for me too, knowing that this woman who just seemed to radiate love would have none for someone my size, just pity with a dash of contempt, no matter how much I developed my talents.
As for performers on diets…feh. A lot of them really don’t have that much choice in the matter, sorry to say, especially if they want to work as actors. Five “extra” pounds really could make the difference between them getting cast and not. Also, they crave attention, and nothing gets a female performer more attention than weight loss. Cyndi could come up with a work of art that makes She’s So Unusual look like an episode of The Flying Nun, and that wouldn’t garner her anywhere near as much media love as losing 15 pounds. Sucks, but it’s true.
I disagree on the not having much choice thing when it comes to dieting. I think they do have a choice, but most don’t bother with even trying to fight the system itself. I get it, they want a career and don’t want to make waves, but I still think they have a choice. Perhaps the choice itself is going into an industry that insists on diminishing women while letting men do as they please. Hmm…Damn the patriarchy!
NOOOOO! Not Cyndi Lauper!! Oh that’s heartbreaking.
I was devastated when Aussie comedian Magda Szubanski started shilling for Jenny Craig. Here was a funny woman who was beloved in the hearts of Australians for who she was, and yet she still felt the need to join the “my life was nothing until I found Jenny Craig” brigade. It has been so sad.
I am wondering what Jenny Craig does specifically to turn these fabulous people into their spokesperson? It can’t simply be the money. It just can’t. They must have some specialized weapon in their arsenal that we’ve not yet heard about. Hmm…
You know, I think Jenny Craig preys on vulnerable women. I mean look at Jennifer Hudson, they leapt on her at one of the lowest points of her life. I think with Magda they got her after a health scare when she was vulnerable too. I seem to see that as a recurring theme for Jenny Craig.
I think you may be onto ’em, Kath! That sounds quite likely! Hmm…the bastards!
RIP FATTY CUTENESS FROM: rosanne, queen latifa, star jones, jennifer hudson, kelly clarkson, Shakira, kirste alley, valerie burtonelli, ricki lake, oprah, kelly osbourn…..
Shakira? Oh no, did I miss something? I love her, but she’s always been fairly lean, I mean, I think she was a bit softer looking when she was younger (I loved her multi colored dreads there for awhile), but I don’t recall a major diet or anything like that. I’m bracing myself for your reply, gurl. *Hugs* Miss ya!
her first crossover album time frame she was curvy and had hips, then SOMETHING happened because she dyed her hair blonde and started working out and got six pack abs and IMHO lost all her appeal because she looked like Britney Spears and not a curvy goddess. this shakira http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/511FH%2BvkkeL._SL500_AA300_.jpg TURNED INTO THIS SHAKIRA http://www.mtv.com/content/ontv/vma/2006/images/galleries/shakira/10149061_sh.jpg
@Psycho Sue: Okay, I gotcha. Yeah, I saw the change, but attributed it to her new found (at the time) love of belly dancing. But you’re right, the timing was iffy and her look was a bit Britney. But have you seen her new video?! I still love her. I want to believe it wasn’t mainstream appeal that pressured her into changing her look. But I do understand what you’re saying, too. Thanks for telling it like it is! <3