I couldn't help myself: shortly after all the outrage over Cavalli's scarily skinny fashion sketch of Queen Bey--feted for her bootylicious beauty--I checked out his Facebook fan page and started to skim some of the comments. Despite considering myself a 21st century lulz- and troll-hardened internet surfer, I was shocked at spewed misogynist shit like this:
Will Juarez: No one wants to design pretty dresses for fat people. All you fat bitches here complaining would be better off at the gym. This is just a sketch, and its not the first one depicting Beyoncé as a "stick figure."
June 12 at 3:04pm, Facebook
Puma Xxl: Men like girls with long legs ladies. If it's not you, no worries, there is always somebody who still can love you picture is great!
June 12 at 5:06pm, Facebook
In an endlessly evil list, comments ran overwhelmingly--from females and males alike--in favor of the New Auschwitz Look.
Since when is Beyonce considered "fat?" So what the hell is Alec Baldwin, Zach Galafianikis, and Psy? I have yet to hear a peep about their weight/appearance, even though they are clearly more portly specimens of humanity than Beyonce (Don't get me started on the snickering media pregnancy rumors).
True, Cavalli's is a fashion sketch, and its not the first. Emilio Pucci came up with these protest-free outfits for Beyonce's world tour of The Mrs Carter Show:
Even though, in real life, Beyonce in Pucci looks like more like this:
Kind of a big difference.
Fashion: fair enough, I love it too. And students and Cavalli alike should have the right to scribble whatever they want to on a piece of paper, whatever suits their fantasy. But that doesn't mean its my or everyone's ideal---I'm also free to find their distorted sketches of female icons ultimately undermining and destructive to all real women's self-image and self-confidence.
Miss Representation: This image, even as a sketch, promotes unrealistic and unhealthy ideas about what women really look like. Especially for the millions of young girls who are fans of Beyonce. We're #NotBuyingIt
June 13 at 1:07am, Facebook
Melina Campero even if it is a sketch... why a sketch show her as an emaciated woman? why are you still trying to sell us unhealthy and impossible women bodies? not even in comics you see this kind of bodies!
June 12 at 2:40pm, Facebook
Ok, I get it. That's just how fashion sketches roll. But wait----if these super-stretched dimensions were standard treatment for all, then why does this 2011 Giorgio Armani rendering of Tom Cruise look way more comfortingly normal?
Why isn't he stretched out like a noodle too? Or what about the more recently lauded, Great Gatsby costumes sported by Leonardo DaCaprio
compared to these heroin-chic waifs, presumably Carrie Mulligan and other female cast members:
Hmm. It seems that even on the fashion drawing-table, unequal representation is the rule. If Beyonce (probably the most wealthy and powerful woman in the western world) can't make having hips and thighs not only fashionably acceptable, but also desirable---who the hell can?
Cavalli replied to the outrage:
Dear Fans, We would like to clarify that the image of the gown created by Roberto Cavalli for Beyonce is a sketch and not a photo...Roberto Cavalli loves women and more than anyone else has always exalted and highlighted the female shape with his creations, building his signature style on the glorification of sensuality and femininity.
Right. 'Cus exalting the female shape, and glorifying feminine sensuality is equal to worshipping a prototype based on a popsicle stick. Maybe he's watched too much of the loose-limbed, blue creatures of Avatar, and lost touch with what actual human beings look like.
How can girls rule the world---or be taken seriously, much less celebrated as such---if they can't be represented authentically---"fat" curves, booty, stumpy legs, and all?
