The irrepressible comedienne Amy Schumer keeps getting in our faces. She likes getting in our faces and, let’s face it, that’s her job. But, this week, we got naked Amy Schumer, showing off her considerable healthy body image.

In an image-driven world, why do we need naked Amy Schumer?

As an entertainer selling her movies, performances and TV shows, she must get in front of us and get our attention. The difference with Amy is – she’s not just another sleek Hollywood body, a woman haunted by long days filled with cigarettes, coffee, maybe a few drugs and a stalk of celery, valiantly trying to measure up to Hollywood’s impossible standards for female artists.

She’s real and she’s real-sized.

She seems more interested in creating a persona that’s down-to-earth AND earthy. She’s VERY invested in being herself.

What a relief!

In a country where 80% of 10-year-old girls say they are dieting or concerned with their weight (data from National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA)), we desperately need Amy Schumer showing off her considerable chutzpah.

Her now-famous nude photo – in a place called Hollywood, where razor thin bodies aren’t just common, they are often demanded – demonstrates a flat out, honest OWNING of her body and her sexuality.

When I lived in New York City and worked in the film business, I literally gathered some of my actress and model friends off the sidewalk after auditions where their 110-pound frames were vilified as “fat”, “disgusting” and “ugly” by producers. Faced with words like that, after starving yourself all week, and you’d collapse too.

110 pounds, folks!

It’s a nasty business, but has untold power upon us. As a weight loss coach, I am privy to some pretty horrible ways my clients have fed their obsession with the extremely thin ideal in our culture.

(And we’re not even talking about the extreme Photoshopping which occurs – I’ve written about that in other blogs.)

 

Where Does it Start?

Most people think the pressure starts with school… but the ideal often starts much earlier, with Barbie dolls, whose wide-shouldered, skinny-hipped, long-legged body was modeled on the designer’s 12-year-old SON’s body (Barbie Causes Fat). It starts with comments about a girl’s body when she’s going through the uncontrollable fluctuations of bodyfat during adolescence. It starts with emphasis on appearance rather than a young girl’s true nature, talents, and capabilities.

But, then, media takes over. In the film biz, an actor may have a wide range of attractiveness, weight, talent – John C. Reilly, the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jonah Hill and Seth Rogan come to mind.

Most Hollywood actresses need to match Michelle Pfeiffer’s anorexic frame, or Gwyneth’s or Angelina’s. (All these actresses smoke and have suffered from food disorders.) Actress Courtney Cox, who debuted a healthy size in Bruce Springsteen’s Dancing in the Dark video, later described the typical desired body in the film/tv business as “diet down to nothing, buy a set of big boobs.”

But, recently, having gained box office clout, some women began to refuse the Barbie demand.

Jennifer Lawrence was one of the first actresses to tell Hollywood execs to pound sand when they suggested she lose weight.

British actress Kate Winslet said “no” to suggestions she lose weight. Singer Adele answered critics by saying “Why should I be thin? I’m not an actress!” And really gifted actresses, like Mindy Kaling, America Ferrera, Queen Latifah, Gabourey Sidibe, Rebel (Rebel!) Wilson, have insisted on respect for their talents.

Why is it important to change?

Young girls don’t know NOT to compare themselves to the images they see in glossy magazines, on tv and in the movies.

Hell, many grown women don’t get it either.

As a weight loss coach, I’ve heard hundreds of sad stories of comparison, self-derision, disordered eating and distorted body image which began with “pretty” images.

In other cultures, where nudity isn’t a big deal, young girls have a totally different image of what a body looks like. In the  U.S., we have one accepted body type in plain view, and that is usually the result of debilitating dieting, disordered eating and food addictions, or serious surgical intervention.

Ninety percent of women couldn’t conform their bodies to this ideal, even with the interventions. Failing to appreciate the miraculous human body, regardless of its shape or size, means maltreatment of that precious resource.

Dieting, which represents an assault on the body, creates MORE fat in the long-term.

And, whereas there have been a few actresses to claim an empowered belief in themselves and their less-than-Hollywood shapes, they haven’t proven believable the way Amy Schumer’s in-your-face honesty resonates.

We need Amy’s transparency and authenticity to inspire us to reclaim our bodies, work to be healthy, and feel good naked.

*** It’s all about OWNING your body, getting healthy and feeling powerful: Check out Pat Barone’s OWN EVERY BITE virtual class, starting January 1st!!