As if I was going to let the fact that MY GIRLFRIEND KATE WINSLET WON AN OSCAR go unrecognized. When I was waiting for her name to be called, Ian turned to my cousin and her boyfriend and said “Be careful. If Kate doesn’t win, you’re going to see Mo go crazy. She’s going to start throwing your furniture. She’s going to trash this place.”

I also wanted to tell you the sweet story of my friend Steve, who called and left this message on my machine:

“Every time I see Kate Winslet, I think of you. I think you’re prettier than she is, though.”

(Obviously that is ridiculous and untrue, but I highly recommend having friends like these.)

KATE WINSLET WON AN OSCAR! Now she just needs to win, like, seventy-five more, and I’ll be happy. And in case you missed this clip somehow…

Apparently, in a recent interview, Kate credited Leo with helping her overcome weight and body image issues. I saw a snippet over at IMDB:

“As a child, I was overweight and I was very chubby and I was always the wrong kid at the audition because my hair was wrong and the shoes didn’t fit. I [didn't lose] weight very [sensibly] when I was younger but those [days] are very much behind me.”

Turning to DiCaprio, she adds, “I remember you saying to me one day, ‘You’ve really got to let the whole fat girl thing go’. And that’s the truth, you’re right.”

I’d like to read a version of the interview without all the typos in it, but IMDB doesn’t mention which magazine it’s from. I’m also curious as to what “let the whole fat girl thing go” means, and how one does that. Any theories?

[Another meta note: Not sure what's going on with the wonky sidebar or with the lack of Google indexing. I've been away from the Internet and on vacation and at a conference for a few days, but I'm back now, and hopefully will be able to resolve the outstanding issues this week. Thanks, guys. Happy holidays!]

(And I just saw this Kate Winslet post on Fatly Yours. It’s a theme!)

Celebrities like Longoria, who apply the word “fat” to themselves when they are clearly no such thing, might be part of the problem. But how about Mariska Hargitay, who referred to herself as full figured in Self magazine? My first reaction: “Mariska Hargitay? Really?” Glossed Over says:

Is Mariska Hargitay’s appraisal of her body self-deprecation, the misuse of a term commonly used to mean “plus-sized,” or the result of working in an industry where breakfast is a cigarette and a swig of Starbucks? I don’t know, but it depresses the hell out of me.

But then Jezebel jumps in to say that Hargitay might not mean what we think she means:

I sincerely doubt that Hargitay is trying to tell Self readers that she’s at all overweight. I think it’s more that terms like “full figured,” “curvy,” “plus-size,” and “big-boned,” have become so obfuscated by the dieting industrial complex that their original meanings are essentially moot at this point.

In mag parlance, Gisele Bundchen and Jennifer Hudson are both “curvy,” (which these days means “possessing breasts”) and Whitney from America’s Next Top Model is “plus-size.” We got an angry email after New York Times reviewer Manohla Dargis described Keira Knightley as “a big-boned beauty” because the reader had assumed that Dargis was calling Knightley fat. The thing is, Knightley is “big-boned” according original definition of the word, which is “having a bone structure that is massive in contrast with the surrounding flesh.” Her shoulders are broad and her clavicle protruding, but she has little flesh on her bones.

So now my mind is a little blown. What do we mean by terms like “thin” and “curvy” or “full figured” or “average” or “voluptuous,” and what should we mean? Is “full figured” automatically a euphemism for fat, and in the celebrity world (or the real world) is it automatically a negative thing? Is Keira Knightley really “big boned”? I don’t know the answer, but I sure would be interested in having the conversation.

Thanks to Nonk for the link!

If you were making a “most beautiful” list, who would you put on it?

Feel free to discuss this story or anything else in the open thread! Regular posting will resume next week.

Fat Lot of Good says it all:

J.Anthony, the founder of BBWSinglesFinder, claims that it is time to “celebrate real women” (emphasis mine). Last time I checked even skinny women were real women. Weight does not have bearing on whether someone is a “real” woman or not. Claiming that a thin woman isn’t a “real” woman is just as offensive as claiming a fat woman isn’t a “real” woman…

I do take issue with J.Anthony’s assertion that BBW “does not necessarily mean a fat woman”. He says that “A BBW is a woman who is proud of who she is and isn’t ashamed of her body… A true BBW is confident, sexy and real.” Hmmm…ok…so a size 0 who is proud of who she is and unashamed of her body is a BBW? Somehow I don’t think so.

So, I’m interested in your thoughts on the term BBW. To me, the first B means that it refers to a “big” woman—but what’s the cutoff point for that? Do you think Margaret Cho belongs on this list? How about Carnie Wilson, who had weight-loss surgery—does she still qualify? Do you consider yourself a BBW? Why or why not?

(By the way, the title of this post comes from Kevin’s typo when we were playing Scrabulous.)

I saw this ad in this week’s Entertainment Weekly; it’s the first Jennifer Hudson for Avon ad that I’ve seen so far. And I was quite struck by the “sex sells” marketing. Not only is it an obviously sexy shot of J. Hud, the perfume is named “Seduction,” and the tagline on the ad is “Where desire leads.” Although Jennifer is full-figured, the execution of this ad seems no different from, say, a Britney Spears ad for her new Midnight Fantasy perfume.

In the realm of hot chicks endorsing perfume, I’ll probably stick with Kate Winslet’s Lancôme Tresor, but this is only because Kate Winslet is my girlfriend and refused to be airbrushed and I love her beyond all reason as you all well know by now. That frees Jennifer Hudson up for you! It’s a win/win! Another sexy picture for the same campaign can be seen here. If you try Imari Seduction perfume, let us know how it is!

[She] only accepted the modelling gig if the company promised not to airbrush her for the poster campaign. Anna Winslet, Kate’s older sister, told this week’s First magazine: “Kate and I don’t think men like skinny, pointy, spikey women. She feels women should be allowed to be the natural shape they are without having to conform into some sort of image that is never going to be what their make-up is really about.” Not touching up an image to remove wrinkles or make a model look ‘perfect’ through lengthening legs or adding weight to boobs is virtually unheard of in the cosmetics industry.

The perfume is Lancôme’s Tresor. And no matter what it smells like, I will buy it. Gasoline, moldy cheese, porta potty, I don’t care. Who’s with me?

Where can I get that dress?

“Almost all women think that size 12 is fat… Six out of ten also think that the size zero look is attractive… This comes on the same day that Donatella Versace announced her daughter, Allegra, is receiving treatment for anorexia. The majority of women would also rather have friends who are fatter than them, and 76% admit to being jealous of skinnier pals. Six out of ten women said friends had criticised their body shape and four out of ten said their mothers had urged them to lose weight… half of the 5,000 women questioned said they had gone without food all day before a big night out to fit into a dress; half had taken slimming pills or diet drugs; and one in five admitted to using speed or cocaine to facilitate weight loss.”

Let’s see, we’ve got mommy issues, the “fat friend,” celebrity references, and drugs. That pretty much covers all the bases, I think. And another survey from the same magazine (New Woman) thinks that bitch Elizabeth Hurley has the best body in the world. (Well, her body is slammin’, it’s true. But I still hate her.) That stick insect Posh is number two. Our girl Kate Winslet is number five, right behind Kate Moss. (You’ll always be number one in my book, Katie.)