Completeness of the image: Why is it time to stop discussing the weight of celebrities
margarita virova
The secular news of September is held under the sign of Fatschaming: At first, the Internet discussed the new weight of Rihanna for a long time (which, to our delight, gives the offenders a rebuff), and then everyone attacked Kanye West - and many Western online media have already released columns about why the fans and the artist haters should be stopped as soon as possible. do it. We explain why weight gain remains an ironclad argument for celebrities to this day, and in 2017 sky dwellers still cannot do everything.
The life of stars and their fans in 2017 is good for everyone in 2017 - and only good old Fatscheming holds its ground firmly
Fact: in recent years, the style of celebrity relations with fans has changed a lot - in many respects for the better. The most successful and interesting stars outside of work allow themselves to be just people, they easily leave the house with an unwashed head, like Kristen Stewart, or publicly admit their love for french fries, as does Jennifer Lawrence. The fact that Chanel and Dior advertising contracts offer these girls exactly, the brands that more than others try to keep their nose to the wind are not a coincidence at all: they attract more and more attention of people who no longer want to see celebrities as someone perfect. , and look for a realistic role model in their images.
The Internet has greatly helped this noticeable wave of acceptance of “simple human shortcomings”: if once the main channel of communication between fans and celebrities was tabloids and television, today the latter can talk about themselves - without intermediaries. Now we read not only about the luxurious holidays on the islands, but also learn that people with millions of fans also have complexes, that they are sick and sad, we see how they look without makeup, and imagine what they think about the most different social phenomena. In general, the life of the stars and their fans in 2017 is good for everyone - and only good old Fatscheming holds its ground firmly.
The sources of the problem do not need to be searched for long: most people associate completeness or significant weight gain solely with laziness and untidiness, because they have no idea how in reality body weight correlates with diseases, drug intake, overeating, metabolic disorders and even more so with things more pleasant - for example, with a conscious and comfortable relationship of a person with his own body. This summer, the Barstool edition decided in an ironic way to present the news that Rihanna, one of America’s main favorites, allowed herself to gain ten kilograms: “Is she going to make a full trend? No, Rihanna, the airship is not the best form for a woman.” For this, journalists grabbed a sea of anger from Twitter users, who suggested the publication not to go into their own business and reconsider their views on the permissibility of bodysharing.
Indeed, what if other women suddenly decide that a non-fashionable body doesn’t prevent them from being successful and happy and doesn’t affect their personal development?
The standards of beauty that hold women in their bonds are very slow, and in order to disprove them, we need a lot of support. Rihanna has the best time in her career: she not only records successful albums, but also clearly manifests herself as a designer, and the cosmetic launch of Fenty Beauty has become almost the main event in the beauty industry. Indeed, what if other women suddenly decide that a non-fashionable body doesn’t prevent them from being successful and happy and doesn’t affect their personal development? This promises serious problems for marketing strategies of brands that actively speculate on the dream of losing weight. But even more surprising is the situation with body-styling, which men are subjected to - and this is well shown by the case of Kanye West.
Recently, photos appeared on the Internet in which the artist looks fuller than usual: after them the threads on Reddit blossomed, collections appeared immediately describing the "shocking" changes in Kanye's appearance, which they managed to recall all the dubious achievements at once and produce hundreds of photos. The fact that just a year ago the artist was hospitalized with nervous exhaustion right on the tour, most condemning people prefer to forget. But whatever problems he has, whatever attacks Kanye did on Twitter and tracks, his professional and personal life, albeit intersecting, but still different areas. And fluctuations in the weight of the rapper, until he decides to draw the attention of the public to them, do not concern us in any way.
In pop culture, the castes of "cool" (to which Kanye certainly belongs), fat men almost never fall: they, like full women, have a place in the comedy genre, where they are allowed to endlessly embody the image of the charming, slightly awkward chubby This, for example, fits well into the charisma of John Hill and Seth Rogen, but it’s not at all the bold hip-hop artist who can have only two ways of choosing his own body type: be acceptably thin or work hard to turn into " courageous "mountain of muscles. Through the prism of these cultural standards, we often perceive real people, but is this what we want?
The habit of falling with anger or ridicule of celebrities' bodies was inherited from the era in which they literally had to serve as examples of perfection - when the actresses ceased to be removed as soon as their faces showed the first signs of aging, the models turned out to be overboard at the age of thirty. , and brands allowed themselves to prescribe the inadmissibility of weight gain in advertising contracts. If we need “real people” in celebrity faces, then we should stop dividing their features into excusable and excusable. And also to remember that this connection in the network is completely not one-sided, and the people whom we admire themselves often need the support of their fans.