As a girl, I watched “Working Girl” and “Don’t Tell Mom The Babysitter’s Dead” religiously, eager to grow up to be a businesswoman spearheading major deals like Tess McGill or a teenager turned uniform tycoon like Sue Ellen Crandall …minus all the deception but with Harrison Ford waiting in the wings in the end of course.
Now, young girls have a whole new crop of women to genuflect to: the “celebrities” who grace the glossies of gossip and women’s magazines to tout their “business,” with headlines like “Lost 10 Pounds in Ten Days and Feeling Fabulous!” and “How I Got My Body Back Before I Even Left the Hospital!”
In terms of these offenders, one particular family has stood out in recent months. You’d have to be living under a rock to not see the raven-haired Kardashian sisters making front page news for everything from a quickie marriage to a basketball star, to negating their previous “real girls have curves” mindsets by doing photoshoots and interviews about their slimmer selves.
Khloe Kardashian even goes as far to say she does “no carbs” and avoids sweets come swimsuit season and “eats whatever I want until noon. Then from noon on, I watch what I eat”. I’m sorry but you would NOT want to be within a 100 mile radius of me if I avoided carbs and ate what I wanted until noon. And what the hell kind of diet is the “everything I want until noon” diet? For most of us, it would be the iHop Unlimited Pancakes Diet.
If that wasn’t bad enough, Kim and Khloe are the scantily-clad spokeswomen for the diet pill Quick Trim and grace ads all over women’s magazines clad in skimpy bikinis.
For her part, Kourtney did attempt to defend herself when a tabloid alleged she lost her baby weight STAT by flashing her Belly Bandit clad abdomen.
But her sisters’ behavior is really troubling, especially given they have teenage half sisters, one of which received a modeling contract on their television show and a big fan base of teenage women.
Our lovely Rachel did a great post on Shedding It about the dangers of diet pills and many brave women came forward with their terrifying experiences. But Kim and Khloe have a little more following and influence (no offense to Rachel) so, when standing in the drugstore, wanting to be skinny, what are young girls going to remember?
I personally would like to see more magazine covers and TV interviews that feature our modern “celebrities” talking about their own body image struggles and perpetuating healthy behaviors, not plugging drastic measures for quick weight loss. (And not talking about their body image struggles just to make the cover six weeks later to say, “Look at me now!” Jennifer Love Hewitt cough cough.)
What is your take?
Do you think that as well known celebrities, women like the Kardashians are setting a bad example for the next generation of women?
Do you enjoy reading their fitness and diet tips or are you fed up with the magazines for making this front page news?
And do you think that as public figures, it is women like the Kardashians’ duty to discuss their personal struggles with feeling secure in their own skin?
Do you think that bloggers need to be conscious about what stories they link to or discuss? Major blog Fitsugar.com often shares celeb diet “secrets” straight from the tabloids. Do you see this as a problem?
Also, check out this interesting article about the dangers of celebrity endorsements and begs the all important question: do celebrities even use the products they promote??
And if you are opposed to tabloids “teaching” weight loss, then remember…vote with your wallet. Even if you can’t resist US Weekly because you love making fun of Jon and Kate, make a promise not to spend a single dollar on tabloids that have diet cover stories. The reason they keep running these stories is because women keep buying those issues. If you know the stories are wrong but you buy anyway, you’re part of the problem, not the solution.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I don’t understand how every week they’ve lost 10 pounds.
Great post, Bess!
I find celeb diet “secrets” either: 1) SO PREDICTABLE (“I eat vegetables, fish, and brown rice!!”); 2) SO DANGEROUS (“I aim for less than 1,000 calories every day and supplement with diet shakes!!”); or 3) SO CRAZY (“I drink fish oil straight-up and follow it with raw egg yolks, then do scuba-yoga for HOURS!!”).
So I guess I just find it all very unhelpful, unmotivating, and unreal. I’m guilty of buying those mags for plane or poolside reading, but you’re right — That makes me a part of the problem! Next time, I’ll stick to a good book or Bon Appetit.
.-= Leah (Nutritionista)´s last blog ..Profile of a Healthy Eater: Susheela =-.
Great post and thank you for the link love!
First of all, how are the Kardishians even famous?! It’s not like they’ve made ground making movies or dontated millions to orphans in a third world country. They’re rich that’s it. I find our whole fascination with “celebrities” (and I use that term loosely) sad and kind of annoying for many reasons but mostly because of the message they portray about nutrition and fitness.
It’s unfortunate but I do believe these girls are setting examples for younger girls who look up to them and who will grow up thinking that Quick Trim and other pills are the answer to slimmer selves.
I stopped buying magazines awhile ago because it all just became too much. That and I suddenly felt awkward for having such a weird fascination into someone elses life that wasn’t mine.
And as for blogs,like fitsugar, I do think that sharing the stories in away that sounds like you are approving of what the celebrities are doing is just perpetuating the issue and as someone who has a large audience, I think bloggers need to really be careful of that.
Sorry for the novel! Great topic
.-= Stephanie´s last blog ..The Great Gym Debate =-.
Great comments everyone! I totally agree that whether you have 1 reader or 100,000 readers, when you are putting your blog on the Internet, you have to be careful that you aren’t helping make people susceptible to making potentially dangerous health and lifestyle decisions.
I just stumbled across this doozy of a headline and made sure to comment that I thought this post was in poor taste.
http://www.thatsfit.com/2010/05/05/jennifer-anistons-diet-trick-eating-baby-food/#thankYou
It’s not like they need the money…so why are they promoting things that are terrible for your body? Celebrities become role models, whether or not they want to be. I think they need to be more careful about what they are putting their name on.
Am I the only one that liked Kim when she was a bit rounder? She was never fat but I liked her better with some more meat on her bones.
I honestly think the Kardashian’s portray a healthy body image for women and girls. They are not stick thin, and they have a healthy appearance. I think it’s just the media talking about their eating and dieting. To me, they have always looked the same (except maybe Khloe goes up and down).
.-= Nicole´s last blog ..Grilled Asparagus =-.