Et Tu, Latifah?
When I got to work this morning, I had alerts in my mailbox from Shawn and Erin, who wanted to make sure I found out that… I can barely bring myself to type it… Queen Latifah is going to start shilling for Jenny Craig in the new year.
“We are thrilled to have Queen Latifah support our mission of improving health by taking her first step toward achieving a more healthful lifestyle… [She] joins forces with Jenny Craig to communicate the importance of how small lifestyle changes, in the areas of diet and exercise, can have positive effects on overall health.”
In the meantime, here is what the website for her plus-size lingerie line, Curvation, says about her:
Queen Latifah positively embodies the spirit of curvaceous women. She was the unanimous choice of the women we spoke with to be their role model. She clearly celebrates her curves and that’s what CURVATION is all about. …”I am a curvaceous woman, proud to be one. This brand is what I live.”
Supposedly, the Jenny Craig ad is not a betrayal of her “proud to be curvaceous” philosophy, because it is going to be “focused on a healthier lifestyle, not on getting onto a specific dress size.”
Right. Sure. I’m sure her contract doesn’t even stipulate that she has to lose weight. I’m sure the ads won’t show before and after pictures. I’m sure it will be totally body positive and focused on health and not “look how much hotter she is now that she’s thin!” Sigh.
It may not be right to feel betrayed, because, again, people can choose to do whatever they think is best for them. But Latifah is such a role model for the fat community, and I’ve always loved her, and found her beautiful and voluptuous and confident and awesome. So there you go. I’m disappointed. What do you guys think? Am I being unreasonable? Do you think this advertising campaign will really avoid focusing on “a specific dress size”?
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: Advertising, Celebrities, Fashion, Food, Movies, Queen Latifah, Weight Loss
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why is that someone like queen with her curves can’t be seen as “healthy”? because plenty of curvy women are in good shape.
now i keep thinking about that valerie bertinelli jenny craig commercial and how she cries. both her and kirsty show they went down dress sizes, right?
If women want to diet, it’s their choice. If they want to lose weight, gain weight, whatever. What I found so annoying, and why I sent you the link, was how ludicrous it seemed to put “Jenny Craig” and “healthy” in the same sentence. I can’t for the life of me understand on what planet that the Jenny Craig foods are actually healthy. And you cannot tell me that they’ve changed their policy and you don’t have to buy the food anymore.
Smaller portions? Check. Calorie-reduced? Check. But those two do not equal healthy by any means. Aren’t all of those foods processed and preserved?
I would like to live in a world where we aren’t being brainwashed into thinking that diet food is health food.
I agree with both of you completely. I don’t know anything about Jenny Craig foods, but they’re probably processed all to shit. And sizzle, you make an excellent point. Queen Latifah can be curvy and healthy anytime. This is endorsing a diet product, and it’s disingenuous to pretend that it’s out of some ephemeral desire for “health.”
Jenny Craig is not about learning how to live a healthier lifestyle. It is about eating pre-packaged food to lose weight.
I wonder what drove Latifah’s decision to do this. Was it strictly a money thing? Is she feeling the pressure to conform to the Hollywood image?
I’m honestly disappointed in the types of announcements and articles that are making headlines on BFD recently. I understand that you’re putting these subjects out there and asking for frank and honest discussion on both sides of the issue, but it just doesn’t feel like the same BFD I used to read.
Queen Latifah wants to lose weight, big deal, good for her, and why not get paid a ton in the process? There’s no way she’s going to be Beyonce size when she’s done, but perhaps whatever size she lands at will be comfortable and empowering to her. It won’t change her curvy status, or any sort of empowering message she puts out; I think expecting “role models” for the fat community to stay fat or to refrain from any public weight loss or attempts thereof is unfair and more damaging to the fat community than supporting them in their pursuits.
And as for her endorsing a diet product, if she really wants to lose weight then this will definitely keep her more accountable on her weight loss journey than any other plan could.
Just want to vouch that yes, the JC food is awful. Heavily processed and full of salt. Imagine living on SmartOnes (not Lean Cuisine, because some of those taste good) every meal, every day.
So sad.
Kat, I’m interested in knowing what types of things you would like to read about, or what you think has changed? I felt exactly the same way about Sara Rue, and that post was over a year ago. Maybe I should stick to the more “acceptable” points that Jenny Craig food is processed and not particularly healthy, but my gut feeling is still what it was when Sara Rue lost all that weight–whether that’s fair or not, I still don’t know.
I think expecting “role models” for the fat community to stay fat or to refrain from any public weight loss or attempts thereof is unfair and more damaging to the fat community than supporting them in their pursuits.
How?
How can it be more damaging to the “fat community” than having people who are our de facto representatives in the public eye cave one after another and engage in questionable behavior to suddenly conform to unrealistic “beauty” standards that they obviously didn’t need to be successful in the first place?
This whole “health” angle puts me in mind of WW ads I’m seeing all over these days – they seem to hijack HAES and fat positive language (“Diets are mean,” “Stop dieting, dtart living, etc.) to sell, er, “lifestyle changes” or whatever new term they’re coining for diets these days. UGH.
Great post!!
I, too, feel betrayed, then feel guilty for feeling that way. It is disconcerting because she has always been such a proud advocate for non-average bodies. But what gets me about the press release mentioned above is this quote: “We are thrilled to have Queen Latifah support our mission of improving health by taking her first step toward achieving a more healthful lifestyle…” Granted, I have no idea how/what she eats, but I have read about her exercise routines, including, as I recall, kick boxing or something similar. Regardless, if she wants to be “unhealthy” that’s nobody’s business anyway. It’s not her moral duty to be anything for anyone. That being said, I do feel saddened by this news. I agree that food of that sort is about as far from healthy as a bag of potato chips.
I agree that food of that sort is about as far from healthy as a bag of potato chips.
Shoot, it’s entirely possible that a bag of potato chips might be MORE healthy than JC food.
I don’t feel betrayed as much as disappointed. Disappointed that Queen L would feel the need to tout such an unhealthy product. Regardless of whether she actually goes on the JC program or not, allowing them to use her name and image says all by itself that she’s supporting such a thing. I would bet pretty much everything I own that she’s feeling the pressure from somewhere. Whether it’s financially (although I really doubt that it is), or whether she’s feeling the emotional pressure of being a plus-sized woman in a minus-sized world, she’s obviously feeling pressure from somewhere. And it’s disappointing that the pressure got so much that she’s turning into a hypocrite.
I have to say, I’m pretty surprised to hear this!
Personally, I’d love to see QL do WW. They actualyl teach you a healthy way to view food IMO. And it’s the only weight loss “regimine” that I’ve tried that actually works for me…mainly b/c I am not forced to eat processed crap and can still treat myself to a “naughty” snack.
With so few positive examples of larger women in the media, I think we tend to feel a sense of ownership when it comes to celebrity bodies which buck the current “never too thin, never too rich” trend. I don’t think it’s necessarily right, but I do think it’s understandable.
One of my favourite signers lost a significant amount of weight last year and my initial reaction was very much based on the fact that I saw her as proof that I didn’t have to loose weight to be fabulous. I loved her music, I loved her wit, and – I realized – I loved her size. I knew it was ridiculous, but I felt abandoned. Of course, an hour later I realized that all of the qualities I loved were still there – just in slightly smaller packaging.
Admittedly, peddling diet products adds a whole other dimension to the issue.
I actually had more issues with some of Latifah’s statements when she announced Jenny Craig was backing her tour. Chief among them being the following statement:
“Diabetes plagues so many people today, especially in the African- American community. In fact, I lost my great-grandmother to this disease that we now know is preventable through the very thing Jenny Craig provides…” Queen Latifah
Who owns Jenny Craig? If you said “Nestle’, you get a gold star.
Nestle? No way. Toll house cookies don’t prevent diabetes!
I was really saddened when I heard QL tied herself with Jenny Craig. Sometimes I feel like those who represent the things about me that are unusual and different are beginning to conform to what’s considered “normal”. I’m definitely feeling a sense of abandonment.
I think she’s stunning now and I’d hate to see her get all pointy-chinned and uber-thin like the rest of Hollywood. Part of me understands the health issue aspect, but that’s just it — Queen looks healthy! Beautiful and curvy and normal. Unless she’s got a health issue behind the scenes I say she should keep rockin’ the sexy curves she’s got.
What gets me about all this is, not only is she shilling for prepackaged, heavily processed food and in effect promising something I very much doubt it can deliver (if Jenny Craig foods can PREVENT diabetes, I want to see the hard data), it’s a product line which appears to be intended as an across-the-board substitute for ordinary healthy food cooked at home. Thus, it seems to me that, at bottom, what we’re talking about is not health but the promotion of dependence on Jenny Craig.
Kinda like pet food, in fact. Because we all know both ordinary nutrition and guidelines for diabetics are so blessed complicated, none of us poor little muddle-headed home cooks could possibly understand it.
Faugh.
What is all this business about being disappointed in her choices? If she married you, and screwed someone else, she would have betrayed you. If she were an accountant in your hire, and stole your money, she would have betrayed you. She isn’t and didn’t. She did not make vows or agreements with anyone in the fat acceptance movement. She is not owned by anybody, and owes nobody a thing. Why do we feel public people are our personal possessions?
While I believe in personal choice, and I don’t believe that “public people are our personal possessions” I honestly still felt a sense of disappointment when I read this post. Not only do I think Queen Latifah is gorgeous and lovely the way she is, I somehow thought she was smart and thought for herself, and the people I’ve seen in JC ads seem insipid and dull. (If I see that Valerie Bertinelli ad where she cries one more time, I’m going to hurl!)
If Queen wants to get healthy then more power to her. I am sad that she’s going with the overly processed “fake” food of Jenny Craig rather than, say, choosing to prepare (or have prepared for her by a personal chef or whatever) healthy meals from fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats like chicken breast and fish and whole grains.
You know, it’s totally true that nobody owns another person, and “public people” are no exception. Everybody has the same choices, regardless of public status, sure.
And I’m not saying Latifah doesn’t have a right to sell her “health” to the highest bidder. But adding her name to the litany of fat folk who’ve jumped on the dietwagon does give more fuel to anti-fat crusaders (“Ricki Lake did it! Carnie Wilson did it! Star Jones did it! Sara Rue did it!” Kirstie Alley, Valerie Bertinelli, etc., etc.). I can’t help but be disappointed and frustrated by that.
And part of Latifah’s appeal, for me, was how comfy she seemed in her skin. She was a great example of non-thin health and success, and made a name for herself based on her talent as an artist – regardless of which way the trend winds were blowing. This choice seems like caving to those winds, and that chips away at my admiration for her.
She’s been shilling for Jenny Craig for awhile. Remember her “Travlin’ Light” Tour? The link is now dead but Shapely Prose wrote about it a few months ago. http://kateharding.net/2007/10/15/quick-outrage-2-queen-latifah-pimps-jenny-craig/
I cannot watch reruns of Livin’ Single in the same way ever again.
I don’t feel that any person is my possession, but I can certainly feel disappointed in the actions of someone I care about, regardless of whether they know me personally or not.
And I am disappointed, and I don’t feel like I need to support her choices. Why should I feel any of that? It’s not as though my feelings really are going to effect her in the long run anyway, so I’m going to have my feelings.
And my feelings are that she has gone to the Dark Side…with Kirsty Allie, even.
Will Latifah be dieting into a smaller dress size? Will there be before & after pix? Certainly not! (And I’ve got the cutest little bridge in San Francisco if you’d like to get a REAL bargain…)
It would be sad to think that a woman who’s been as savvy as Latifah about her career so far would suffer a crisis of confidence & feel compelled to shrink toward some unattainable
Hollywood size. Doing it for the money – well, that and fear are what drive the entertainment biz, but even that represents selling out in more ways than one.
As to the comments re:Jenny’s food – God help you if you’ve got high blood pressure: there’s enough salt in that stuff to float the Titanic, and for anyone with allergies to certain chemical food additives, a few Jenny meals could land you in the hospital where you’ll lose LOTS of weight while you’re being fed through an IV.
It’s what people have been saying for eons: Want to lose weight? Get more exercise & eat healthful in smaller quantities.
Fatties get mad when famous fat women lose weight because they are losing yet another celebrity they can use to validate their inability to put a fork down. If other fatties can do it, it illustrates front and center that it isn’t hormones, or genetics, or bones, it’s because you eat too much and are too lazy to get off your asses.
Latifah is not curvy, she’s overweight. I’m sorry you have to make yourself feel better by terms such as ‘fluffy’ and ‘curvy’ but if you are fat you’re fat, and you shouldn’t get mad at celebrities for taking responsibility and facing reality, and choosing to do something about their weight.
“How can it be more damaging to the “fat community” than having people who are our de facto representatives in the public eye cave one after another and engage in questionable behavior to suddenly conform to unrealistic “beauty” standards that they obviously didn’t need to be successful in the first place?”
Losing weight to be healthier is not questionable behaviour, and wanting to conform to current standards of beauty is only natural. I doubt Latifah is going for an “unrealistic” model-thin look, she most certainly just wants to be slimmer.
Geesh, fatfighter. Chill.
I love Queen Latifah and I’m suprised by this because I just saw an article about her and how she eats healthy, exercises and loves her body. I would never have expected her to agree with Jenny Craig. I would have thought something like a gym, you know? I think that would be pretty sweet. But a gym advertising with someone who just wants people to be healthy and not skinny…I wont’ hold me breath!
First of all fatfighter, calm your ass down. Just because you have something against fat people doesn’t mean you have to go about dissing us on one of OUR blogs. It’s not ‘put your fork down’ simple sometimes. People with diseases like PCOS and Diabetes (which usually go hand in hand) have a hard time losing the weight and usually eat less than their thinner counterparts. So do some studying, not all ‘fat’ people sit around on the computer all day waiting for the day to get thin. I never took off any weight until AFTER I found out I had PCOS and was put on the right medicine to combat it.
As for Latifah going on Jenny Craig, good for her if she wants to conform to societal foolishness. I support Latifah in everything she does and I find her an inspiration to everyone. I, as well, have been wanting to lose more weight, but I’ve been too busy right now to do anything, let alone think with the holidays in check.
Typical. You don’t want to hear the truth, and you don’t want other fat women to lose weight because then you’ll feel bad that they have willpower and you don’t.
My ass is quite calm, thanks. Just because you overweight girls can’t accept that you are just too lazy to lose weight is no reason to be rude to me for sharing my opinion. Polycystic overies are not the reason your ass is on a couch and not a treadmill, and chances are you have diabetes because you are OVERWEIGHT, not the other way around.
Why don’t you go eat some donuts and calm YOUR ass down, instead getting so defensive about your lack of discipline.
Willpower blah couch blah donuts blah. lazy blah blah blah blah. Right, right, we get it, we get it.
Bo-ring.
Although reducing the readership to a bunch of “girls” was a nice touch. I love the smell of misogyny in the morning.
I get the impression that commenters like fatfighter don’t bother to read the posts or comments or mission statement. Or, if they do, they just scan for words like “fat,” then cut-and-paste the boring, unoriginal rants they dump in the comments sections of this size-acceptance blog and that one. Heck, they might even have a macro for it.
I can assure you folks that the Queen is NOT gonna be SUPER UBBER skinny!!! It’s all about overall health. Besides, she’s 37 years old. You’d have to think about the long run when it comes to your health. But the thing that BOTHERS me about is that my favorite singer, Kimberley Locke is a spokesperson for Jenny Craig too. As well as Kirstie and Valerie. Kimberley has lost 40 pounds on the program and I have to admit, she looks healthier and still curvy!! Although I loved her plus size body the best because that’s how she came on to the scene. But the thing is that so far I’ve seen Kirstie and Valeire on their spots!! I’ve YET to see Kim do a TV spot!! AND THAT’S FRUSTRATING!!! I can’ understand that kirstie, Val and Queen are more well known that Kim but what is she, chopped liver???
By the way, I’m a guy in this to avoid ANY confusion. As for fatfighter, you’re gonna have to lay off on those nasty comments about THEIR weight and Queen Latifah’s. They’re just a little bit distraught at the news. Actually, I think it’s a good idea for Latifah to be healthier. Weight loss cannot ALWAYS be about fitting into skinny jeans. It’s about being healthy. But I’m not worried about Latifah gettin’ into a size negative zero!! She’s still gonna be curvy!! But fatfighter, you need to lay off, okay?
My issue with this is that I don’t think it’s our right to be upset by a woman who wants to lose weight, who’s overweight.
Yes, Queen Latifah is a great ‘fat acceptance’ role model. I absolutely adore her and her views on size and loving yourself. But there is *nothing* wrong with wanting to be healthier.
This is really my issue with fat acceptance. So many people who preach it won’t accept thinner people, or fat people who want to lose weight. It ends up being so hypocritical, and I think it only adds to the weight problem.
But…. fatfighter? Being rude is really just saying that you have no clue how to express your ideas in a positive way. Not everyone reading or commenting is fat, and even if they were, your blanket comments are not helping anyone.
I don’t have a problem with people wanting to lose weight. I myself have lost weight and am trying to again. I do have a problem with the commercial diet industry because I find much of it’s success is based around people not maintaining a weight loss.
I do, however, agree that some people/sites/blogs involved in fa do seem to shun anyone who has or is trying to lose weight. For myself, I find this frustrating. On one hand, I understand, but it’s still a bit maddening at times.
It stems from people automatically conflating health with thinness. Part of the FA movement is trying to get people to realize that you can be healthy and active at pretty much any weight, and that health is not tied to one particular pant size.
I don’t think health equates thin but I do think it’s possible to binging/food addiction issues which (combined with innactivity) can lead you to gain weight beyond your natural set point. That’s where I find there’s a disconnect between myself and some others in the FA movement.
I don’t think that all (or even most) overweight people have food addictions but, for those that do, I don’t think losing weight is irrational or misguided.
Meh. Latifah was dead to me the *first* time she lost a bunch of weight. :-I
I really don’t know how to feel about this. On the one hand, if she wants to lose weight, then.. well, great, let her lose weight, and if she wants to get paid to do it, whatever, she can go ahead.
But really, it depresses me because I swear I’ve heard how healthy Queen Latifah tries to live her life before- why does she need Jenny Craig (the health of which is debatable) to be healthy? It’s obvious that when they say she wants to be healthy, they mean she wants to be thin. You’re not going to see a Jenny Craig commercial where Queen Latifah goes to the doctor’s and they tell her that her blood pressure is too high or something, and then she goes again after being on Jenny Craig and her blood pressure is fine. They’re going to do straight changes in dress size and poundage lost, no doubt.
And that does upset me just a little. I mean, she’s a gorgeous, full-figured woman, and what kind of message is this promoting? Does Queen Latifah hate herself because she’s large? That’s the message this brings! Even if she’s just doing it to make some money, this gives off the message “I hate that I’m large and I’ve been lying to you all these years saying that I’m OK with being full-figured.”
On a side note, I wish someone would pay me to lose weight. I’d make for a great story and maybe I’d actually be successful at it. *wink*
And can I just add that on the article linked- they picked one of the worst photos I’ve seen of Queen Latifah, ever. Coincidence? Maybe..
Fatfighter from a few comments up, I’d just like to say:
You’re obviously extremely uneducated when it comes to Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, so let me tell you a little story.
I’ve had PCOS since I was thirteen years old. In my particular version of it, instead of never getting my period like others with the syndrome, I get my period all the time. Normal periods when I go untreated can last 50+ days and are extremely heavy, which leads to anemia. In addition to that, it’s extremely painful. Imagine someone getting a jackhammer and using it against your uterus on and off about five times an hour. Kind of hard to just ‘get my ass on a treadmill’ when I’m weak, bleeding profusely, and in serious pain.
And, by the way, I was first diagnosed with PCOS when I was relatively thin. No size zero, but not medically obese. My weight shot up from it going untreated, I did not get PCOS from being fat. My OB/GYN tells me to not worry about losing weight, since it’s most likely that it won’t happen any time soon. She even goes as far to say the losing weight wouldn’t even improve my condition, and staying at a steady, albeit high weight, would be optimal.
*yawn*
My mother had PCOS, thanks. I’m not uneducated. She remained 120 lbs well into her 50’s.
I’m unclear as to why everyone is so over-sensitive to my remarks. Is it because I don’t sugarcoat it for you? Because I am abrupt, direct, and honest? Maybe if a few of you had those qualities yourself, and used them when you looked in a mirror, you wouldn’t need to attack me for expressing my (and pretty much 99% of the world’s) opinions on obesity.
Whatever. I can’t talk to people who are more concerned about knee-jerking into defensive mode towards any person who doesn’t say “hooray for fatties! Accept fatties! Big is beautiful, yippeeeee!” I’ll leave you all to google some more excuses as to why you weigh so much, and go back to my reality-based existence.
If you were educated about PCOS, you’d know not every case of it is the same. It’s a syndrome, not a disease. Duh.
Let’s see, if at least a third of the US population is fat (studies vary on the figure, but I’ll go with it for argument’s sake), how is it possible that 99% of the world agrees with fatfighter’s opinon? Who is doing the knee-jerking here?
Fatfighter, if you had bothered to read some of this blog’s entries before going on the attack, you would realize that not everyone posting here is fat, some are fat but eat healthy and exercise, some want to lose a few pounds, and some are fat and happy just as they are. You know, just like the rest of the country.
lol…whatever. If being fat was so acceptable to SO MUCH OF THE COUNTRY I am curious as to why it is such a struggle for fat acceptance? Just because 1/3 of the population is fat doesn’t mean the other 2/3 of the population, or even 1% of the population, thinks being fat is a-ok and hunky dorie attractive.
How about YOU do some research on market studies that show an extremely high majority (which included overweight people) do not respond to overweight people – meaning MOST PEOPLE agree with ME.
If you want to be fat hey, go ahead, I’m just saying the whole excuse game is getting old for those of us who may not have a thyroid and feel like crap all the time, but somehow manage to get our paddlers on a treadmill while we watch Hotel Babylon instead of going “it’s hormonal! it’s a syndrome! it’s not my fault!”
That’s the point I was trying to make. I’m just sorry everyone is so sensitive and taking my opinion so badly.
“Abrupt” is a quality? Huh. Tack on dismissive, narrowminded, deliberately obtuse, reductive, and rude, and you’re nigh on ready for canonization as the patron saint of cluelessness. Congratulations, fatfighter! You win!
Whatever. You all seem to be the ones who are being rude and dismissive of me and my opinions simply because they hurt your wittle feewings.
Evidently on THIS blog, you aren’t entitled to say anything that doesn’t conform to the stated “let’s all make each other feel super” mantra. That’s pretty closed-minded in my opinion.
Continue flaming me, since it seems to make you all feel better. I’m not responding anymore.
Fatfighter, you’ve been “allowed” (as in, I haven’t been deleting your comments) to give your opinion DESPITE your tone, because this blog actually welcomes dissenting opinions. I would prefer if they stop coming in a wrapper of condescending references to our “wittle feewings” or what have you.
You are welcome to disagree and present your point of view, but lay off the tone. And I would re-read MizShrew’s comment above for a better idea of what this blog is about.
Fatfighter, I could give a fuck about your personal opinion on fat people at this point. I really don’t care if you think we’re ugly, lazy, or trying to throw eachother a pity party. I’m just trying to point out that there is a percentage of us that honestly can not do anything to change our weight – and we have people IN MEDICAL PROFESSIONS, for god sakes, backing that up.
Since you took my comment about syndromes the wrong way, I’ll elaborate: a syndrome is a collection of symptoms that are in some way related, and usually point towards a determinable cause. People with a syndrome may or may not have some symptoms. For example, many people with PCOS experience bad acne. I don’t. Your mother obviously didn’t experience a weight-control symptom, but that doesn’t erase the fact that 60% (yes, sixty percent!) of women with PCOS experience that symptom. What you’re suggesting is that because your mother stayed 120 pounds everyone else can too – which would be great, if we were discussing a disease, not a syndrome, where it varies for everyone suffering from it. You’re really quite ignorant to suggest that all suffers of PCOS can be just like your mommy if we ‘tried harder.’
And, yeah, it’s not my fault. I didn’t wake up one day and ask a deity to elevate my estrogen and androgen levels. It just happened.
I will be curious to see if QL can keep the weight she loses off. She has said in the past that she eats healthfully and exercises. In order for me to remain thin, I had to exercise 2 hours a day and go around hungry all the time. It was very difficult to maintain. I still exercise an hour a day, but I can’t face walking around so hungry that I am completely consumed with thoughts of food.
“Willpower.”
“Put down the fork.”
“Lazy.”
Methinks fatfighter just hates fat people, and assumes all fat people are lazy, overeating immoral slugs who just don’t have her superior determination. Yay for her.
I’d like to see who pooped out first in an endurance contest b/w fatfighter & Fat Girl on a Bike.