Is Joan on 'Mad Men' too plump for primetime?

When celery stalk stylist Rachel Zoe agrees to be resized and Photoshopped from a size 0 to a size 8 for a magazine spread,  you know curves must be in vogue. (Or in  Harper's Bazaar, which is where Zoe appeared retouched as a normal and healthy gal about town in six-inch heels and a $5,000 dress.) In the article, the stylist says:

"Truthfully, I've never seen myself as being too thin. Sometimes I'll look at photos and be like, Oh, that's not a good look. But generally speaking, I'm not too thin."

Er, OK. FYI: When you can flatten yourself and slide underneath a door, you're too thin. Zoe goes on to say that she enjoyed having curves for the story. Not so much that she's over at Astro Burger right now, mind you.

With or without Zoe, curves are definitely making a comeback. Christina Hendricks as Joan on "Mad Men" (left) could singlehandedly bring back hips. Real hips. The kind that will send a skinny man skittering across a dance floor. And I must admit that my jaw still drops when she sashays on screen with a rump as big as a holiday ham. My first reaction is always: She's huge! What a silly reaction to a woman who is probably a size 8 or 10. 

Then I realize that most leading women on TV, such as Holly Hunter and Teri Hatcher, are  pipe cleaners, and so I never expect to see prime-time zaftig. It's as odd to me as a virgin martini.  Frankly, I am so accustomed to seeing protruding hipbones that I have to adjust my own visual definition of what is womanly. That's pretty screwed up, in fact.

Even models are tired of maintaining those sharp clavicles. In Vogue this month, Karen Elson admits that she took laxatives to stay whippet svelte and blames the fashion industry for imposing such thin measures. Kate Moss told the Guardian last week that she realized at one point, while standing in a bathtub, that she was too skinny. The Council of Fashion Designers of America has erected booths at Fashion Week in New York to spread the word on eating disorders and promote healthy living. Hmm. Why do I suspect that the Moet booth will be mobbed and the bulimia booths will be empty?

Maybe the Emmys can do the same and erect a few eating disorder booths on the red carpet?

Let's face it: The fashion industry will never embrace models who are a size 8. But actresses like Hendricks, Scarlett Johansson and even Liv Tyler do make a case for a new, womanly ideal.  But are you brainwashed too? Do you look at Christina Hendricks and think "sexpot," or "portly"?

Weigh in. -- Monica Corcoran

For the record: I thought I made it clear that my skewed perception of Hendricks as "big" was silly and it bothered me. The female ideal we see on TV is extremely thin and Hendricks is a rarity on prime-time. Perhaps I should have also mentioned that I think she's sexy and refreshingly bold and downright gorgeous. Oh and as for comparing her rump to a holiday ham, take a look at this ham and tell me that her behind isn't as shapely. Most actresses these days have no backside at all. I'll take a ham over an empty plate any day.

photos: Kurt Iswarienko for Harper's Bazaar; WireImage; ham, Publications Intl Ltd.

Comments

[Mira]

Even if I were not a size 8 I would vote for hips and other feminine assetts! after all I never could understand why would any woman want to look like a boy in a dress!

[Onet Akemov]

You have got to be kidding. Christina Hendricks is hot... she's one of the reasons I tune in week after week.

[Lindsey]

I find Ms. Hendricks’ curves truly distracting. She is so pretty, and has such a soft, sultry, Marilyn esque voice that it’s arresting when they scan down or out to do a full body shot. But I think I know why…it’s not the fact that she has hips or a bust…the costumes are just too tight on her. The seams literally look as if they’ll burst. It can’t be at all comfortable for her (ahem) girls to be smushed up so high and in such restrictive materials. Couldn’t they have gone a size up? Viewers would still “get it.”

As a woman, I am certainly in support of showing different types of bodies as beautiful and think that the casting department was particularly bold with this show. They should be commended.

But alas, if asked to choose someone’s look to emulate on the show…I will always, always pick the waify Betty over the curvy Joan. Minimal curves have come to define elegance in our time. The only curves that are acceptable are those created artificially (please see Diane Krueger at the Venice Film Festival, channeling Grace Kelly) because they are controllable…saddle bags, canckles and muffin tops are not and thus they offend fashion sensibilities.

But the fashion establishment is ready for a shake up – design something incredible, something artistic for Ms. Hendricks and those that aren’t rail thin. I promise, just by sheer difference, it’ll be more innovative and creative than anything you put on Liya Kebede. The svelte icon is exhausted. Give us something new

[Sara]

She looks great, hardly like a holiday ham. Curvy, sexy, healthy. I get tired of looking at women that look bulimic, even if they claim they just can't put on weight. That may be true, but they should be one figure in the spectrum of acceptable figures and not the norm or only acceptable look.

[emerald]

how very sad that you would describe a size 8 as "zaftig."

[americangal4ever]

Marilyn Monroe was a size 12 . I do believe that were she 21 and still out there Men would still be falling all over her. Marilyn Monroe image still sells to this day.
Time to accept you don't have to be a size 0 to be sexy.
When the industry starts putting sizes that are healthy
out there it will be better for the models and we will get use to supporting whatever size the industry puts out there. We got use to rail thin over curvy marilyn monroe types. Isn't it time we went the other way so our models stay healthy.

[HipsThighsHypnotize]

Honestly this is the REAL woman look right here. I think any man who has a sexual appetite for women, would agree that such a vivacious woman is definitely acceptable. The skinny-bone-jones look has never been appealing to me. I think Ms. Hendricks is drop dead gorgeous, from the hair to the legs. I prefer a woman with a very large buttocks, and wide hips, not to mention a sizable bust. Regardless of the clothes, i know my woman has the features to make me get lost in her presence when she walks in front of me while the game is on. a skinny woman, would just be in the way. I disagree with Lindsey's comment. Her clothes are just fine. Dont even get me started on Scarlet Johannson! sheeeeeesh... should could Barack my Obama any day!!!

[Sarah]

Anyone who thinks she is fat is an idiot.

[Pablo]

come on...how can you think portly? I think too many women on TV are pipe-cleaners. I'm glad that women like Ms. Hendricks are getting greater exposure.

Like that America Ferrera movie said: "Real Women Have Curves"

Yes they do...thank goodness for that.

[Gloria Gerak]

I think she is lovely - in every way!
Remember Marilyn was a size 10 or 12

[Mary C.]

Christine Hendricks would not be a size 0 if she became anorexic. She's a big girl. She's not fat. You can see her clavicles in that picture, which must mean she's not packing on much extra weight, if any. She doesn't have a huge protruding stomach. If she lost a lot of weight, she'd still have a substantial bust. If she dieted away her behind, she's still have wide hips, because that's dicated by your bone structure. What's odd is that women are discriminated against for having certain body types. Men come in all shapes, but women in movies and TV all tend to have petite frames in addition to being extra-thin. It's refreshing to see a more average-sized woman on TV.

[deja pseu]

Frankly, her body was the norm for movie bombshells (actresses, not artillery) of the 1950's. To the commenter who noted that her clothing was "too tight" it was also the norm for women up until the late 1960's to wear all kinds of heavy duty foundation garments, and even mass produced clothing was far more tailored than we see today. Wearing a tight fitting garment wasn't necessarily the mark of a loose woman, but wearing one without a girdle was.

She's gorgeous!

[Maxwell Demon]

Christina Hendricks is insanely hot. At the risk of betraying the best interests of my gender, I have to agree with the comment that her dresses may be too tight--not for TV in 2008, but for an office in 1962. But what the hell do I know, maybe there were women like her who dressed like that. Vive le Joan of Rac.

[Tara Kerry]

I have a feeling her costumes are a little padded or stuffed (they did that with Peggy last year and do it with January Jones' character Betsy sometimes). She does not seem that big in real life, but next to size zeros and twos of course she's different. I think she is beautiful and one of the main reasons I tune in. It's funny that you call her "zaftig" and then blame then imply that the fashion industry (of which you are a part) and media are why we see such pin thin women on TV. Joan is stunning!

[CJ]

She's one of those lucky women who put on weight on their chest and hips. Those women are called 'curvy' and 'hot.' If she weighed the same, but carried her weight in her face, arms, and around her waist, she'd be 'fat' and she wouldn't be on T.V. Some women have to be thin to look acceptable, because they don't get curvy. They get fat.

[Erin]

Christina Hendricks is not fat. Period. Hearing a journalist talk about her rump being "as big as a holiday ham" turns my stomach. She is tall and statuesque with God given curves that are literally the bones in her body. Not fat. I cringe to think of her reading this article. She is an actress with incredible talent and looks most women would kill for. The fact that morons like Rachel Zoe dictate what we should be looking like horrifies me. Monica Corcoran's shock at seeing women who look like Christina starring on a television show sounds so anti-woman and antiquated. What, are interracial couples on television a shock as well? Get a life and get over it.

[tdneel]

She's one of the sexiest women around these days.

[Michelle]

"Joan" isn't a big girl or portly. She's a gorgeous babe with a real body! And by real, I don't mean overweight or fat. I mean honest-to-goodness-hot. Ask any man. The skinny trend we see on TV/movies isn't attractive. It's downright scary.

When I saw the two images of Rachel Zoe up above, my eyes immediately gravitated toward the one where she's been photoshopped to look like a size 8. She looked healthy, happy and glowing. I can't say the same for her real look. She looks undernourished and ghastly.

It's definitely time for more women like Christina to show up on TV!

[Ellen]

Having seen Hendricks in person on the set of "Mad Men," I can attest that she's anything but fat (and while there'd be nothing wrong with an 8, she's probably not more than a size 4, maybe less). They dress her to emphasize those curves, boys, and rely on the camera -- and that terrific walk of hers -- to do the rest.

So, please, let's not make another actress paranoid, shall we?

[Erica]

Whoa..."a holiday ham"? Seriously?

The funny thing about this horrid forcing of women into all these smaller-than-normal sizes, is that out in the REAL world, outside of fashion and Hollywood, women like Joan are what most straight men really adore.

Why fashion and Hollywood don't go along with this standard is anyone's guess. When you see all these actresses in real life, rather than through the lens, size 8's, 10's and 12's look healthy and normal and sexy. And the pipe cleaner women, with their clavicles showing, and no rear, and no chest? They look like preteen boys to me.