Valerie Bertinelli's Bikini Body...

[ChefChiTown]

I came across this on Yahoo's website and I thought I'd share.

Lately, it seems like all the media does is scrutinize the weight of Hollywood stars -- females in particular. If Jessica Simpson is photographed wearing an unflattering pair of high-waisted jeans, she's fat. If Beyonce Knowles dons a Thierry Mugler gown that accentuates her curvy physique, she's also fat. This concerns me. If gorgeous women like Jessica and Beyonce are "fat," what does that mean for the rest of us?

Fortunately, a celebrity story pertaining to weight loss came out today that I can get excited about! At age 48, Valerie Bertinelli has gotten her bikini bod back -- and she's showing it off on the latest cover of People magazine. Of course, it wasn't easy achieving her newly fit physique. In April 2007, the former "One Day at a Time Star" proclaimed, "I'm fat." She was 5'2" tall, weighed 172 pounds, and vowed to drop from a size 14 to a size 8. Almost two years later, the actress is in the best shape of her life after losing more than 40 pounds thanks to exercise and her Jenny Craig diet.

While unveiling Bertinelli's cover on the "Today" show this morning, People magazine's Galina Espinoza noted that Valerie, who hadn't been in a bikini in 30 years, aims to inspire women with her new look and let them know it's never too late to get your body back. "With a little bit of motivation and a lot of hard work, anyone can do this."

I've got to say that I find Valerie's message to be rather empowering since she has been open about her battle with the bulge from day one, and we were with her every step of the way. In addition to looking fabulous, she's also now healthy. Isn't that what we should be concerned with rather than curves and clothing choices?

So what do you think? Is Valerie's bikini cover empowering, or is it simply playing into our society's obsession with weight?

I think that's a good question. Personally, this is how I feel...

On one hand...

Valerie Bertinelli has definitely influenced a lot of women (and men) to start losing weight. She has served as somewhat of a poster child for weightloss during the past few years and she has undoubtedly made an impact on a lot of people. She was viewed as being a heavier woman, so people found a great deal of inspiration when they saw her begin to lose weight. For that, and that alone, I think she deserves a lot of credit. It can't be easy being in the public spotlight, especially during a weightloss journey. So, kudos to her accomplishment.

On the other hand...

Now that she's skinny and attractive (in the eyes of society), it seems as if she, and the media, is flaunting her thin body. It just seems as if the media is making it seem like Valerie Bertinelli was fat and gross before, but now that she's lost the weight, it seems as if the media is making it seem like Valerie Bertinelli is hot and sexy. It just feels as if the media really is playing on society's obsession with "the perfect body".

On a similiar note, there is also some controversy with Dora the Explorer's new "skinnier" image.



So, what are your thoughts? Is it no big deal? Or, are things like this really furthering the stereotype of "the perfect body", which only sends the wrong message to young women and children across the world?

 

[ChristyP]

How could it be sending the wrong message? She looks great. She isn't overly skinny.
Why would anyone say she is "flaunting" her new body?
Nobody was saying she was fat and gross before. But she was taking in more calories than she needed to, in order to be healthy.

 

[amagheti]

THAT is not her body, and its beyond obvious that the photo has been severely photoshopped by someone who doesnt give a *crap*. i mean look at the edges on her thighs and other body parts. if you want to inspire others than at least use the unedited version and REAL version of yourself

 

[PaperAirPlanes]

I don't pay attention or care about celebs, as I don't view them as real people [yeh I'm an ass]

Therefore, fat, skinny, short, tall, ugly, I could care less. Good for her, but those who base their lives offa what celebs look like/say/do and what the media has to say realllly need to find lives! If a celebs body affects you enough to inspire/destroy you, you needa recheck your motives in life.

Call that mean, but really, it's about how you feel about yourself, not whose on a magazine cover.

 

[KawaiiMira]

When I first saw the People cover, my first thought was "She took her weight loss a little too far... I see ribs". Then I realized that is how society wants their women to look like. How sad.

I have been battling my weight since puberty hit. I am finally taking charge of it and incorporating a new diet and exercise regime, so that I can loose weight in order to be healthier. I am never going to strive to be model thin. I am a women and I will have curves and I accept that.

Hooray!

 

[Amiba]

well it is a tough call.

I do encourage people to be healthier and I - myself am working on it- but there is a fine line between being healthy and obsessed about your weight. also it has a lot to do with losing weight and being fit for the right reasons- to follow a media trend is not one of them.

not that long ago curvaceous women represented the beauty standard, they were considered healthy and well positioned in society, and even in current cultures there is a higher appreciation for larger figures.

media pressure is awful but isn't imperative by all means. you just have to know who to pay attention to.

I guess the moms feel outraged about dora's new look because it is hard enough to protect your kids from the media culture in general to have something ''safe'' as dora transformed in a little tanned barbie.

on other note- what does affect at least to me- is how fashion for example impacts regular clothing stores because of how ridiculously limited the sizes are- here in mexico.
I can't believe we are the second fattest country in the world and we still don't have decent sizes.
the biggest jean size you find for example is 9, 10 at most. I am a size 12-13 and it makes me mad. this almost directly pressures you to drop weight or.. basically go bottomless in life. sigh

heck I don't think that had much to do with the topic but I felt like ranting a bit
haha

 

[ChristyP]

I just saw her on Entertainment tonight. They said it wasn't Airbrushed. She weighs 123 no way is that too skinny for her height.

 

[familyweese]

She also says she is a size 9 and I don't think that would be very accurate for her to be that weight and that size it doesn't really mesh right to me. Thats just my opinion though. I don't think shes too skinny per say but I hope she doesn't feel the need to drop more. I think she looks pretty good now. Aside from the little bit of ribs you see I think she looks fine.

 

[ChefChiTown]

I just saw her on Entertainment tonight. They said it wasn't Airbrushed. She weighs 123 no way is that too skinny for her height.

I don't think the issue in the article (er, blog) was if she was too skinny or not. It was about how the media is just adding to the stereotype that a woman has to be skinny in order to be attractive. I mean, you can't get any more blatant than plastering "BIKINI BODY" and having a picture of someone who lost some weight on the cover of your magazine. Personally, I think that sends a message of "this is how you're SUPPOSED to look".

When Valerie Burtinelli was heavier, she was still a pretty woman. But, nobody in the media ever said anything about it. It was nothing but talk of how she was trying to lose weight, blah blah blah. But, now that she's skinny (even though she has the same pretty face), it's nothing but talk about how "hot" she looks with her new "bikini body". I just think that's sending a message, like it or not, to younger women.

That message?

"This is how you're supposed to look. If you don't look like this, you shouldn't feel good about yourself because no man will ever want you."

Just look at this forum and notice some of the women who are like 5' 3", 125 lbs thinking that they're fat and unattractive. They're getting that idea from the media (and their peers, who are also influenced by the media).

 

[ChristyP]

I love this forum.. and how everyone has a different take on things.
You crack me up, ChefChiTown.
I have to disagree with you on the fact that the media should have been adoring Valarie Bertinelli for her "Pretty Face"

Now I will adore her for her "Bikini Body" Not because of the media but because Valarie herself had a hand in creating her Bikini Body.... and a "Pretty Face" is not something at all to be proud of because it's the luck of the gene pool.
I guess everyone has their own idea of human traits to be held in high esteem.

 

[Amiba]

I don't think the issue in the article (er, blog) was if she was too skinny or not. It was about how the media is just adding to the stereotype that a woman has to be skinny in order to be attractive. I mean, you can't get any more blatant than plastering "BIKINI BODY" and having a picture of someone who lost some weight on the cover of your magazine. Personally, I think that sends a message of "this is how you're SUPPOSED to look".

When Valerie Burtinelli was heavier, she was still a pretty woman. But, nobody in the media ever said anything about it. It was nothing but talk of how she was trying to lose weight, blah blah blah. But, now that she's skinny (even though she has the same pretty face), it's nothing but talk about how "hot" she looks with her new "bikini body". I just think that's sending a message, like it or not, to younger women.

That message?

"This is how you're supposed to look. If you don't look like this, you shouldn't feel good about yourself because no man will ever want you."

Just look at this forum and notice some of the women who are like 5' 3", 125 lbs thinking that they're fat and unattractive. They're getting that idea from the media (and their peers, who are also influenced by the media).

that makes me want to cry in anger
because I've heard that horrible quote before: from my mom.

she constantly reminded me that no one would like me as fat as I am. which was unfair because weight didn't have anything to do with my ability to love or be loved! but I felt insecure and that no man would want me being like this. pff.

I totally get what you are saying because media basically can distort the perception we have of ourselves. our parents and others in general participate in the formation of the appreciation of our beings, so it is no wonder media act as a form of creepy twisted lacan's mirror reflecting super skinny versions of ourselves. and in the other side of the mirror we feel extremely fat, conscious. btw I am 5'2 and 150 lbs, at 125 I'd be jumping up and down in hapiness, haha
screw the media, I am having a chocolate if I want one.

 

[ChefChiTown]

I love this forum.. and how everyone has a different take on things.
You crack me up, ChefChiTown.
I have to disagree with you on the fact that the media should have been adoring Valarie Bertinelli for her "Pretty Face"

Now I will adore her for her "Bikini Body" Not because of the media but because Valarie herself had a hand in creating her Bikini Body.... and a "Pretty Face" is not something at all to be proud of because it's the luck of the gene pool.
I guess everyone has their own idea of human traits to be held in high esteem.

Just to play Devil's advocate here...

People can be bigger or smaller based on their genes too, so why should we be proud of how our bodies look and not our faces?

FYI - I don't care about anybody's face or body or how any of it looks. I just think that society holds people to some ridiculous, meaningful, shallow and superficial standard when it comes to what our bodies are "supposed" to look like. That influences our youth to believe that there is something wrong with them if they don't look like the people on TV and in magazines. The funniest part about the whole thing...what society tells us that our bodies are "supposed" to look like is in the huge minority of how people really look like.

My ex-girlfriend used to feel down about her looks all the time and she was absolutely gorgeous. It was this ridiculous, societally enforced standard that she was trying to live up to which was causing her to feel ugly, even though she was already perfect.

that makes me want to cry in anger
because I've heard that horrible quote before: from my mom.

she constantly reminded me that no one would like me as fat as I am. which was unfair because weight didn't have anything to do with my ability to love or be loved! but I felt insecure and that no man would want me being like this. pff.

I totally get what you are saying because media basically can distort the perception we have of ourselves. our parents and others in general participate in the formation of the appreciation of our beings, so it is no wonder media act as a form of creepy twisted lacan's mirror reflecting super skinny versions of ourselves. and in the other side of the mirror we feel extremely fat, conscious. btw I am 5'2 and 150 lbs, at 125 I'd be jumping up and down in hapiness, haha
screw the media, I am having a chocolate if I want one.

I don't know your mom, but...that's REALLY mean of her to say. Damn.

Our whole entire society brainwashes people into thinking that we're "supposed" to be a certain way and, if we don't comply with those standards, then we're bad, unattractive, undesirable people (in both a physical and personality sense). It's all bullshit and seeing "perfect" women on magazine covers all the time isn't helping anything. It just makes things worse for people who don't look like that.

I mean, I don't have the face of George Clooney or the body of David Beckham, but that doesn't mean that there's something wrong with me. Yet, I'm sure a lot of women (no offense to anyone of them here) look at me and see that I don't have a perfect face or a chiseled body and just brush me off because I don't look like I'm "supposed" to (in society's eyes).

 

[MindiK]

She also says she is a size 9 and I don't think that would be very accurate for her to be that weight and that size it doesn't really mesh right to me. Thats just my opinion though. I don't think shes too skinny per say but I hope she doesn't feel the need to drop more. I think she looks pretty good now. Aside from the little bit of ribs you see I think she looks fine.

Sizes are weird...I'm 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weigh 135-140, and wear a size 8 in most jeans....just depends on build. Don't even get me started on shopping for clothes....whoever came up with sizing options for women should be shot.

I've got nieces that are 14 and 16, and I feel SO sorry for them. There's no way I'd ever want to be a teenage girl in today's society. The oldest niece is close to my height and stick thin, and constantly worried about gaining weight because she'll "be fat" if she gains 10 pounds. At the 14-year-old's birthday party in January, her friends (all but one of which probably all weighed less than 110 pounds), refused to eat cake because they'd get fat. One girl was healthy (meaning not stick-skinny) was made fun of during a game they played because she was "too fat" and her hips (she's the only one that had any) bumped into something. Many of us looked at the teen magazines when we were that age, and I don't remember if all the girls they wrote about then were as skinny as they are now. But pick up a copy of one of those things today and wow....they're all stick figures. That's what my nieces are being shown is good and healthy and wonderful and desirable, and anything else is just ugly.

Like I said, I'm glad I'm grown now and don't have to deal with that crap. I wouldn't have made it as a teenager my size in today's society....

 

[familyweese]

Sizes are weird...I'm 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weigh 135-140, and wear a size 8 in most jeans....just depends on build. Don't even get me started on shopping for clothes....whoever came up with sizing options for women should be shot.

Yeah you said your 5'9 Velerie is only like 5'3 so if your a size 8 and just a few lbs heavier all I'm saying is I don't think that her weight and size measure up. And I have seen the comercials from Jenny Craig with her and she looks on the commercials to have much wider hips than what appears on the bikini shot photo. I do think it was photo shopped. But its no shock that they would photo shop it because they also said she lost 50lbs when everything else says 40. So they helped to photoshop an extra 10 lbs off I guess. I'm just saying from personal experience. I am 5'2 and when I was 125lbs I was a size 3-5 and the pic of her looks much smaller than pics of me at that weight. It just seems a little odd to me thats all.

 

[LowFatMilk]

Sizes are weird...I'm 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weigh 135-140, and wear a size 8 in most jeans....just depends on build. Don't even get me started on shopping for clothes....whoever came up with sizing options for women should be shot.

Sizes are a little funky for some people.

I'm 5 foot 4 inches and when I was 200 lbs I was a size 14-top and bottom. I have an aunt that is much taller than me who (has lost A LOT of weight now) was a size 20-22 at 206 lbs which is the size I am now.

We're all different.

 

[Amiba]

Just to play Devil's advocate here...

People can be bigger or smaller based on their genes too, so why should we be proud of how our bodies look and not our faces?

FYI - I don't care about anybody's face or body or how any of it looks. I just think that society holds people to some ridiculous, meaningful, shallow and superficial standard when it comes to what our bodies are "supposed" to look like. That influences our youth to believe that there is something wrong with them if they don't look like the people on TV and in magazines. The funniest part about the whole thing...what society tells us that our bodies are "supposed" to look like is in the huge minority of how people really look like.

My ex-girlfriend used to feel down about her looks all the time and she was absolutely gorgeous. It was this ridiculous, societally enforced standard that she was trying to live up to which was causing her to feel ugly, even though she was already perfect.



I don't know your mom, but...that's REALLY mean of her to say. Damn.

Our whole entire society brainwashes people into thinking that we're "supposed" to be a certain way and, if we don't comply with those standards, then we're bad, unattractive, undesirable people (in both a physical and personality sense). It's all bullshit and seeing "perfect" women on magazine covers all the time isn't helping anything. It just makes things worse for people who don't look like that.

I mean, I don't have the face of George Clooney or the body of David Beckham, but that doesn't mean that there's something wrong with me. Yet, I'm sure a lot of women (no offense to anyone of them here) look at me and see that I don't have a perfect face or a chiseled body and just brush me off because I don't look like I'm "supposed" to (in society's eyes).

It was sad because your mom is supposed to support you and be there for you. my dad is a captain and he spend most of the time out navigating so the only strong, ''formative'' figure I had was her. of course it effed up the perception I had of myself.

I had to finally confront her and tell her that because I am chubby it doesn't mean I am not desirable, indeed.

well those kinds of women that obsess on the outside are mostly insecure.
many guys that look ''perfect'' by society standards (and I am not saying all of them there are exceptions) tend to be dickheads, really. they are so fed up with themselves thanks to excessive appreciation to their bodies that they tend to treat women like crap. the awful thing is that many girls bare this because ''he is hot'' hah.

give me the chubby, sensitive guy that loves food and has a great sense of humor anytime over the ''perfect body'' type!

 

[ABBAgirl]

Whatever happened to Kirstie Alley (sp?), who was the initial celeb spokesperson for Jenny Craig? She seems to have disappeared from public view...

It will be interesting to see if Valerie (and Marie Osmond) are able to change over to the "real foods" and keep their weight low. I hope they can, because there are few things more distressing than gaining weight with the whole world watching (and judging).

I find it awkward balancing my own desire to be a smaller size with the fact that I don't want my daughters thinking that how a gal looks is the most important thing. I rarely discuss weight loss with them, but I do talk about the need for EVERYONE to exercise and eat well, without too much junk. I invite them to go walking with me, or biking, or whatever. They will NEVER, EVER hear from me that they are anything other than absolutely beautiful, inside and out - and that any fella would be the luckiest guy on earth to have them by his side!!!

ABBA

 

[familyweese]

They will NEVER, EVER hear from me that they are anything other than absolutely beautiful, inside and out - and that any fella would be the luckiest guy on earth to have them by his side!!!

ABBA

I wish you were my mom. All she ever did was talk about how disgusting fat women were and when I got married i was 180 and she asked my husband what was wrong with him why would he marry a fat girl right in front of me. Even though at that weight i was only a size 9.

 

[ChristyP]

I think a Parent needs to strike a balance.
While a child is young it is easy to steer them in the direction you want without ever telling then a thing.
A parent is in charge of everything a young child eats and all activity.

I remember watching my Mom try to lose a few pounds and get in shape for my oldest sister's wedding. It was a wonderful thing for me. She would watch "Jack Lalaine"
it taught me that I am in control of my fitness and that exercise will make a change for the better in my body. I loved doing exercises with her.
I never took her exercise routine to mean that how you look is the most important thing.... I took it to mean that people who care about themselves, take care of themselves.
I think you can make your fitness goals a positive thing for your children.