Nothing’s the matter – that’s what’s the matter!
This is a post that most people who read this blog won’t care about because it deals with celebrities, fashion, and body image. But I (kind of) care about these issues and want to state my views on a debate/controversy you didn’t know was happening. Everyone else that’s commented is either a fashion critic, a celebrity site, a news site, or some other site themed around issues immediately pertaining to the event. So I thought I’d take a break from comics, music, and rants against Morgan Freeman and “Jesus Loves the Little Children” to say what I think.
Christina Hendricks is most famous for playing Joan Holloway/Harris on AMC’s Mad Men. If you haven’t seen Mad Men then you should. It’s one of the few live action shows worth watching. Joan has gone through a lot of changes over three seasons but she remains strong, beautiful, and independent. She’s my favorite character on the show (although Betty Draper is sneaking up on her) and unlike many of the female workers at Sterling Cooper she doesn’t allow men to take advantage of her. She has relationships and has been hurt but she always overcomes the obstacles and comes out stronger. Great, great character.
Hendricks has received acclaim for her performance on the show and is a standout member of an already exceptional cast. She’s also been applauded for is her voluptuous figure – this may sound sexist but it’s not just men saying that. Along with Kate Winslet she’s an actress that has worked hard to alter the status quo of “skinny = beautiful.” She’s always well-dressed at awards ceremonies and appears very confident in her appearance. People like that.
However the New York Times - that bastion of liberalism – published a blog criticizing Hendricks quoting an anonymous stylist 
who said “You don’t put a big girl in a big dress. That’s rule number one.”
Um….what?
There are two possible meanings to that statement and neither of them work.
1) By “big girl” he means “fat girl” in which case it would be very stupid not to put said “big girl” in a “big dress.” It wouldn’t look good if they were in a small one. But Christina Hendricks is not fat – she just has a curvy figure. She doesn’t look like she was intended to be thin.
2) By “big girl” he mans “large breasted girl” in which case putting her in a small dress would draw more attention to her breasts. Christina Hendricks does have large breasts – large enough that she doesn’t need a tiny dress to draw attention to them.
So what’s the problem? Why should she wear something smaller? Why should she feel the need to lose weight? There is absolutely no way that statement can be applied to Hendricks. What’s with The New York Times publishing stuff like that? When did it turn into TMZ or Perez Hilton?
Get over yourself Cathy Horyn!
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