Hi , good morning, how’re y’all doing? Me? I’m a little perplexed. I’m looking over some of my most recent jottings down and I see a crazy little pattern forming and I’m wondering what it all means. This is how I operate; throughout the day, when I’m at home, I come up to my computer to check a few things like email, facebook, the price of the Canadian dollar, as well as some of my favourite news blogs and blog blogs. I always have a pad of paper nearby and I make little scratchings out of the bits that grab my attention. A book title here, a fabulous quote there ~ or sometimes it’s photo I want to remember.
Here’s what I have scrawled on my notebook ~ Christian Louboutin says Barbie has cankles!!! You know this guy…he’s the shoe designer who makes red-soled stilettos that go for many hundreds of $$$. He thinks Barbie ~ the toy… needs to be redesigned with thinner ankles!! OMG! Yeah, like I thought that when I was spending hour upon hour playing with her when I was in elementary school! And that’s the only proportion he thought was a bit ‘off’?! It’s ludicrous! Crazy as it may sound, the world may be getting a newly designed Louboutin Barbie in the spring with ‘better’ ankles. I can’t wait. Two thumbs down, Mattel.
Next topic ~ ‘Manthropology ~ The Science of the Inadequate Modern Male’ by Peter McAllister. This new book is about how the modern male is a wimp when compared to his ancestors. Cavemen ran faster, had significantly more muscle mass and were majorly stronger. And the point is…? Modern men are so much cuter than those old hairy hunchbacks who you know had to smell really bad and most of them probably couldn’t recognize a Lascaux cave drawing if they ran into one with their protruding foreheads. What bugs me the most is the subtitle of this book. I think it’s designed to irk and provoke, and goll’darn if it isn’t doing that to me right now! OK, I did read a little bit and there are some interesting points, but why go for the cheap shot in the title?
This last piece is just hilarious. A Ralph Lauren ad made headlines after the model and many, many viewers complained to the company that the photoshopping was waaayyyy overdone. Take a look and see for yourself.
The poor girl’s head is wider than her waist!! Hold on! Did Louboutin have anything to do with this shot? Hey, I can’t see the shoes!
I’ve heard the ad has been pulled and the person responsible for the retouching has apologized, but the model, Filippa Hamilton, has now come out to say she was originally fired for being too fat for Lauren. I know, I know, it boggles the mind!
I just have to laugh every time I look at this photo! How did it get by the execs in charge? It’s ridiculous!
What I find interesting is that all my notes were about fundamentally the same thing; body image and an unrealistic ideal. What’s going on in that little head of mine? I know I’ve been thinking a lot about wanting a personal trainer like Jillian or Bob from the Biggest Loser to help me get rid of 10 lbs. It’s the law of attraction again. What you focus on, you get. I need to get out and walk and leave the computer alone!
Goddess Tara
Jacquie Janzen Yee
Tracy Westerholm
Bonnie Johnson
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What? Barbie’s ankles need to be less significant?
It is odd to think that someone was hired to figure out how to revolutionize Barbie. Obviously they were-I wonder what their mission was-make Barbie smaller? Maybe to save on plastic in the fabrication of the Barbies? I can certainly think of other parts that could have been reduced to save plastic if that was their wish.
Sometimes I wonder if some clothing companies aspiration is for everyone to be a size 0 so that they can save on fabric. I know that sounds a little crazy-but it helps to explain some companies’ skinny models. Hmmm. Or guys who like skinny girls?
I say embrace a healthy, happy weight and hope for strong ankles to support it all
Thanks for starting my day with a chuckleJ
Um…so does this mean that Christian Louboutin…a grown man, is still playing with Barbies? It’s all just so silly.
And I dare Mr. McAllister to say that to my mans face!
My first reaction when I saw the Lauren photo was that she looked like a Bratz doll with the larger head. Probably what the photoshop person was going for. I’m glad there were enough people out there complaining so they pulled it. Bad enough our generation tried to look like Barbie (cankles and all) but it would be sad if the next generation all tried to look like Bratz dolls. Yikes!
Jacquie, 10 pounds! Don’t be ridiculous…you’d look like the Lauren photo if you lost that much weight! xo
Well I am soooo glad I came home first before heading out to buy some new boots to hide my ‘cankles’! Thanks for the laugh Jake, your post reminded me of Andy Rooney and his two bits at the end of 60 minutes which I love. Drawing attention to redonkulous things is yet another way of making people aware of what is being over looked by those who are influencing our younger generations!
I used to look like a brats doll (I have a tweety bird head) god help me if I ever loose my hair. I was wayyyy too thin at one point in my life, but thankfully my boyfriend at the time Ken told me I looked Ethiopian and he didn’t find it attractive, thank you Ken! As for this passing by execs I think that is AWESOME because we all got to see the warped unrealistic view these people have. It shows that they too make mistakes so we should be comfortable with our own body image because they really don’t have a clear understanding of what does looks proportional!! A mistake on their part but a learning one perhaps!
There are just some things that are utterly ridonkulous (love that word Tracy). Barbie and cankles, and the Ralph Lauren photo. Seriously people! I am in absolute awe of the stupidity of these ’so called’ designers.
Maybe size 0 is what they want, but have they not been listening to the reports of what the “average” size is in America?
And Jacquie – seriously 10lbs, I agree with Bonnie, you’d look like that ridiculous Ralph Lauren photo!
Arrrrgghhhh!!!! Ok, Ok, you guys!! Maybe I should have just said I need more exercise?! That’s healthy, right?
I fear we live in a plastic world where every little detail of our physiology is under scrutiny every waking moment. I’m susceptible to it, too, otherwise how else to explain why these headings stood out for me? I know it’s crazy but at the same time I make mental notes to tone up this or work off that. I totally agree with all your assessments but the reality is the media does affect us to a huge extent, whether we acknowledge it or not. We laugh at the extreme examples of ridiculousness, but the message is still sent and hits it’s mark.
Thanks for keeping it real, ladies!
The thing with Louboutin is that he was one of many designers chosen to create an outfit for Barbie to celebrate her 50th birthday. He’s doing Barbie Pink Pantone pumps and that’s when he said her ankles needed slimming! I bet his doll will be a collector’s item as it’ll be the only one without cankles! lol The nerve of this guy!
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