Whoa, Nelly! What Happened?

Nelly Furtado, a proud Canadian, started her career as singer and songwriter, releasing an album in 2000 named "Whoa, Nelly!". You may remember this album for the fun-loving lyrics of "I am Like A Bird". Her videos showed her smiling, laughing, and running through a grass meadow. Sounds innocent enough, right? It was. And I don't know about anyone else, but I had a great deal of respect for someone like her making it as a musician without using her sexuality to sell albums. Unfortunately, this didn't last very long. By 2003, she shed her girl next door look, and gave into the pressure surrounding the music industry to "take it off". What happened to her!? She has recently recorded a NEW album...named "Loose"..(?). Song titles include: "Promiscuous" and "maneater". Interestingly enough, this image turn around happened right after she became a mother (hmm..). What I find especially strange about this sudden surge of sexuality is that she did this complete transformation in just a couple years. This was not the overly sexual teen image that matured into a more sophisticated ( and modest) look...it was the opposite. Correct me if I'm wrong, but this "new Nelly look" seems to be less of a change of attitude on her part, and more like something she was told to do because her albums weren't selling very well. This marketing strategy seemed to pay off, because she has since teamed up with rap/ pop artists Timbaland and Justin Timberlake. Good for her. But it just would have been refreshing to see, for ONCE, an artist who doesn't give into the over sexualized music industry. Music artists should not feel like the only way that they can sell more albums is to take off their clothes and sing unintelligent songs about their sex lives. Oh, promiscuous girl, you already know...I am so disappointed.

Stop The McDiet!

If "Super Size Me" didn't make an impact on anyone, I don't know what will. It seems like artery clogging food is everywhere. High-fat, high-calorie fast food is available to us in thousands of restaurants, such as Mcdonalds.Are people saying no to this food, because it may kill them someday? Most definately not. They are gulping it down as fast as humanly possible ,often with the help of chanting friends, and then....GOING BACK FOR MORE. No wonder a quarter of children are obese, which is DOUBLE the rate of a generation ago. (By the way, when I say "double", I am NOT reffering to a double cheeseburger...I know what you were thinking.) Just think: If you were to eat a basic medium meal at Burger King consisting of a Whopper with cheese, french fires and a vanilla shake. In that one meal ( that you proudly gulped down as fast as you could) are 87 grams of fat and 1,480 calories. Who cares, Right? Well, the average amount of fat a person should eat a day is about 65 grams, and the caloric intake should sit around 2000! To calculate how many calories you should be consuming a day, go to:http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm or http://www.weightlossforgood.co.uk/calorie_intake_calculator.htm
Calories aside, fast food is not good for us in any way. For example, the heaping amounts of sugars and salts, a seemingly harmless ingredient is added to our food excessively, making it extremely unhealthy for our bodies. The point being: when we eat too much of a so called "healthy" substance, it can become dangerous. We have absolutely no sense of portion control anymore. It's like we are eating for 2 people...or 4...or 6. Bagels used to be 2 to 3 ounces, or about 200 calories. Today they're about 5 to 6 ounces, which is more than 400 calories. (By the way, a 5-ounce bagel is equal to five pieces of bread or 15 cups of popcorn!) Why are people going out of their way to make the food they eat even more unhealthy than it was when they ripped it out of the frozen cardboard package?! People POUR fat on their meal, because it "tastes better." Give me a break. That already-fatty-enough clump of god-knows-what does NOT taste better! Now, after what you have learned, answer with careful consideration: Do you want fries with that? ;)

Obsessions...Gone Too Far

The two photos shown here are parody ads illustrating the way that our culture demonstrates our need to feel desirable, and the extremes in which we will go to achieve it. The original advertisement, for Calvin Klein's perfume and cologne collection "Obsession", features well known English supermodel, Kate Moss. Each of the advertisements that Kate Moss is shown in use very explicit sexuality to sell the product. One of the first controversies involving Kate Moss was surrounding her weight, to which she replied "It was just the time. It was a swing from more buxom girls like Cindy Crawford and people were shocked to see what they called a 'waif'. What can you say? How many times can you say 'I'm not anorexic'?". The problem with these types of girls modelling in perfume ads such as this, is that it feeds the obsession in our society to be as thin as humanly possible. Kate Moss, weighing a mere 100 pounds when the original "Obsession" ads were shot, portrays "thin and sickly" as beautiful and desirable. Unfortunately, Calvin Klein isn't the only company to feature women this thin in their ads. Check out http://home.pb.net/~karyn1/pictures.htm to see more disturbing ads featuring women that look as if they are on the brink of death. These types of images make women feel inadequate, and they become obsessed with achieving the "perfect body". No wonder eating disorders are on the rise. The parody ad of the woman bent over a toilet clutching her stomach sheds a scary, but realistic light on what is happening to women everywhere. Seeing women so thin in advertisements is unhealthy, and should not be shown. Calvin Klein ads for the male version of the "Obsession" cologne are far from being acceptable as well. The original, almost identical to the parody ad above, show men with toned, fit bodies and bulging muscles. Once again, these images do not accurately portray the average man. This type of man, raging with testosterone is featured in every advertisement as the "most desirable man". Like women, men have become so obsessed with looking and acting a certain way in order to be "perfect". Cosmetic surgery and eating disorders for men is becoming increasingly more common, and advertisements such as these are to blame. They give men unrealistic ideas about the way thet are supposed to look, which make men feel like they aren't masculine enough, and attractive enough to the opposite sex. This poses as a huge dilemma for both men and women. The desire to feel attractive has become such a huge part of our lives, and people are willing to do just about anything to get to that point. Advertising such as the images shown in Calvin Klein's Obsession ads are dangerous, and the parody ads above do an excellent job in showing us just how absurd and sickening they truly are.

Dove: Making Us Feel Beautiful, While Selling Us Cellulite Cream

Dove has just recently made it a point to feature curvier, more natural girls in their advertisements in an attempt to show us that beauty comes in all shapes, sizes, and ages. The message that Dove is trying to get across to us "normal" people is that we should all be happy with ourselves, regardless the way that we look. Their ads tell us not to change our bodies in a way that gives in to the pressure our society is putting on us. Dove says:

"YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE THIN."
"YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL JUST THE WAY YOU ARE."

Well...interestingly enough, the ad featured above is for A CELLULITE CREAM...which usually reads: "Change the look of your thighs in 6-8 weeks and blah, blah, blah..."

Change!? Oh Dove, your confusing us.

This whole thing seems very much like an advertising gimmick on Dove's part. Don't get me wrong, I think that it is a wonderful idea to show regular women unretouched. We never see women such as this in a beauty advertisement. And I think this is exactly why Dove is choosing to do this sort of marketing-because it's different. Their smart. Thier making people feel good about themselves. Their contradicting themselves. And their making money.

There is nothing wrong with Doves new way of advertising. Dove's Campaign For Real Beauty is changing the way we look at "beautiful". They are raising awareness, as well as money for camps for children. HOWEVER, they should NOT be telling us that are bodies are beautiful and unique as they are, while SELLING us creams that are supposed to CHANGE the look of our thighs and bellies.

Attack of The Bobble Heads.

Nicole Richie and Victoria Beckham are two celebrities who have taken it upon themselves to transform their bodies. Not only have they successfully starved themselves, but they have also succeeded in making their bodies look as awkward as an elephant riding a tricycle. Their bony, withered bodies are as unattractive as humanly possible. Their alien-like physique is extremely unnatural, and quite creepy. Their heads, clearly MUCH larger than their sickly bodies looks disproportionate, making them look about as beautiful as the Hasbro reject barbies. Bodies that are toned and healthy: hot. Bodies that look as if they could crumble to the floor: NOT. Why would anyone make the decision to do this to themselves? So many stars are turning to extreme weightloss...and the results are shocking. This trend is absolutely absurd, yet they continue to strive towards the most skeletal figure. An online gallery was created to illustrate just how insane this skin and bones trend really is:

http://www.worth1000.com/cache/gallery/contestcache.asp?contest_id=12209&display=photoshop09&display=photoshopcontest_id=12209&display=photoshop

So my burning question for celebrities is: Since when did having SKIN become a crime?!

"I'm Feeling A Bit Too Happy Today...Pass The Pills"

Our culture has become obsessed with popping pills at every possible opportunity. It is no longer just a Tylenol for a headache, but now a pill to make you sleep, to make you wake up, to make you happy...and one to make you slightly less happy. We have pills to cure cramps, backpains, swelling, acne, obesity, depression, anxiety. We simply overlook anything we could be doing in our lives to cause the problem, and turn to the bottle( the pill bottle, that is). For absolutely every obstacle we may face in our life, there is a way to escape, or at least feel like your escaping the real way that you feel. It sounds awfully abnormal to me. To feel pain, sadness, and joy are all parts of being a real human being. By camoflauging them with medication we aren't able to truly understand who we are. Instead of looking after the problem, we just cover it up. Whenever something remotely strange happens to our bodies we rush to the nearest doctor for a prescription, or anything that "might help". Not to mention the outrageous list of side effects wrapped around each bottle we consume. There are several pills for something as common as acne, and the list of possible side effects makes it seem hardly worth it. Some side effects of Accutane, a popular acne medication given to teens: Depression ,chapped lips,dry skin, itching and rashes,dryness of nose and minor nosebleeds,joint and muscle pain,irritation of the eyelids and eyes,temporary hair thinning,intestinal symptoms,urinary symptoms,heeadaches,increased sensitivity to sunburn, and decreased night vision.Hah, like THOSE symptoms will make you any more attractive. Some young children are also being pushed into a lifestyle of pill-popping at a young age. When a child is just being themself, young and energetic, everyone is quick to jump to conclusions. There MUST be something wrong, so the kid is diagnosed as having "concentration issues", and is immediately put on meds. Instead of the old fashioned way of dealing with things such as therapy, pills have become the cure-all. Some people are taking so many different types of pills a day, they can hardly keep up with them. The herbal tablets available at drugstores aren't a whole lot better. I think we'de like a little bit more of an explination as to why we NEED to take an echinicea tablet, a garlic tablet, an evening primrose oil tablet, and a green tea tablet EVERY morning.

Oops.

Tara Reid, shown here, accidentally flashed her body while at an event. Naturally, a picture would be taken to illustrate this womans misfortune, and posted in every tabloid in America. Not only were several pictures taken, but also a lengthy video of her, oblivious to the fact that her breast was exposing herself to the world. She poses, smiles, poses, smiles, until someone is finally nice enough to inform her of the mishap. After seeing the video of Tara Reid during this very unfortunate event, I felt bad for her ( but only a little, and the feeling quickly passed.) She was clearly humiliated by this, and angered by the photographers who didn't tell her what was going on. They just snapped away, dreaming of all of the money they would make from such a revealing photo. She felt taken advantage of, and showed disgust towards the crowd as she stomped off. She is right in realizing that many of these photographers only care about themselves, and are willing to embarass others in order to make as much money as possible. HOWEVER, "accidents" such as these are becoming much too common in hollywood, and are almost a regular occurance. Wardrobe malfunctions such as Janet Jacksons seem almost planned. It don't understand how a top can just fall off, without a person realizing it. Was there no breeze, Tara reid? Although she seemed genuinely upset with what happened, it seems like celebrities are taking every chance they have to flash their bodies. Britney Spears, just a short time after giving birth to her child, had several pictures taken of her getting out of a vehicle. Clear view, no underwear. Have some class. These people are constantly appearing on front page news with their clothes "falling" off their bodies. They say "Oops.". I say "Hire a tailor."