Ellen DeGeneres is the latest and greatest face of CoverGirl cosmetics. Awesome. Great. I could not be more stoked, honestly. Ellen has been at the absolute center of the LGBT Prop. 8 battle over the past few months and now America’s most famous and PG lesbian is the frontwoman for one of the most popular cosmetic brands around. I don’t think we could ask for a better spokesperson.
Basically, it’s pretty hard to pick Ellen apart. It’s because I love her that I am going to address this one, itty bitty, tiny issue with her: Check out what Perez Hilton posted just last week:
I tried to find it without his commentary scribed on it, but no dice. I don’t agree with everything that he speculates about but I have to admit, something looks a little off. It’s pretty much public knowledge that DeGeneres’ beautiful wife Portia de Rossi has struggled with eating disorders in the past. I wonder if, post-nuptials, the couple has lost weight together rather than the typical marital weight gain most others experience after exchanging “I Dos.”
The fashion industry (and in this case, Hollywood more specifically) has freakishly high standards for how low they want their beloved starlettes to weigh in at. The typical actress and runway model wears between a size 0 and a size 2. A woman I used to work with used to get approached by modeling agencies almost weekly when she was an undergrad. There was always just one stipulation, though: that she drop about 10 or 15 pounds. This girl was like 5-10 and maybe 130 pounds and drop. dead. gorgeous. It was pretty much appalling.
I don’t know if it’s the pressure of being in the spotlight even more these days or nutritional tips from the Mrs., but man, Ellen really is looking sparse these days. Being that she’s the spokeswoman for “Simply Ageless Foundation,” I wish she would be a bit more conscious about the reality of being so twig-like at her age. A little cushion for the pushin’ actually does an older gal well, truthfully. Being too thin past a certain age actually makes your skin sag even more and makes wrinkles more evident. Talk about “eek” factor.
On a side note, Spain raised their BMI (Body Mass Index) requirement a few years ago for all professional models to be at least 18 compared to the rest of the fashion world’s standard which is about 16.3 (or about 23 percent less than the “average” woman.) Almost three years later, I’m still holding my breath for the rest of the world to catch on.
I would be lying if I said that I didn’t love the way clothing looks on these girls, and it has to be pointed out that most runway models are under 23 years of age where it’s much more common to be able to attain that slight figure. Point being, most women in their 20s really don’t look like that and it is a bit unfair to be tricked into thinking so. Just remember that next time you go on a rant about body image or criticize the industry too harshly, it’s all really and truly an illusion.
I just hope that Ellen can continue to be a healthy and positive role model in the LGBT community and otherwise, and that the fashion industry will eventually learn to respect the lives and bodies of the women they use as models. Am I asking too much?
