Let Women Be Women

[logansrogue]

Subtitle: Okay world, ENOUGH of this fuckery!
All right. It's time for one of my bona-fide, tit-thumping, roof-raising feminist rants. It'll do shit fuck all, but it might make you feel better, which is something, isn't it?


Jessica Simpson put on weight. That's the big news, apparently. The gossip blogs are rife with the scandalous news that, in a possibly rocky relationship, Jessica let herself get bigger than a size 0. And the superficial little tarts on the blogs seem to be crying out in chorus "She's a celebrity, she shouldn't be famous if she doesn't want the heat" and "She got famous on her looks, therefore she has to keep them." Now, rare as it is for me to defend Jessica bloody Simpson of all people, but I'm pretty sure she was tenuously famous on being a personality, on singing, acting, and being both dumb and cute. It was an ensemble effort. She's never been one of my favourite people, if only because all I saw of her was the publicity machine and not the woman herself, but damn, I will never sit down and let one of my fellow women be discriminated against for being the way God made her.

Trash her for her lack of talent, for her bad lip jobs, for her horrible outfits, for her bad taste in men. But when you start dissing a bitch cause she's put on a few pounds? OH baby, you gotta get through me.

You follow that link you can quite clearly see - da BITCH AIN'T FAT. I speak from the lady-banging perspective, as a person with a healthy sexual desire for women of all shapes and sizes, I tell you - that is the first time I've seen a picture of her and thought, "You know - I could actually do that. I want to grab that ass."

She's desirable. She's healthy. She's enjoying herself on stage and she's in GOOD SHAPE. She won't snap in half, she's not in fear of malnutrition and you know damn well that if you tapped that shit it'd go all night. Which couldn't be said for, saaaaay, I dunno...

LINDSAY FUCKING LOHAN.

Oh, man, I thought she'd sorted her shit out. Was I a fool for thinking that a case of the Lesbeen Lurve might sort her out? Probably. So gossip blogs are falling all over themselves laughing and jeering poor Miss Simpson for her ample, healthy frame. At the same time, they're showing pictures of Lindsay Lohan, who looks ready to fly away in a stiff breeze. And they wonder, "OH, HOW can this happen?!"

Well SHIT. I know that there is usually underlying depression when someone has an eating disorder. Believe me, I know this. I was a hair's breadth away from getting anorexic when I was 19 because I was depressed and thought I didn't deserve food. I stopped and starting junkin' it when my sister said I looked "Boyish" and "Good", and I know when my sister Helen says I look thin that I gotta pack on some damned pounds, baby. See, I avoided that because I'd had a healthy upbringing and an understanding that thin, for me, is BAD. (Not for everyone, just for me, cause I have a very wide, amazonesque build that will only do the waif thing when I'm DEAD).

Lindsay doesn't have this. Lindsay has people saying, from the dickbag on the street to the highest executive, "YOU HAVE TO BE THIN, OR YOU ARE WORTH NOTHING." Women have this from birth, generally, but in Lindsay's case it would hideously intensified. Compound that with pressures from being true to her sexuality for once and previous substance abuse, and you have the result - Anorexigirl.

Jessica Simpson is the beginning of this phenomenon. Linsday Lohan is the end result. Both women are victims of sexism and misogyny. It's a clear case of defining a woman not by her achievements or her worth as a person, but by her appearance and ability to please men alone. And I tell ya, I'm not a huge fan of either woman, but it makes me fucking SICK to see either of them suffer this bullshit.

I'm tired of bemoaning it. When is it going to change? How many times am I going to throw up my hands and say, "I wish it were different!"? When really - the answer is with us. You. Me. Every man and woman that is subjected to this crap day after day. The answer is pretty clear. Reject it. Reject it, and tell others to reject it. I know a lot of you are already talking about it in your journals and stuff, and I urge you to keep it up. You start change by practicing it. Others tend to notice.

So! In response to this absurdity, and due to my own negative feelings about my appearance (ah, we all have 'em!) I decided to open a new community. Yes, I know, I open these things like I open my underwear drawer, but bear with me.

There's a preponderance of rating communities out there, and I bloody hate them. I hate the concept of them. Prove yourself. Post pictures of yourself. Put yourself up for scrutiny. It's elitism and while I could see the draw of it if you're younger, there's a much better use of the community tool, I think.

I want to model it on kittypix, of all things. A photo free for all, but with a point - you must post photos of yourself without make-up. Natural, beautiful, wonderful, real you. The way nature made you. It would be a place to celebrate women being who they are, inside and out. I looked for a place like that already and the only one I saw is abandoned and it's a rating community and the layout is ratshit.

It would be scary at first, but imagine the liberation of being able to share your real self, and having others share themselves as well, and not apologising for not being perfect? It'd be well protected, of course, and I'd make sure to keep the fucktards out. Tell me what you think of the idea, anyway.

Comments

[asweetdownfall.livejournal.com]

First of all..holy shit, that pic of Lindsay is freaking scary. D:

Also? ITA with this post. Brilliantly said. (And I like the comm idea! Not sure if I'll participate, though. *is paranoid*)

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

Dude, it'll be a community where nobody is allowed to wear make-up in the pics. It'll be fine. :)

[asweetdownfall.livejournal.com]

Haha it's not that. I just feel self conscious of my face, that's all.

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

I like your icon. I kinda have a soft spot for Britney since Womanizer. I don't know why, I just liked the clip and her sassy attitude.

I have no problem with making fun of her for wearing ugly pants. Hell, gossip people gotta have their fun. But the avalanche of gossip blogs crying "FATTY!" was horrible!

She looks fine. I'd do her. LOL!

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

She's curvy brown-eyed blonde. That is my favourite, favourite type of blonde. She has always been naturally gorgeous. There is not a thing wrong with her, except when she hides her natural beauty behind fakeness.

I feel so sorry for that poor girl. She needs a decent parent. She needs firm love. I just want to hug her.

[ryttu3k.livejournal.com]

Clearly not fat. (However, yegods what the hell is she wearing?!) She looks curvy, healthy, and yeah - good. Lohan? ...I want to tie her down and feed her cake >.< That's... she needs help.

[mawaridi.livejournal.com]

And also, so what if she was fat? Who fucking cares? She's still beautiful, still sounds the same as she always did when she sings, what on earth does it matter if she is fat or thin or anything?

I feel sorry/concerned for Lindsay because it's clear that she has lost an unhealthy amount of weight very quickly (again, sigh). But we shouldn't pick on women for being "too skinny" either. I hate the idea that a body can be "too" anything.

I like the idea of that community very much. I'd post pics!

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm with you. What the hell does it matter what she looks like when she's supposedly a singer in profession? Was it a skinny bitch that sang at the Inauguration? Hell no! It was fatty Aretha in her fuckin' bangin' hat.

And as I said to one of my friends, I have no problems with naturally slim people. A woman doesn't have to be anything to be treated equal.

I knew you would! :D I'm excited at the positive response so far!

[marie-j-granger.livejournal.com]

I think Jess looks good, although one belt would be more than enough in that outfit, thanks.

Lindsay is looking like the poster child for eating disorder(s). Poor thing.

I like the idea of the community, too. I almost never wear make-up anyway.

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

Make-up makes me feel sick, actually. I rarely wear it anymore, but I love putting it on people. LOL!

[marie-j-granger.livejournal.com]

I need chap-stick or lip gloss and I'm good. I break out even worse when I wear make-up.

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

I actually look better without make-up these days. I'm pretty without it.

[marie-j-granger.livejournal.com]

I think I am too, except for the pimples.

[amichandrn.livejournal.com]

1) I agree. Jessica Simpson looks fine, but she needs to FIRE her stylist, ASAP.

2) I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Lindsey were relapsing into her eating disorder, esp. if the tabloids are right about her relationship (Hey, I need SOMETHING to read in the supermarket lines!)

3) I'm totally in, if you make that community.

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

What are the tabloids saying about the relationship? I know they've got their troubles and all, but who doesn't? I thought Sam was helping her sort her shit out. I'm quite sad to see otherwise.

I'll be doing something about the comm in the next two days.

[amichandrn.livejournal.com]

The usual stuff. They're fighting all the time, Sam walked out on her....The negative press is enough to stress ANYONE out.

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

Well, I wouldn't be surprised if Sam was sick of Linsday's bad habits. The word was she wanted Lindsay to go clean.

[shrydar.livejournal.com]

I totally agree that it's preposterous to say Jessica's fat.

But I also think it's presumptuous to assume Lindsay's got an eating disorder, and as insulting to her to bemoan her thinness as it's insulting to Jessica to say she's too far the other way. I was as slender as Lindsay when I was her age, and my mother sent me off to the doctor to check that I was ok (there's a history of early onset diabetes on her side of the family), but his call was that it was pretty much down to my father's genetics. I certainly wasn't undereating at the time.

Thoughts?

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

It is painfully clear, looking at Lindsay Lohan, that this is NOT her natural weight. She has had eating disorders in her past so it's no big stretch to assume she has them now. I do not regularly lambaste women for being thin. I think I am a good enough student of the human body as both an artist and a keen enthusiast of biology to know the difference between someone who is naturally slender and someone who is starving themselves. I can see that Lindsay is an example of the latter.

I think you're taking stuff personally that wasn't directed at you. There's a lot of women's equality issues messed up in this as well, which makes it all the more complicated.

If I sound terse, understand I'm not mad at you in the slightest, I'm just the she-bitch from hell today due to my first normal period in six months.

I could throw puppies at electric fences.

[robin99.livejournal.com]

ilu~

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

*humps*

[xedra.livejournal.com]

I love your rant. I agree completely. Jessica is NOT fat. Lindsay needs help in many ways.
I would totally sign up for your community.
*HUG*

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

Brill. I just got to design the motherfucker.

[http://users.livejournal.com/lothar_/]

I know nothing about these women because I have no working television, other than that they're celebrities of some sort. I would prefer to keep it that way.

[sir-devans.livejournal.com]

Bring it on. Unless of course I count as a fucktard, then I don't care. :P

[dormant-dragon.livejournal.com]

Sounds pretty good to me - I tend not to wear make-up much anyway, unless I'm deliberately dressing up. But, then, my man tends to wear make-up when we dress up too :)

In a general sense, I totally appreciate what you're saying here. Women in the public eye are pretty much damned if they do, damned if they don't. It never occurs to any of these tabloid commetators that maybe these women aren't just responding to social pressures, but trying to please themselves and do what's best for their own physical and emotional health.

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

I find it hard to express myself on this particular issue, because one badly placed word and I'll offend somebody. Thin people, fat people, etc etc.

My main big wish for the world is that women start to value themselves for something other than their hair or their skin or their weight. That they start looking within and realise they are wonderful minds ready to make a difference in this world, with as much power as any man.

[dormant-dragon.livejournal.com]

That is a pretty big wish, and I think women have gone a long way in practical terms towards achieving it. However, society has for so long been stuck in the "only men really matter" mindset that it's going to take a lot more to change the way people think. For example, even now, if a woman wants to achieve political power, she has to do it by emulating men, because the notion of power is so closely bound to the notion of masculinity. Those in power - mostly still men - aren't going to give it up or share it without a fight.

[logansrogue.livejournal.com]

It is a big wish, but I'll spend every day of my life on this earth trying to do *something* to help forward women's rights. Change can happen, it just takes some stubborn determination, which is great because I have plenty of that. :)

[hotclaws.livejournal.com]

IAWTC,you've said it right.