***Trigger Warning***
Weight, BMI, Eating Disorders
Now, don’t come for me. It’s one thing to call-out anorexia in a mean, disparaging body-shaming way, and another to have both eyes and concern. NOT mentioning the elephant in the room is stigmatizing. Personal opinion of weight aside, Olivia herself says she struggles with self-image.
Pale and sallow complexion: A reduced intake of crucial nutrients like iron and B vitamins can result in anaemia, which manifests as a pale and sallow complexion. Iron is essential for producing haemoglobin, a protein transporting oxygen throughout the body. When iron levels are insufficient, the skin’s oxygen supply diminishes, leading to a lack of colour and vitality in the complexion.
Olivia says, “I see you everywhere” and I think she’s talking about strict societal beauty expectations/examples. So we’re going on a side journey:
I know the BMI chart is controversial. We could argue the pros and cons all day and really waylay this post, but that’s for a different day. I’m using it as a way to standardize different height/weights. Also, I’m not trying to shame anybody on either end of the spectrum, or in the middle, so just be aware of random article snark. Thirdly, I’m also using random Google height/weight info so take the accuracy with a grain of salt. I’m trying to compare apples to apples and give some sort of reference point for celebrity/model BMI and thus all of us. The point is, women (and men in a different way, also to be discussed on another day) are held to impossible beauty/body standards, and have been throughout the decades.
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/educational/lose_wt/BMI/bmicalc.htm
1900 The Gibson Girl
1910 The ideal female form is depicted as a tall and slender woman. She has a voluptuous bust and wide hips, exaggerated by way of corseting. Women of the Edwardian Era used Belladonna, a highly poisonous and even lethal plant, drops to make their pupils dilate, making the women look aroused (I’m not making this up, promise). They have also smeared their faces with lead cream to make them look pale.
1920s Flapper
The female form changed in this decade from exaggeratedly feminine to exaggeratedly boyish. Androgyny is the look of the day, short hair, bras tightened to flatten girls chests, dieting and exercise.
1930s/1940s = war and depression
Short hair remained but skirts became longer and showed off natural waists without corsets. Emphasized shoulder width was common with a trend towards practicality lead by war rationing, un-elaborate jackets and simple blouses.
1950s Post-War
The hourglass figure returned and women aimed to become more feminine and curvy. With an end to rationing, women were able to get the glamour model look. Taking full advantage of the latest beauty products, women of this era never left home without looking perfect.
The Sexual Revolution 1960s
The sexual revolution brought back two separate trends. The start of the 60s the super skinny look; the thin androgyny of the flapper returned with an almost pre-pubescent appearance. The end of the 60s however brought back the fuller figured woman with the long straight hair of the Hippy era.
1970s Thin is In
Thin won out and the 70s were the start of the dangerous slimming culture. Long hair became common and minimal make-up made for a natural look.
Fitness reigned in the 80s
Women preferred a toned rather than muscular body and aerobic exercise was part of a woman’s daily life. Women need to be slender, toned and tall.
A lot of the women in all of these decades had body dysmorphia and eating disorders (many told later in life, after their peak fame). I think it’s particularly interesting to look at poster-gal for the modern fitness movement, Jane Fonda:
It just goes to show what you see on the surface is not necessarily the reality of the situation. Jane Fonda looked like she had it all, while she was secretly suffering. I think it shows the audience to view these perfect images and celebrity personas through a critical lens [critical as in skeptical, or as in we don’t know the whole context] before we fashion our bodies and lives after the unattainable capitalistic images we are sold.
Baywatch 1990s
The ideal female figure became even more exaggerated in TV and film.
Heroin Chic
Models became more and more waif like and moved from slender to boney.
Kate Moss – BMI 16.0
Calista Flockhart – BMI 15.6
Remember how scandalized people were about how “voluptuous” J-Lo was??!
Men face different pressures.
As you can see, they are not usually as thin as women:
but their bodies are required to have unrealistic muscle mass.
Size Zero 2000s
Keira Knightley – 17.2
Twenty years ago models weighed, on average, 8% less than the average American, but now weigh 23% less.
Miley Cyrus – BMI 18.4
Today, the average woman has a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 26-28
whereas models range from 15-16, which is dangerously underweight.
Celebrities are slightly better than models with an average of 17-20, a borderline healthy BMI.
OF COURSE a teenage girl would be inundated with images of unattainable perfection. Especially those trying to make it in the industry. It’s not surprising at all that Olivia might interpret every celebrity she saw as feminine, thin, and beautiful and desire that for herself. Sidenote- we are ALL bombarded by these images and have a lot of un-learning to do.
And I think that’s exactly who the Lacy in the song is- Olivia’s own negative self-talk. The voice telling her she’s not good enough.
Lacy = The romanticized, coveted image of perfection that this patriarchal society lionizes.
That Olivia manifests.
Look at the lyrics again through that lens and tell me what you think in the comments!
Sources:
https://visual.ly/community/Infographics/health/bmi-real-women-vs-celebrities
http://www.stat.ucla.edu/~vlew/stat10/archival/SP01/handouts/celeb.html
https://www.boredpanda.com/most-beautiful-women-edwardian-era-1900s
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Catty Remarks