Since during my school years I have been involved in the world of media and celebrity. I have friends who both gawp at images in magazines with fascination, and those who are on the other side- who have had their worlds torn apart by (or live in fear of) 'paps' and their lenses.
Society needs to stop obsessing over celebrity bodies- from both an appreciating and critical point of view. Critique and applaud fashion yes; but physical appearance no. All bodies, whether celebrity or not, suffer the same problems- they bloat, they break out, they scar, they put on weight. All that differentiates them are the numbers of stylists and make-up artists on hand to make them look better, and how obsessed the individual is with achieving the body they want.
Holding a celebrity body up as being an aim to achieve is damaging to your self esteem, and damaging to young girls' perceptions of beauty. Unless you have the same tools at your disposal, you aren't going to achieve it. That means the personal trainers, the tanning experts, the make-up and facial contouring artists, the stylists, the photo-retouching experts. The money. We need to stop encouraging young girls to seek this impossible idea of perfection.
Equally as damaging to society; and incredibly cruel to the people on the pages, are the magazine photographs that show celebrities 'not looking their best'. If only the magazines phrased it so nicely! Recently I have been shocked at the treatment of Claire Richards from recently reunited pop-band Steps. Claire has famously struggled with her weight and suffered an eating disorder whilst at the height of the group's fame. Why do the press feel it is acceptable to publish photographs of her thighs whilst out shopping and critique them; telling her what work she needs to do on herself. Who do they think they are? Magazines should be encouraging women to feel good about themselves instead of doing the opposite. They should be celebrating the fact that Claire Richards is a beautiful, happy and talented woman with a lovely family; instead of focusing on the diameter of her legs.
I am in the media and i'm overweight; but i'm busy and I comfort eat. I intend to do something about it (after years of yo-yo dieting) for health reasons when the time is right for me; not when someone else tells me I should. I go out to the local shop with greasy hair on my days off- so what! Everyone is the same. I have a husband who loves me, and that's all that matters.