Our genes DO play a large part in our body type, but fat by any other name remains fat. If there's too much jiggling, it ain't healthy. Period. I would suggest bypassing the scale and get some fat calipers to see where you really stand. Then just aim for a healthy percentage (there are numerous charts available).
Btw, I would not call 5'6" "large" unless one was wider than tall. ;)
PJ.
-----Original Message----- From: Elizabeth Finkler [mailto:mightymezzo@h...] Sent: Monday, January 21, 2002 3:30 PM To: vocalist-temporary@yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [vocalist] image (too damn long, I know)
>From: "Lea Ann" <LeaAnn@k...> > > > But, bottom line is that TOO much weight is > just simply too much weight. Everyone should aim towards reaching and > maintaining what is really and truly healthy for them. And aim for a > modicum of fitness, besides. That is real beauty. > > PJ. > > > PJ I am sure (unless you are naturally thin as a rail) you know this is >easier said than done.
Let me preface this by saying that my figure is at least *partly* determined by my heritage (a proud family of big strong women). The other part has been determined by my refusal to live on leaf lettuce and diet soda. :-P
>Weight and looks in general are such complicated and passion inspiring >topics we could probably discuss abortion and get less heated comments. >But as far as image and a singing career go....it is easier to have a >career if you have what current Hollywood standards deem a "hot body" and >that most likely has nothing to do with health or beauty, didn't Lily >Langtree weigh 250 pounds? The men of her time LOVED her!
Actually, Lily Langtry's figure (like Marilyn Monroe's) went through a few changes during her career. She was QUITE slim at the start of her fame, and one of the reasons men loved dancing with her was that she didn't wear a corset!
(Fun fact: Francesca Annis, who played Lily Langtry in a "Masterpiece Theater" series many years ago, was pregnant during the filming. The producers dealt with that simply by filming the episodes in sequence-- so that Ms. Annis progressing "expectation" coincided with Lily's weight.)
>It wasn't that long ago that few people owned a TV, and computers and >videos were science fiction. So as few as 50 years ago a physical "ideal" >was still something much more subjective than it is now....your body and >looks could still be pretty but perhaps very different from my body and >looks. However I think now...we have a more homogenous idea of what >"ideal" is It's more like "Mc-Ideal". > > Lea Ann >
It may be a McIdeal on the fashion runway, but if you look at currently popular movie actors and actresses, there's a certain amount of variation between say, Kathy Bates and Gwyneth Paltrow. (And skinny doesn't always sell tickets; that movie Cynthia Crawford did a few years ago sank faster than the Lusitania.)
Sure, maybe I could go on the leaf-lettuce-and-diet-soda regimen and get down to my college weight-- but I'd never be skinny enough for a model. And I know that a lot of leading roles are out of bounds for me, not just because of my weight, but my height (5'6", as tall as or taller than a lot of tenors in this area), my voice and, G*d help me, even my age. (&^%@!)
And one BIG complication in the weight discussion is the health vs. fashion factor. I would suggest that, unless you're as tall as Shaquille O'Neal, 300 pounds (about 137 kilograms for you non-Usonians) is NOT healthy. I'm a big girl, but I bike to work two or three days a week (6.5 miles) and try to keep the ice cream binges to a minimum. Consequently, I can claim with only a little bit of exaggeration that a good bit of me is muscle! (The rest is hair, earrings and attitude.)
As far as image goes, Judi Dench is my hero.
Now, if I could just have a bust that matched the rest of me....
Elizabeth Finkler mightymezzo@h... (And after a fallow period, working again, thank you)
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