Body Image Activist, Eating Disorders mamaVISION

WARNING: I DO NOT DO TRIGGER WARNINGS.

For 4 years I have been attempting to educate the public, parents, mental health professionals and anyone else that will listen about pro-anorexia.

Pro-anorexia is the belief that “anorexia is a lifestyle.” Google the terms “proana,” “thinspo” to be sickened. On YouTube, an average of five videos per day are uploaded filled with images, music, and mantras all meant to keep these proana girls motivated on their goal to starve themselves to be like the Hollywood stars they admire.

Most people turn away and tell me “I can’t handle that, but guess what, we must. Others tell me I should be softer, and nicer to celebs who pave the way for girls. Ain’t happenin’

Check out these links to get a sense of what I am talking about here:

(more…)

Try out for MTV’s new reality show Model Maker and you’ll be dead in no time! But hey- you’ll be famous.

They pulled out all the stops and got this Mo-Fo to produce the program which calls for losing up to 80 pounds in 3 months.

America is off it’s rocker.

So how does reading this impact you? Do you realize how totally out of reality this crap is or does this somehow, somewhere make you feel like you are not good enough?

I’m in a mood, so let’s have some fun with this for a change, rather than wallowing in this BS.

Here’s the email address to the web site where they are casting for models: mtvmodel@madwood.com.

CORRECTION: I was told the above is invalid, try this one mtv@madwood.tv

Just for shits and giggles pelt them with messages expressing your personal point of view. Or even better, tell them you are 6 foot 2, and weigh 100 pounds….tell them you are willing to die to be on their pathetic, arrogant show.

Ahhh, it’s damn good to be back!!

Love,

mamaV

Video commentary on the Faces of Pro Ana saga that occured over the weekend. Videos are a bit choppy, but I am busy as heck and I wanted to get these posted.

 

Part 2 (camera died on me!)

 Looking forward to your response,

-mamaV

I thought I’d help Josie drive some traffic to her cute, little post on My Pro Ana Hero!

This is my ~ThInSpIrAtIoN~

That’s me by the way, 21, skinny and miserable, sent to Miami by my NY agent to shoot with some pervert photographer. I ate nothing for 3 days until my self discipline broke and I mowed down a box of Total cereal, then hit the pool for a marathon swim. Good times.

Hey, I feel that spark coming back!

Look out Josie!

-mamaV

Tipster Izzy directed to me to Faces of Pro Ana  (fixed the link it works now). I guess I am not the only one swiping images of Pro Ana girls on public web sites and displaying them to make a point.

I personally think this one holding the skull is particularly creative.

Sunday 3/30 1:30pm picture removed per request of individual shown. 

Can this get anymore psycho? Or is today’s youth so bored that they cling on to some grim reality for the shock factor?

Honestly, this is getting so tired. I didn’t think I would ever say this, but after nearly two years of blogging on this topic I have no idea why I am doing this. 

-mamaV

Lauren Greenfield’s latest film “kids + money”strikes at the cord of the last post HollyHell and an earlier one focused on an $18K pair of jeans.

The question for today is are we completely nuts?

Image Source: Lauren Greenfield, kids + money

An original short film by award-winning filmmaker and photographer Lauren Greenfield, kids + moneyis a conversation with young people from diverse Los Angeles communities about the role of money in their lives.  From rich to poor, Pacific Palisades to East L.A., kids address how they are shaped by a culture of consumerism.  

“In L.A., the money is on the surface level. When you meet someone, it’s like, “Hi.  I’m this person. I’m rich,” or “Hi, I’m this person. I wish I was rich.”  It shows up everywhere.  How tan you are, what jewelry you’re wearing. Girls have $3000 book  bags just for school.  It doesn’t stop in high school—what car you drive, where you work, what kind of suit you are wearing. It’s a whole image thing that Hollywood  forces you to fit into.”

A family member once said to me “the more you make, the more you spend.” I don’t live by that motto. It’s pure guttony as far as I am concerned.

I prefer the simple life.

Simplicity is driving a 1997 Camry, knowing that you are squirreling away funds for your children’s education.

Simplicity is giving your children $50.00 each for a shopping spree after a job promotion, and watching them go completely wild in Toys R Us.

Simplicity is buying a Bose I-Pod dock for your husband, and watching his face as he hears the music streaming from it for the first time, and then wondering what took you so long to make the purchase.

Simplicity is bargain hunting. Hitting up Goodwill with your eight year old daughter while in LA on vacation, and walking out with a bag full of stuff for $48 bucks.

Simplicity is having a home you can afford. One that you have time to clean yourself, with a lawn that you take pride in trimming with your own bare hands.

Simplicity is living on one income, committing yourself to cutting all corners, in order to live the life you truly believe in.

Simplicity is looking out your bedroom window, and feeling like you live in a palace, as you remember the 900 sq. ft. home your mom and five siblings grew up in.

Simplicity is what you make it, it’s up to you to define it. I believe all of these temptations in front of us for a reason. It’s all very complicated for a reason.

How are you passing the test?

-mamaV

“Simplicity, simplicity” - Walden, Thoreau 

(I am no literary genius, I learned this one from my husband. Walden is about a dude who lives out in the woods for a long time, and learns to understand the basic, simplicity of life through nature. Crack it open at the library, you may find it interesting. We visited Walden pond on a vacation about 5 years back, it was cool to see the actual location and replica cabin where Thoreau wrote his book).

Feet broken in two. Necks stretched beyond recognition. Lips as big as saucers.

All this, in the name of beauty.

ODDITORIUM

We visited Ripley’s Believe It or Not in Hollywood earlier this week during our family vacation. We went there just because we all love seeing freaky stuff, but I didn’t expect the “Odditorium” to give a haunting, historical view of the beauty tortures women have endured since the beginning of time. As I looked at these old torture treatments, I realized our newer inventions such as botox, and lipo are no different – just another version of the same old bullshit.

Hollywood, and generally Los Angeles as a whole, is about pushing, pulling, and squeezing your God given normal body and face into the oddest shapes and sizes, in order to fit the in at Freak Zone Central.

THE OSCARS

Promos for The Oscars covered the elegant facades of historical buildings throughout the town. Lisa Rinna glanced down upon us from billboards plastered with her ballooned out lips and frozen features, glossed up to stir male hormones into a tizzy. I guess this chick has some sort of sex appeal, is a sci-fi kind of way, but even my teenage nephews couldn’t quite grasp what her deal was. Her look is so totally foreign to us Midwesterners (seriously, seeing a young woman with a boob job in our town is relatively rare occurrence, so lips like hers are hard to ignore).

Lisa Rinna post and pre lip injection

Why in the name of God is it attractive to squirt so much collagen, or fat, or botox, or whatever the hell she had needled into her naturally elegant, simply gorgeous doll like face? This face no longer resembles a human one, but some sort of twisted soul exposed until it cracks. And trust me, it’s gonna crack. It probably already has, we just don’t see that side of the story.

Don’t get me wrong, I totally dig this stuff. I’m not trying to rip this poor woman to shreads, it’s just so totally over the top to me, that I have to share.

To observe this beauty chase in action will always fascinate me. Knowing that I was one of the privileged few granted the chance to be part of this glam world, and having enough sense to walk away before it ate me alive, is quite satisfying.

It seems a lifetime ago, but I remember, taking it, and running with it, as any sane 16 year old would. But then, I opted to get out alive, unpimped, and

plastic-fied. What I didn’t expect is this decision would grant me a ticket to freedom.

It’s the Golden Ticket. Let the wrinkles come I say, bring on the sag. I can take it, because trust me, it ain’t no picnic on the other side and there is no way I am ever going back to that hell hole that it seems everyone is determined to head down into.

RODEO DRIVE

Onto Rodeo Drive. The most famous alley of smoke and mirrors in the US of A.  Master marketers spend every waking moment creating their shop displays designed of glitter, greed, and pure narcissism, guaranteed to drive in the weary in droves. Crisp, slick bills are peeled from the palms of their rich & famous clientele, as the perfectly orchestrated mirages of beauty unfold inside, where the pitch is the ever allusive promise of self worth and esteem.

We didn’t even bother to park, just a drive by was in order for this place. As we gawked out the windows of our mini-van, huge, gleaming logos of Chanel, Jimmy Choo, and St. John’s whizzed past and perfectly polished shops caught our attention as they stood eerily empty, untouched; waiting for the bell to be rung.

This is where Jessica Simpson purchased an $800 pair of underwear. A multitude of movie stars are regularly spotted darting in and out of their Towncars, in search of some piece of everyday fabric, dressed up to be the end all be all of happiness, promised to bring them eternal youth in this hell city of vultures just waiting to suck their self esteem dry.

Tick tock goes the clock.

LA MAGAZINE

Back at the hotel, I sat back and to read LA Magazine, only to be further absorbed in this culture of who’s hot and who’s not. I stumbled on an article about little girl’s birthday parties, that frankly, didn’t even surprise me. Modeling “themed” extravaganzas are all the rage for LA’s finest 2^nd and 3^rd graders, where loving parents fork over up to $40 grand to allow their princesses to walk the catwalk for their girlfriends.

Don’t have a big issue with this really, since I do believe it is quite natural to want to have your 15 minutes of fame, even at age 9. But $40K? C’mon, that’s an annual income for a lot of folks where I come from, the level of greed is kind of over the top don’t you think?

MELROSE AVE.

We wrapped up our trip, but inadvertently crashing a private party at the new Burton shop on Melrose. We were just sort of shopping, no one kicked us out, so we figured we may as well enjoy it. My nephews scored a bag of freebies for their girlfriends, I hung out and played Guitar Hero amongst our new LA hip and trendies, and the kids filled up goodie bags filled with pixie sticks.

PAPARAZZI

From there we spotted the paparazzi stalking some Candies sponsored event, so my daughter and I hiked it in the rain to catch a glimpse of the action. Turned out the stars from Heroes were arriving, don’t watch the show, but it was fun to see them get the star treatment, or get snubbed, even by the paparazzi if they are currently not a recognizable face.

HOME SWEET HOME

We are all on the plane now, headed back to good ole’ Milwaukee. Sore feet, tired out, and ready to be home in our own beds, in our cozy home, on our big lot, safe and sound.

My nephews are all pumped to live out in LA in the near future. I hope they both go for it. I have no doubt my worldly travels totally prepared me for the real world. The world where not everyone likes you, nor cares, nor pretends to care.

That life lesson is somehow easier to swallow when you’ve been rejected multiple times for daring to have a pimple on your face.

-mamaV

Who ventures out without makeup? If not, why not?

One of my friends recently told me her mothers perspective of makeup was that it only covers up your natural beauty,  that is why you look so “weird” to yourself without it. This was kind of a religious perspective against makeup, which I don’t buy, but I thought it was interesting none the less.

When I head out of the house, I generally don’t think all that much about what my face looks like, especially if I am going to the grocery store, Target, who cares really?  What have I got to hide?

When I do wear it, I generally find myself digging through my purse at stoplights. It’s just kind of a hassle, and I hate taking time to put it on. Sure, I like how I look with some makeup on, I just need it to be quick and easy.

In modeling, we weren’t allowed to wear makeup. This is why I crack up at ANTM, the girls are all jazzed up and made to believe they will need this skill in the modeling world. Magazines and photographers want to see you “clean faced,” nothing to hide behind, so the whole facade Tyra creates is bogus.

I always find it sad when I hear of a woman that won’t leave the house without makeup, or someone is so totally overdone while out shopping, that I wonder how long they spent in front of the mirror analyzing their imaginary imperfections. We put alot of pressure on ourselves don’t we?

Where do you  fit into this picture?

mamaV

I stumbled upon a book last weekend, Beauty Junkies by Alex Kuczynski. The stories told by this New York Times Style reporter are literally stunning.

Alex worked the beauty beat for years, in one of America’s most plastic obsessed cities, riddled with wannabes from all ages, and lifestyles. She tells of male lawyers obsessed with botox injections, because they need to have that perfect “poker face” in court.

Botox injections are recommended no more than every 6 months, but these dudes rotate dealers, I mean doctors, every 8-9 weeks for their necessary fix.

Liposuction for the feet, botox in the wrinkles of the palms. I wish I was kidding.  

And I know all about Body Dismorphic Disorder, but I suspect that in the majority of cases Alex details in her book, BDD is not the culprit. Our good old friend Self Esteem is lacking in these individuals, and lacking badly.

Take Mrs. X, the wife of a powerful Hollywood Executive (she refrained from revealing her real name). She manages her daily schedule around  primping and pumping needs. “It is her profession, hobby, passion, and primary relationship,” Alex explains. 

Hairdresser: 2 times per week for color, style, stripping, you name it.

Exercise: Daily tennis for toning

Skin: Self Tanner (separate one for face, body and hands), once a week a facialist steams her pores and gently squeezes them, Marina Chicet Brain Lipid Serum slathered on the face daily to allow the cow brain extract to conceal her wrinkles.

Water: Only Penta, due to the high-energy sound waves that are used to make this water more hydrating than any other.

Vitamins: Murad Wet Suit to build collagen, and a cup of probiotic blue-green algae each morning for who the hell knows what.

Nails: Twice per week, buffed not polished, for a younger look.

State of Mind: Rolfing treatments in a series, not sure how many sessions that includes.

Makeup: She does not leave the house, without a professional appling her makeup. Oh, and her makeup artist has an assistant.

Teeth: Cleaned every 8 weeks, natural ones are whitened, veneers replaced annually

Eyebrows: Tweezed and tinted every other week.

Eyes: Lasik perfect.

Doctor visits: monthly, utilizing various techniques including Gore-Tex, Botox, collagen, Retylane, Artecoll.

Plastic surgeon visits: consultations 3 times per year, about 1 surgery annually.

Procedures done: liposuction, tummy tuck, two variations of a brow lift and face lift, upper eyes, lower eyes, implants twice (first batch were not large enough).

And finally – Labiaplasty. Yep, trimming and tucking of the vagina, you know, to make them “neat and tidy” as Mrs. X explains. Labiaplasty happens to be the fastest growing area of plastic surgery. You can even have lipo on the pad of fat on the top of your vagina, making wearing tight dresses much easier! (Quote from a plastic surgeon not me!)

I am exhausted just thinking about this woman’s schedule. Exhausted, and so very sad for her. This quote encompasses her lack of self worth in a nutshell.

Alex asks her ” Is it difficult to be the wife of a powerful guy in Hollywood?

“How do you mean,” Mrs. X inquires.

“Do you ever wish you had a career?” Alex states.

There is a briefest of pauses.

“No, because I was never really going to be that good at anything,” she says. “Or at least I was never going to be so good at anything that I would have made a difference.”

 Damn, I am glad to be me.

-mamaV