The shape of things to come

Gaga, Lena Dunham, Salma Hayek, Christina Hendricks and a new female aesthetic? Debating with Polly Vernon in today’s Observer about whether we can stop being so “fascist” (sub-editors’ word, not mine) about body shape. Polly says, “We’ve reached a tipping point on women and weight.” I say, “It’s all so much guff when 99.9% of bodies displayed in TV, films and magazines basically conform to a standard.” It would be nice if things really were changing, though, wouldn’t it?

Loved the comments and tweets on this. “Enjoyed reading this debate. Wanted it to go on.” “Usually I hate the ‘body image’ hype and debate that surrounds it but this Guardian debate is insightful AND snarky.” “Excellent debate on body trends with women and body image. I see both sides daily with patients.” “Fit is the new sexy.” “When journos do the email debate thing, it’s usually polite. Not quite so for Polly V and Viv G on body size.” I thought we were perfectly polite! I just pointed out that we are separated by five dress sizes. That is just a fact I thought the readers ought to know about…

Gaga picture by Yne Van De Mergel.