Rant that has nothing to do with babyloss.

I hope no one minds if I go off on something totally unrelated to babyloss for just a moment. It's really bugging me and I just need to get it off my chest. Cool?

Okay, so last night, Andy and I went to see 'Fast Five,' the new 'Fast and the Furious' movie at the discount theater. Now before you judge me and decide never to read my blog again because someone who watches that crap must not be taken seriously, it was actually a really fun movie. I've never even seen movies two, three, and four of the series, but like I told Andy as we were walking out of the theater, "it had so many things that I hate--Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne Johnson, cars--but I loved it!"

Anyway, I enjoyed pretty much everything about this movie--the over the top ridiculousness, the silly dialogue, the sick stunts and car chases--but there were two things that really bothered me. Well, two people. The two 'hot girls' in the movie were both so skinny. Like disturbingly, distractingly so. All I could do was stare at the bones popping out of their chests whenever they were on screen. There was this one scene where Hot Girl #1 strips down to her bikini to pry some information from one of the bad guys in the film (you know, by using her Hot Girl body), and I literally cringed. I mean, really. Is this what people find attractive nowadays??

This girl literally had the body of a 12 year old boy. No butt. No hips. No boobs. Legs about as big as my arms.

And ever since then, I can't stop thinking about how all the 'hot girls' in movies or on TV right now have this exact body type. It's like the skinnier you are, the more beautiful you are. And I know it's sort of always been this way, but it seems like it's getting worse and worse.

Like remember when Angelina Jolie played Lara Croft: Tomb Raider 10 years ago? Here's a reminder if you don't:

She was smokin' hot. The ideal. And why? Because she looked like a woman! Sure, still skinny, but curvy.

Now look at her:

And it's not that I don't think really, really skinny women can't be attractive, but that is not the only body type that should be considered beautiful by society's standards. I am racking my brain, trying to think of a 'hot girl' actress who's even over a (still skinny!) size eight these days, and I can't. By only having size zero women in the 'hot girl' roles, we all get the message that anything else is just not good enough. And that's so wrong.

Personally, I've never really struggled with my weight. Never been over a size six. I had great parents who instilled in me the fact that looks aren't everything, and that true beauty comes from within. I consider myself a pretty confident, rational person. I have a husband who tells me I'm sexy on a daily basis.

Yet I still secretly feel fat. A lot. Often.

Logically, yes, I know I'm not. I know that. But when you're constantly exposed to these ideals, you can't help but compare and feel awful when you don't measure up. I see these super skinny stick figures on the screen and think, 'oh that is so not attractive.' And I really believe that. But then I'm constantly fussing over every imperfection of my own body, wishing I could just be skinnier. Why?

If someone like me has these body image concerns/issues, that is a real problem. Huge.

Who decided that super skinny = beautiful? Why do we continue to believe these lies? Am I the only one who gets really, really angry about this issue?

I really hope no one out there is mad at me for bringing this up. Sometimes I feel like because I don't struggle with my weight, I'm not allowed to talk about things like this. But no one, whether they're a size two, or four, or six, or eight, or 0 or 12 or 14 or 16 or 28, should be made to feel like they have to be a certain size in order to be beautiful.


It makes me scared for all the little girls in the world.

Anyone care to share their thoughts on this?

-Kristin