Actresses show a lot of skinny

Here’s a news flash — young actresses these days are very, very thin. Reporting live from in front of their television sets, the editors of Entertainment Weekly and Us Weekly are shocked, shocked to discover that several female members of the cast of “90210” appear to have last eaten some time during the fifth grade. Since then, Jessica Stroup (who plays Silver, right in photo) and Shenae Grimes (Annie) have apparently subsisted on iced coffee and breath strips.

There is no denying that Stroup and Grimes look more than a little frightening — you have to wonder if the show’s producers tried to save money by casting by the pound. But it’s a bit disingenuous, not to mention tedious, for the entertainment press, which produces no greater praise than when a star sheds baby weight or other unsightly poundage, to dutifully trot out experts wringing their hands and disgorging boilerplate about the specter of an eating-disorder epidemic.

For one thing, unless you have the misfortune to be an aspiring actress, most eating disorders usually have roots far deeper and more complicated than wanting to look like Jenny on “Gossip Girl.” Despite years of television’s attempt to pare women down to skin and bones, we are in the midst of a childhood obesity epidemic; even the Gap carries size 16 nowadays.

“90210” is unusual only in its choice to buck tradition. Historically, the skeletalization of women on an ensemble show has followed a pandemic model — one horrifyingly thin actress (Calista Flockhart, Courteney Cox, Lara Flynn Boyle) “infects” the rest of the cast until by, say, Season 3, all of the women are shopping for negative sizes. And it seems a little unfair to pick on the newbies when over at “Grey’s Anatomy,” Ellen Pompeo remains so slender she makes Katherine Heigl seem heavy, and America Ferrera has lost so much weight, it looks as if they have to pad her to play her average-sized character on “Ugly Betty.”

Their talent isn’t thin
In fact, more shocking than the sight of today’s waif-like 20-year-olds are the ranks of underfed fortysomethings who star in some of the most critically acclaimed shows on television. Kyra Sedgwick of “The Closer” and Holly Hunter of “Saving Grace” are two of the more talented human beings on the planet — and if you put them together, you might be able to fill out a pair of size 8 Lucky Brand jeans. Hunter especially is so thin that whenever she takes off her shirt, which she does quite a lot, you can feel the sweat of a thousand reps rise off your own skin. The ladies of “Desperate Housewives” are so far gone in terms of resembling humans that it’s almost laughable to mention them, but even Felicity Huffman, self-described former “fat girl,” has lost so much weight that when she wears those plunging necklines you can count her ribs.

Much was made of how terrific the “Sex and the City” gals looked in their big-screen debut, but when Sarah Jessica Parker appeared whippet thin in skimpy pajamas, the value of body fat on a woman older than 40 was instantly and abundantly clear — do we really want to be able to identify whole muscle groups in the middle of a cuddle scene? Probably not.

For years, feminists have insisted that the paring down of women on television is political, that as women gain social and economic power, society attempts to achieve some sort of balance by belittling them. Literally.

Me, I think it comes down to the tyranny of the tank top.

When did it become mandatory for every actress, no matter what her age or natural body type, to look good in a teeny-tiny tank top? Not just good, but good enough to wear them on television. In every episode of whatever show they’re starring in. Cops in tank tops, lawyers in tank tops, fashion editors and stay-at-home moms. You know why the women of “Mad Men” look so fabulous? Because they don’t have to wear a freaking tank top.

What first appeared as adorable sleepwear on shows like “Friends” now has become de rigueur for any situation, on women of any age. Both Hunter’s Grace and Sedgwick’s Brenda live in T-tees and sleeveless dresses. Over on HBO’s “True Blood,” poor Anna Paquin is wearing tanks so wee they look like toddlers’ undershirts. “Weeds” is set in Southern California, so at least Mary-Louise Parker’s Nancy Botwin has an excuse for all those spaghetti straps and baby-doll dresses, but the ladies of “Lipstick Jungle” huddle over their lattes in sleeveless silk and linen, never mind that it’s autumn in New York and sleeting.

Seriously, it may be the most oppressive instrument of fashion since the chastity belt. Yes, Linda Hamilton looked great when she buffed up for “Terminator 2,”  but those biceps were necessary to save the world. Wouldn’t it be better for actors to spend time working on, say, their Southern accents than doing endless sets of pull-ups? Do we really want a generation of women with arms like Madonna?

You would think that producers would lighten up a little and let the tank top go. Or at least acknowledge that a woman can be sassy and attractive and still wear long sleeves (or even short sleeves).

For one thing, it would probably cut down on all the on-set drama. When you haven’t eaten in 17 days, when whatever free time you have is spent lifting free weights, when you face a wardrobe full of clothing designed for a 12-year-old, it’s hard not to be a seem a little “difficult.”

But, more important, a move away from tank-top skinny would improve the general aesthetic of television. The current cavalcade of wafer-thin, over-toned and stringy women can be quite depressing to watch. You worry too much about their general health. Are they smoking too much? Taking those weird Chinese herbs that are really just natural speed? Do they not remember when Jamie-Lynn Sigler almost had to quit “The Sopranos” because she got too thin?

The real problem with the eating-challenged actresses of “90210” is not that they’re going to jump-start a cult of anorexia but that they’re going to ruin their own show. How can you, the viewer, concentrate on the drama of the story if you’re worrying that Grimes and Stroup will literally collapse before your eyes?

-- Mary McNamara

Photo: The CW

Comments

[Val]

Americans are horribly fat and an eye-sore.

Those girls just look normal, like girls everywhere look. Being fat is not a good thing.
Because the average american is fat does not make being fat ok. Because the average person is stupid does not make intelligence a defect.

As for those old women trying to look good, they are missing the point: they are over the hill, weight alone is not going to restore them to a youthful appearance.

[jenni garth]

never mind those two. have you seen jenni garth or whatever her name is that plays kelly? damn is she hot.

[emalin]

it's not that they're so skinny, it's just that they have unusually large heads which makes their bodies seem smaller which the camera loves which gets them casted

[Presidentpez]

I agree with the thesis, but i disagree on one point...Entertainment Weekly should NOT be lumped in with Us Weekly or any of the other tabloids. I read EW and I read it because they focus on pop culture and they rarely focus on celebrity gossip and if they do it's only in relation to how it affects the material.

P.S. i love the advertising on this page! "1 rule of a flat stomach:

Cut down 9 lbs of stomach fat every 11 days by obeying this 1 tiny rule" ...maybe you should do a commentary on this too!

[AnotherLook]

Hey, I think these skinny looks are just perfect to usher in the new financial depression era we're about to head into. But, I suggest we all turn to the front page of the paper (homepage for you news neophytes) and tune into content that really matters, like the fact the financial markets are crumbling and how that affects us, not articles debating whether anorexia is still chic to the horror of non-anas, and shamefully finger-pointing actresses who are knowingly putting their bodies at risk for organ failure. Screw them! Let's move on to important topics, shall we?

[mjkbk]

Fine. Those 'in the know' say these young women are not starving themselves. But I have another bone to pick with the the hair designers out there--for "90210" and the rest of the popular culture. Is it my imagination, or have I seen promotional photos of Shenae Grimes with a BOUFFANT hairdo? (Example from the IMDB, http://ia.media-imdb.com/images/M/MV5BMTg4MTk2MzIwM15BMl5BanBnXkFtZTYwOTkxOTY0._V1._SX274_SY400_.jpg)

Amy Winehouse aside, please please PUHLEEZE someone reassure me the abominable bouffant is not making a comeback after nearly 50 YEARS! It's too soon, no no no no NO! Just say NO to hair so big that bugs, vermin, and even WEAPONS can safely hide in it. No. Just......no. Did I mention no?

[Bianca Ramirez]

DITTO!!

[skinny man]

I am a skinny person myself. I have had people tell me "wow your skinny" and people think that is ok. When a skinny person tells a fat person they are fat, we are considered rude and mean.

Look at it this way large people. Skinny people do not take up your arm space in the movie theater, we do not sweat as much (sweating=smelling), and we have less chances of getting diabetes. If its ok to tell people they are skinny, then it should be ok to tell people they are fat.

[Mike]

Val: That is quite possibly the most ignorant post I have ever read in the Internet. And that's saying something...

[Aretha's flabby arms]

The problem with this article is this Feminazi seems eager and willing to condemn any women who weighs less than Aretha Franklin or Roseanne "Anti-American Filth" Barr...funny how she doesn't put them down while our country is by and large TOO FAT!!

[amesmb]

I don't necessarily agree that the pictured actresses are "more than a little frightening." Quite thin- yes. Frightening- not yet. The one on the left has clavicles that bulge out enough to make me think she could use a sandwich or two, but neither girl is that unhealthy looking. Calista Flockhart & Kiera Knightly- now they look unhealthy.

I KNEW someone would accuse the writer of being jealous. Whenever women are critical of each other- especially when it comes to appearance- there's always someone to say, "She's just jealous." It's a bunch of bull.

And to JS: I don't think the she was being that serious in mentioning her tank top theory....

skinny man: Neither behavior is acceptable. If someone says, "Wow- you're skinny!" You could say, "Wow- you're observant!"

[alice]

i've been thinking the same since day 1 of the show debut. The girls are not healthy.

[Ferret]

SHAME ON MARY McNAMARA! ! ! Want to know why there's an epidemic of obesity in this country? Because of people just like Mary, who continue to tell young women in their early 20's that muffin tops, back fat, and pot bellies are nothing more, nor less, than "average size" for a young woman. I'm 40 years old, 5'6", 125 lbs. I don't diet, and I haven't worked out regularly since I was on the track team in high school. And, (surprise of surprises), I don't have an eating disorder. Imagine this article espoused nothing more than the opinion that any woman who is overweight is only overweight because she's lazy, eats too much, and doesn't take proper care of her body. There would be a line from here to Jenny Craig DEMANDING a retraction. And they'd GET IT, too! I think Holly Hunter looks GREAT! As does Kyra Sedgewick, AND Sarah Jessica Parker. I wonder if Mary ever stopped to think that perhaps these women work out because it FEELS GOOD, releasing endorphines into their systems which MIGHT compare to the "high" SOME women get from eating an entire chocolate cake in a sitting. See? How did THAT feel? Ugly sounding, wasn't it? By the way, Mary, when I was in High School, a woman the size of America Ferrera would NOT have been considered "average sized", she would have been considered "pudgy". As our nation gets fatter and fatter, the "average" keeps going up. Thanks for doing YOUR part to contribute to the problem. Good job.

[ecj]

At least on Grey's Anatomy they do wear long sleeves. Pretty much all the time. And they seem celebrate all sizes.

In fact the most covered up of all the actresses is Ellen Pompeo. *shrug*

[ilivedthroughanorexia]

As someone who has overcome lifelong weight issues, has worked out 5 times a week for 24 years and survived anorexia, I have to say: 1) yes, media images do matter (I wrote my master's thesis on anorexia and its globalization), 2) "Ferret" may be correct about muffin tops not being "normal".....but neither is the insidious way we've been taught to be at war with our bodies and with food.

While folks like Ferret may have been graced with the good fortune to have a well-functioning metabolism that easily maintains a healthy weight set point, not everyone has such an advantage. And our society's prevalent sedentary lifestyle contributes immensely to not only our current obesity problem, but also to insomnia, depression, diabetes, and a host of other maladies.

I think blaming people and proclaiming "shame on you" is not the answer either way. I think recognizing that where we're at now is the result of at more than a century of massive social change our biology was not designed for (so much rapid change so quickly when you look at the thousands of years we've existed as a species). Having compassion - for ourselves and each other - would better help to lay the groundwork for making the positive steps needed to recover as individuals and as a society.

It's the only thing that finally helped me.

[shelly]

Nice article, boring topic. Hollywood is too thin, you are clearly still watching the show (which is all that matters in the end). Write letters to the studios and networks if you want some actual action on the issue. And REFUSE TO BUY tickets to a movie with too-thin actresses, or purchase music, or buy magazines with them on the cover - that may get their attention.

I did appreciate the irony of EW suddenly 'realizing' that TV actresses are far thinner than the general population, and likely too thin for somewhat decent health. When you're 18 your body will take the abuse but we all get older, which is why many Hollywood actresses can't find work past the age of 30. Most women in their 40s, however healthy and committed, simply cannot attain the figure of SJP.

I also think the blame is misplaced on the actors. They are simply trying to stay employed, and if the producer needs thin and I need the job, I'm going to live on breath mints if I have to. It's a tough business, everyone knows it. The entire culture needs to change, and even with the US' ever-expanding waistlines the entertainment biz is not going anywhere. Once again, if the consumer were to do something other than whine while reading magazines enlightening us on the latest diet tips perhaps things would change.

BTW, the original 90210 cast did not include one teenager. They were all in their mid-to-late 20's, and with the exception of Brian Austin Green, not one had a 'normal' teenage body. This is not a new issue.

[solaris]

LOTS of denial on this board--yes OBESITY is an epidemic, but there is a happy medium between obesity and being anorexic/bulemic as these actresses are. I would hazard a guess that the other posters accusing Ms. McNamara of being "jealous" are suffering from eating disorders as well. Speaking as sa 30-something of normal weight who works out on a regular basis, and having had a bout with anorexia/bulemia at 12, I am extraordinarily glad that I am not that age now. I feel sorry for the poor tweens and teenagers who have these examples as "role models." Perhaps that is another reason there is so much obesity--kids see these examples and it drives them to eat more! It seems that there are only extremes now, and perhaps this is why. Until people come to their senses we will have more of this, I'm afraid, and I absolutely agree it is just another way to objectify women.

[SFN]

Alan's comment (on 9/17) that 14-year-old girls are biologically "the perfect mate" for men--and therefore, boyish 14-year-old bodies are quintessentially attractive to men--is a ridiculously easy position to refute. If Alan were correct, we would expect to see the barely pubescent female as the beauty ideal throughout history and across cultures. After all, lusting after thin young girls is a biological imperative, according to Alan. But, of course, the truth is that what humans consider to be sexually desirable varies enormously depending on the period and the culture (not to mention the individual psyche). Although youth--in both sexes--is generally considered attractive, we all know (or should know) that the ideal body has been defined in many different ways, shapes, and sizes, as any trip to an art gallery will confirm. Perhaps the question we should be asking is WHY OUR culture views skinny Lolitas as the ultimate sexual thrill? The answer sure isn't biology.

[Eve]

When will people realize that there is balance to be struck between "too thin" and "too heavy"?

It is not a one-size fits all equation but neither is it open for individual "I'm just naturally 5'4" and 80 or 300 lbs" rationalizations.

When the baby boomers were in highschool one could argue that the tyranny of "small size" was unhealthy (man women were put on "diet pills" before they finished puberty because they dared near the 100lb mark). However, the women on the big screen and in the media at that timewere rather "heavy" compared to today's standards. That is, until Twiggy and similarly slim women became the fad. Can you imagine Marilyn Monroe or Jane Mansfield being cast in today's blockbuster film scene? Not in anything but "fat girl" flix.

The foods we ate back then, while not "perfect" were at least less processed, less manufactured, less sodium and sugar filled than what most of our American children eat today.

Today we have an overabundance of sedentary children sitting infront of their tvs, PSPs, PS3s, or computers chatting with their "online friends" while they wait for overprocessed, high calorie, high sodium, high simple carb foods that are "prepared" by sticking the frozen mess in a microwave or oven. As our children today grow bigger and bigger, the models we set up for them to emulate grow smaller and smaller.

And biologically, yes, there is such a thing as "too active/too thin" for a woman. That is, if we as a species would like to remain on the planet. Exercise induced amenorrhoea results from a woman lacking the energy (calories) to sustain menstruation. If a woman isn't eating enough to sustain her daily activities, eventually her body will simply lack the energy necessary to make "the menstrual nest" required for sustenance of a fetus. Its pretty simple but not everyone's body goes into amenorrhoea at the same BMI or energy expenditure. The limit is there, its just not the same for everybody. Still, when we live in a society that so often deems pregnancy an unfortunate illness to be avoided at all costs (or on the flip side, a silly accident to be toyed with at very young ages), perhaps the threat of non-menstruating women is reasonable. Maybe American men do prefer the visual aesthetic of pre-adolescent boys with breast implants. Thats fine. Perhaps this is the answer to global over-population? Let the Americans either over-eat or under-eat themselves out of reproducing! If you're too fat, you won't get a date and if you're too thin, you won't get a baby! How appallingly clever.

For those of us with perspective beyond that of 14 year-old boys and girls, could we focus on raising healthily fed, emotionally nourished, physically fit and mentally realistic young men and women who recognize that reproductive viability (AKA. being neither too fat nor too thin) is a key to species survival, regardless of what the media says?

[hmm]

Having seen two episodes of 90210, I can say with certainty that the actress who plays Silver suffers from either disordered eating or some kind of tropical digestive worm. Seriously. The girl is way tinier than her bone structure would suggest -- tinier even than average 14-year-old, which a male commenter suggested was the "biological female ideal." (Btw, commenter, 14-year-olds are hardly the biological female ideal because most have not finished growing, keeping their waist-to-hip ratio fairly low. Nor are 14-year-olds at a healthy childbearing age...but hey, if you want to assign all men your particular body preferences, go ahead.)

I think this is an article worth reading. When I was around the age of the 90210 actresses I too was really underweight (a combination of an overly "healthy" diet and competitive sports) and let me tell you, it's probably more dangerous in the short-term to be significantly underweight than to be moderately obese. Without enough body fat women lose their periods, body insulation, and -- in prolonged cases, they lose bone mass, mental acuity, their fertility and sometimes their lives. It is true that obesity is more of a prevalent health problem nationwide than being underweight, but look at the situation worldwide. Some Western girls' bodies look remarkably close to the bodies of starving citizens of poor and underdeveloped countries -- with the difference that our girls often change their bodies in response to societal pressure, rather than by necessity. It is true that many people are naturally thin; that we as a society should support and love all healthy body types. Jessica Stroup is not naturally that thin.

To all the commenters saying the writer of this article supports an unhealthy aesthetic, or that she's jealous -- I see none of that here. I have gained enough weight since my early 20s to see that I look better without a bobblehead, or fur on my arms, or ribs poking out of my tank top. If what you see when you look at the 90210 girls is normal, that's your call. I see things a little differently.