Celebrities have flaws too...

I have some issues with my body.  I think that almost every woman does.

I've had children, and I've nursed.  I have stretch marks (although I got lucky and I don't have them on my belly and the ones I do have are fine and pale), I have cellulite, and I have boobs that have moved a little south of where they were before I had kids.

I used to be really, realy self concious of them.  Until a couple of years ago, I would wear tank tops with shelf bras in them AND wear another bra underneath for support.  I wouldn't wear a bikini because I felt it didn't give me enough support.  I would walk around with an arm covering my chest so that people wouldn't be able to see exactly what I had under there.

I've lightened up a bit since then, and I'm comfortable wearing just the shelf bra tank tops and the bikini tops...but I'm still very aware that my breasts aren't where they used to be.   I used to look at pictures of celebrities who swore blind that they hadn't had anything 'tweaked' and think that they were #1 lying, or #2 they had a really, really well hidden bra.

Then I came across this picture.

Beautiful Meg Ryan had droopier boobs than me, but she's still brave enough to go out in public without a bra!! She's got flaws!!  She's HUMAN....and she's not afraid to show it!

This doesn't mean that I'm going to be running around bra-less anytime soon, but....it does make me feel better.  Us American women have perfection shoved in our faces daily, either by Hollywood 'stars' or by shows like 'What NOT To Wear'.  We constantly self-critcize, always kicking ourselves in the ass for not looking like Jennifer or Angelina, for not being skinny enough or having perfect white teeth.  Ms Ryan MUST have known that the paparazzi would have been around when she stepped out of her home sans support....but she did it anyway.

How refreshing.

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Reply #1 Top
The whole idea of physical perfection and this obession many Americans have with it borders on a national mental illness. Not only is it unrealistic but it leads far too many people to believe that they are somehow inferior because they don't measure up to some fantasy "ideal".

I have met a number of celebrities in my time, many who were considered to be quite beautiful or handsome. Trust me, without the makeup and professional costume tricks, they are ordinary human beings, flaws and all. And some of those "beautiful" people had very very ugly personalities.

It's all fake. It's all unimportant. The true beauty of any person resides in their soul, not their flesh.
Reply #2 Top
Oye though, she should wear a braw. That's pretty darn south there..
Reply #3 Top
boy ain't this the truth, I started wearing "loose T-shirts to hide my belly, after so many years of form fitting ones, ah vanity thy name is "human" { a slight paraphrase}
Reply #4 Top

The whole idea of physical perfection and this obession many Americans have with it borders on a national mental illness.

Now that I'll agree with, but we do it to ourselves.  We buy into it...

Trust me, without the makeup and professional costume tricks, they are ordinary human beings, flaws and all

This is true too.  I've met a couple of 'celebrities', one of whom had bad breath and the other of who whom was incredibly rude.  Just because you've sold a record does NOT give you carte blance to act like a total prick...

The true beauty of any person resides in their soul, not their flesh.

This is true, but again...we humans are shallow.  Apperance DOES matter, whether we care to admit it or not.

That's pretty darn south there

Hell yeah it is!  Women make jokes about their boobs touching their belly buttons, but I think in Meg's case it's not so much a joke as it is reality!

ah vanity thy name is "human" { a slight paraphrase}

Yes, it is. However, there's a fine line between being vain and having a pride in your appearance.  Mason and I had this conversation just the other day...the best way I can explain it is this:  I care about my appearance, but I don't mind running to the store/gym/whatever without makeup on and my hair in a ball cap.  If I were vain, I think that I wouldn't dream of leaving the house unless I was perfectly coiffed, dressed and made up.

 

Reply #5 Top
If I were vain, I think that I wouldn't dream of leaving the house unless I was perfectly coiffed, dressed and made up.


I'm doing good if I bother to shave.



I figure if I've bathed myself so I'm not offensively smelly and unhealty, I'm ok. Throw on a clean pair of jeans, a shirt, hat, and boots and I'm good to go. I'm little old fashioned and don't feel like I'm really dressed to go out in public unless I have a hat on. I know it's weird (and totally off topic, sorry) but that's me.

Work of course is a different story. At a bare minimum I will drag a razor across my face if I have to work.
Reply #6 Top
Good for her, but I think that I would make sure I had at least some support if I were as "droopy"., but thats just me.
Reply #7 Top

I'm little old fashioned and don't feel like I'm really dressed to go out in public unless I have a hat on. I know it's weird (and totally off topic, sorry) but that's me.

Don't apologize...and I think that's cool!  Do you two-step as well?

Good for her, but I think that I would make sure I had at least some support if I were as "droopy".,

Me too!  I'm nowhere near that droopy, and I won't go out in public braless! 

Reply #8 Top
Do you two-step as well?


Actually before the wreck I was very good at the two-step, but I enjoy the belly rubbing dances more.

When I was on the road I had the local rednecks glaring at me in more than one little bar for two-stepping and dancing otherwise with the local ladies.
Reply #9 Top
Ahh, Dharma! This is a theme, an idea I have been hitting on a long time now (ahem...especially with my latest blog) that, to me, I find perfection in imperfection. The older I get, the more I see this. What's ugly to me now is people trying and struggling to be what they are not, i.e. perfect!

No, I've teased (& you the most!) about nice "T&A" and the like, but really, what's more beatiful than someone who's "been there and done that" as does not try to hide it? I'm not saying to go overboard on the honesty thing here, I'm just saying maybe we need to just relax, and let it be.

Your attractive to me because of your looks, to be sure! I'm not gonna lie! But the real beauty is the mom who tries and fails and gets up and tries again and who knows that they are imperfect in a few areas, now & in the past. Like a diamond, the flaws are what make it so appealing.
Reply #10 Top
Actually before the wreck I was very good at the two-step, but I enjoy the belly rubbing dances more.

I haven't two stepped in years...


what's more beatiful than someone who's "been there and done that" as does not try to hide it?


I too find someone's flaws to be the most attractive thing about them, physically and otherwise.

Someone who has the confidence to say 'I am me, and that's all I can be'.... that's incredibly sexy and very attractive!
Reply #11 Top
Beauty is SOOO much about perception.

I don't know how many times I've met somebody and thought they were homely as a picket fence that's seen one too many rainy days, only to get to know them and watch their beauty come through.

In many cases I even noticed the change in my perception. Their features physically improved as I got to know them, yet they didn't change a thing about their appearance. As justice would have it, I've watched the opposite transformation occur also. People who seemed so beautiful when I first met them, whose features crinkled under the weight of my perception of them once I got to know them.
Reply #12 Top
In many cases I even noticed the change in my perception. Their features physically improved as I got to know them, yet they didn't change a thing about their appearance. As justice would have it, I've watched the opposite transformation occur also. People who seemed so beautiful when I first met them, whose features crinkled under the weight of my perception of them once I got to know them.


Exactly why I make no judgements about a person based on looks. You know what they say, "beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes all the way to the bone".

For me at least, it's what's on the inside that makes a person's beauty. And to be honest, sometimes those little "quirks" of feature make a person more interesting.
Reply #13 Top

I don't know how many times I've met somebody and thought they were homely as a picket fence that's seen one too many rainy days, only to get to know them and watch their beauty come through.

For me at least, it's what's on the inside that makes a person's beauty.

And those are both true sentiments...however, we are human, and whether we like it or not, we notice beauty and attractiveness.  Otherwise Ted wouldn't have noticed that the person was homely....

..Meg Ryan is a very attractive chick, but...she has saggier boobs than me and that just tickles me pink!

 

Reply #14 Top
however, we are human, and whether we like it or not, we notice beauty and attractiveness.


Of course we notice beauty. It would be unnatural not to. I just don't make judgement calls based on it. I appreciate a pretty face as much as the next person.
Reply #15 Top

I just don't make judgement calls based on it.

No, but a person's looks have some impact on your initial judgement of them.   That too is human nature...

Reply #16 Top
Us Weekly's "Fashion Police" and "Stars - They're Just Like US!" are my favorite features of the magazine.

Seeing supposed overhyped, beatiful stars shoving sandwiches into their mouths (with food showing) or looking like they ran a mile as though walk through the grocery store is hilarious to me. Stars hate those type of magazines because they tear down the very image their publicists create for them. If people see them as human, the allure is gone and they are normal.

I know there's a point here somewhere...but I agree ParaTed2K about beauty being about perception. And I know what you mean, Dharma about seeing the pictures and making you feel better. For me, it's every time I see a Britney picture. Suddenly, my old, worn t-shirt and torn jeans doesn't feel so bad anymore.
Reply #17 Top
The beginning of the movie Freaks comes to mind.
Reply #18 Top
If people see them as human, the allure is gone and they are normal.


Yep, this must be it. Because if they're not seen as the "perfect" moviestar, they might just be normal, one of us, regular joe!

It's definately a crazy world out there with the images that "society" have as to what is the perfect woman or who is the most beautiful person. It's something that's shoved down our throats everyday and we cant' help but buy into it. It's even worst for the younger people out there, kids. It's really tough on them. It's something that is the point of discussion with my daughter and her friends everyday. They talk about it a lot. Image is soooo important to them and it's sad that what the media shows them is what they take as real. It's something I've been thinking about lately and I've had to be encouraging my daughter a lot because of it.
Reply #19 Top

Oye though, she should wear a braw. That's pretty darn south there..

Pretty far?  I would say it is bordering on Polar!

Reply #20 Top

Helix:

I'd make Meg Babies, if she'd let me. Droopy doesn't bother me! I like bra-less, regardless.

Hmm...easy access, perhaps?   I don't mind going bra-less sometimes, but I'd never go out in public without some kind of support.

Oye though, she should wear a braw. That's pretty darn south there..

Pretty far? I would say it is bordering on Polar!

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!! (Copyright Chiprj 2004)

 

It's something that's shoved down our throats everyday and we cant' help but buy into it. It's even worst for the younger people out there, kids. It's really tough on them

I know, and I have a daughter who's turning 13 this year so this subject is oft discussed in our house.  Luckily, my kid has a decent amount of modesty.  She's made comments about Britney et al needing to wear bigger shirts and she dragged me around numerous stores last summer trying to find a swim suit that "didn't show too much".  Like I said, I'm lucky and i don't have to work too hard to instill a sense of self-worth in her.  I can't imagine how hard it must be to be for other parents.

 

The beginning of the movie Freaks comes to mind.

Hehe.....

Stars hate those type of magazines because they tear down the very image their publicists create for them. If people see them as human, the allure is gone and they are normal.

Exactly.  It's all about the image, not about the person.  Shatter that image, and you're left with a regular joe, an ordinary person....or a regular chick with saggy tits that really ought to wear a bra.

Reply #21 Top
That is not a boob, that is a rogue rib.

Meg Ryan is not being brave and human, she is being incompetent and unspeakably alien.

Her overlords on the mothership will punish her severely for letting her peoplesuit slip like that in public.