Dafuq!?

Sigh... Okay, I'd never intended to go on about celebrities in this blog, but I'd say that this does warrant a mention in my blog, as it's something I'd meant to address for quite awhile now.

Pasta-loving Lady Gaga puts on 25 pounds.

Dafuq!?

Okay, I'm not particularly a Lady Gaga fan... that is to say, I don't have any of her CD's, nor are there at present any songs of hers in my iTunes. But I do generally enjoy her music when I hear it. The lyrics are intelligently written and have a depth uncommon in much of today's pop music, and I especially like how out-spoken she is on the issues.

But what this post is about is going to be body image issues... and how society is fucking up generations of people, women and men.

But, I digress. Let's take a look at Lady Gaga. This picture is from 2011, before the weight gain:

...and here she is with some meat on her bones (pun intended):

Now, Lady Gaga is so kind as to not overdress so that we may fully admire analyze her body on this subject. Purely analytical. Yeah. Now, I'm not so sure about the meat-wrapping... but to me, she is still as hot as ever. But, it's in the news as some kind of world-changing, life-altering event. But she still is, and always will be Lady Gaga - the musician, the advocate, and the beauty.

The problem is that society's idea of beauty is such that people should be popped out of a mold. Society as a whole doesn't seem to appreciate beauty in uniqueness, but in sameness. And Lady Gaga, except for being skinny, never really fit that mold. She was never really the empty-headed pop star, staying close to the edge but never really crossing it, that society has come to appreciate. She jumped off that edge. Early on, a lot of half-wits were suggesting that she was in fact a he. Considering that she doesn't seem to own a single pair of pants, I'd say such an assertion is easily debunked.

Now, I'm only using her as an example, so let's step away from the Gaga.

You're still looking for dirty pictures of her on Google, aren't ya?

Well dammit, at least wipe the keyboard!

Anyway, we see it all the damned time. First, it was the models. Okay, we know that those are "beautiful people." Regardless, more and more people started measuring themselves by models' standards. Obviously, that didn't work out so well.  Then other people measuring them up to models' standards. Again, didn't work out so well.

The media started outright saying that if we didn't look like those models, we were grossly obese. We started seeing all kinds of articles with titles like "the Girth of a Nation." Articles from sources that people trust were now calling them fat, disgusting slobs.

Of course, like I often say, this is nothing new. We've been seeing the body image issues being passed down from generation to generation... just that now, it's getting especially vicious. We see concern-trolling mothers telling their daughters that they're just so worried that they seem to be putting on a couple pounds, or not losing those couple pounds. If you mention your body image issues to a doctor or even to a psychiatrist, rather than telling you to first learn to love the body you have, they give you exercise and diet advice. Understandable if the weight is a real health issue... heart disease, diabetes, etc. But I'm specifically talking about ideas of what beauty is. And the ones giving the exercise or diet advice don't even realize that they're contributing to the problem. The psychiatrists/counselors in particular, their area of expertise is supposed to be mental illness and emotional healing. By giving exercise and dieting advice to a patient with body image issues, they are only validating the issues.

I've seen cases where a girl is hospitalized for starving herself almost to death, and those closest to her are saying things like, "but I don't understand - she was doing so well!" Obviously not. Obviously there's a big problem here.

Then there's the idea that models are no different from anyone else; if they can do it, so can we. Perhaps true, but not without some major risks. Eating disorders are fairly routine in the modeling industry and quietly encouraged. I hear of models going on all-liquid diets. A friend of mine who used to be in modeling has said that watching a certain popular fashion show has made her regret every carb she ever ate. Last I knew, this friend was already a size 4 with a body most women would kill for, but she's still not happy.

I do have to give Lady Gaga props for this: Lady Gaga has no intention of dieting to combat weight gain, wants fans to love themselves for what they are.

Sounds good to me.