Linking to a past Trope Repair Shop thread that dealt with this page: Needs Help
, started by captainpat on Sep 6th 2011 at 1:13:47 PM
Turn-Based Tropes
An entire page of crying and like skinny shaming? Yikes. YMMV indeed
Edited by Thoughtforged Heaven or Hell? LET'S ROCK!
Okay, I totally agree with this article; Hollywood has a ridiculous standard for women in general. Just please, I'm begging you, don't hate on me for being naturally skinny. I have a petite build, so I can't help that you can see my ribs (not that they stick out the way they do on anorexics). I don't starve/puke/torture/fast myself into this bony-ass frame. Just don't hate on string beans like me!
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Same. I dealt with a lot of self-esteem issues as a kid because of this. You know your back-asswards attempts at "reassuring" girls about their self image have failed when assurances that "normal people don't look like that" have a flippin' fifth grader crying herself to sleep over her "unnatural" weight.
Women especially get it badly either way, and even if it's not as bad when you're skinny as when you're overweight, you still get a bunch of BS body image stuff. You can't win. The worst is when people tell you off for eating when you're thin because "you'll RUIN your figure!". Shut the hell up, I want my chocolate cake.
Then there's the clothing issue. Most clothes are made for women of average height, weight, and proportions. Anyone whose body type strays from the norm is out of luck. Do you have any idea how hard it was to find a one-piece swimsuit in my size? And my friend on the other end of the spectrum has to custom-order bras and rarely ever finds a flattering shirt. It just sucks all around.
kalender: Someone told you off for eating? Ugh! Skinny girls get told off for not eating, because skinny+not eating=anorexia! You really can't win!
ladyofprocrastination: I agree, they should show a "average" girl, a skinny girl, and a curvy/chubby one, and say all these bodies are beautiful. If my mum hadn't kept calling me "fat" and refusing to buy me new clothes until I lost weight, I might not have my minor eating disorder.
- xxFashionista.xx
Oh god, Hollywood Thin, where do I even begin with this? I mean, Hollywood has this retarded ass-backwards logic that if you're even the lowest weight possible to even survive, you're as fat as Homer Simpson, if not fatter. I mean, dammit, Hollywood, if that's what it's like in your eyes, get some fucking glasses! Or Laser Eye Surgery! Or hell, just get rid of your eyes 'cause you certainly ain't using them! And you know what really pisses me off? Asswipes who actually believe that logic, and then go out and mock anyone who just happens to decide to have some sweets even once in a while. Me and my girlfriend's fanfiction don't hate on the anorexics (at least, not my part of the fanfiction) but we do mock those who believe the Wall Banger ass-hat logic Hollywood tries to shove down people's throats.
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We only hate on the pushy ones
blahblahblahblahblah sig under construction http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Tropers/Kazuko
Did you seriously just use the word "anorexics" as an insult?
Woooow.
Wow. what rock are you living under? Because in Hollywood, you have it completely backwards.
and I agree- using anorexics are a synonym for "anyone whose butt lacks the fierce jiggles mine has" is completely disgusting.
see? thin-shaming is wonderful. calling a fat person fat is equal to Hitler.
Excuse me, but why is this article implying that the average woman is a size 16? Depending on where you live, quite a bit of women walking the street, tanning at the beach and posting half-naked pictures of themselves online are very much within Hollywood standards of how a woman should look like. Also, depending on your mental state and upbringing, 10 extra pounds could cause you to feel like you're struggling with a weight problem. Plus, let's not pretend most real-world men are into slightly overweight to chubby women. Most of them would be quite happy with a Hollywood Thin girl.
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Yes, thank you. I'm pretty much made of this trope, being a string bean who can grate cheese on my ribs. Ironically, I'm actually a Big Eater, but so far the food goes into some kind of Hammerspace.
Then again, I don't think this trope is about women who are naturally skinny; this is probably about women who are ridiculously underweight, or at least, they do have a healthy weight for a woman their size, but then women who are size 10 or something are expected to have the same weight as a size 2. I don't think this trope is as bad as the article makes it out to be. You get the feeling that the editor felt pretty upset with this thing, and so...well, is the main page.
Very true. This trope isn't really about skinny women, it's about the perception that everyone should be 112 pounds. Some women can be perfectly healthy at that weight, but that's probably because of their height/frame. Someone who is taller or has a larger frame would need to carry more weight to look (and be) healthy. And we should be cool with that.
except.... who are YOU to decide who is "ridiculously underweight"? Funny how Britney Spears puts on weight like jackets and we're not allowed to point out she has gotten fat (yes, fat- I'm not afraid to say it, especially since fat, funnily enough, comes in all sizes) is considered pure evil to say, yet the beautiful and normal-looking Mischa is "ridiculously underweight" because you decided she is?
Wow. Just wow. This fat movement thing is ugly for sure.
This just seems to me like it was written by someone extremely attached to this issue. I chuckled a bit at all the simmering rage just below the surface. Pure gold.
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True that. All the crazy uses of "average" were especially lolarious.
Cesare Impersonator
This trope needs a rename. Every other trope I can think of that has a name like this is one where Hollywood X is either a distorted portrayal of X (like Hollywood Nerd) or not even X in the first place (like Hollywood Homely). I ranted about this in the last Trope Repair Shop thread about this trope, and a couple other people had the same opinion. Just because the term existed before we made a trope about it doesn't mean it's the best name for the trope.
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Can we please try and clean this up to stop acting like:
- People are automatically "unnaturally" skinny (aside from being completely illogical- what, did they get cybernetic implants to lose weight or something?- it's also just plain rude. Do we really need to take one look at someone, who we know NOTHING about the medical history of, and label them unnatural/underweight?)
- In general, the whole subtext of "these people ought to be a different weight" is kind of skeevy? Is it just me?
Shouldn't the trope be less about body policing/implicitly insulting women for their figures and more about, well, the idea that everyone is on the more extreme end of "thin" in the media, as opposed to the minority of people who fit that in real life?
Just, y'know, speaking as someone routinely called 'unnaturally thin' and 'underweight'.
Edited by kalender Hide / Show Replies
Oh hell yes. Although I think it has indeed been cleaned up since the last time I looked at it, which is good.
Sorry about the "unnaturally skinny" thing. I was actually coming from the same place as you when I added it. The article used to say just "thin", and speaking as someone who actually is extremely skinny, I wanted to clarify that the trope was about the unrealistic portrayal of women in media. Describing Hollywood's unrealistic ideal as simply "thin" was frankly insulting. I might have gone a bit overboard. The current wording is more neutral, though not perfect. Speaking as someone who is "far skinnier than the average person," I still don't like the way the article makes it sound as if that's not attractive, healthy, or normal. I'd change it again if the article wasn't locked. Do you think "abnormally skinny" would be a good compromise? Or maybe "unhealthily skinny?" Is that even a word?
I do know where you're coming from. I had self-esteem issues throughout my childhood because of the exact attitude you're describing. I don't know whether any of the well-meaning lectures on how "normal" girls are supposed to look made any of the bigger girls feel better about themselves, but they sure managed to make me feel like shit.
Edited by ladyofprocrastination
Linking to a past Trope Repair Shop thread that dealt with this page: How is this a trope?
, started by SleetWintergreen on Mar 3rd 2011 at 6:57:41 AM
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman