another one from the skinny files...

Video from CNN today:

"Scary skinny vs. bootylicious ... you decide"

I know, it's the same old comparison: Nicole Ritchie (who collapsed while shopping recently - !!!), Kate Bosworth and the Olsen twins versus Marilyn Monroe, blah blah blah...

Here's the thing: the Marilyn Monroe comparison is becoming overused and weak (yeah, we know, she had hips)...she's the only "full-figured icon" anyone comes up with these days to compare skinny stars against... The video uses a shot of Kate Winslet and refers to her "full-figure" which is a stretch. There's also another TIRED, worn out juxtaposition: a shot from Destiny's Child's "Bootylicious" video, then a clip of Kelly Clarkson...

What makes the comparison weak: Kate Winslet admittedly starves herself before a big appearance (and she's realistically thin to begin with, far as I can tell), Beyonce just dropped 25 for her most recent flick, and after winning American Idol, an early quote from Kelly Clarkson was "I've gotta get a trainer and get rid of some of this booty!"

Meaning that the women CNN used as their "sexy! curvy!" hallmarks are all or have all been in some sort of race to lose weight, which sort of weakens the idea that they're really "happy" with their feminine bodies in the first place...and the women that other skinny-stars reference as the ladies they're "jealous" of might be valid in their own right (Scarlett Johannson and Jennifer Lopez, for instance) but for one skinny star to advertise how envious she is of another star's ample charms, then parade herself around with greased and boyish washboard-cleavage sort of undercuts her "envy" and makes it look more like carefully calculated distraction..."here, look over there at Scarlett's rack while I stick my finger down my throat and get rid of that grapefruit I may have just eaten..."