Define "Full Figured"
In the world of celebrities, the phrase “full figured” is applied to such women as Jennifer Lopez, Kate Winslet, and America Ferrera—a category of women who I’ve always viewed as “Hollywood fat.” The women who are called “full figured” are often treated as overweight by the media; we’ve seen it time and again. The problem escalates when regular, ordinary women start to interpret the data in the obvious way: larger than a size 6? Forget it. You are (or Eva Longoria is) “fat.” And thus, the pressure is on to adhere to this unrealistic standard.
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!
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: America Ferrera, Celebrities, Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Lopez, Kate Winslet, Keira Knightley, Magazines, Media, TV
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We can start with some Hollywood definitions:
average: skin over bones
normal: may have internal organs under the skin
curvy: thin layer of muscle AND internal organs
full figured: like 98% of walking-around humans.
See, I am fine with Mariska Hargitay as full-figured in the old sense of that term, because except for having breasts that are in proportion to the rest of her, she kind of looks like her mother to me. Who was certainly “full-figured” in the original sense of the term.
Beth nailed it. Are you all too young to remember Jane Russell’s bra commercials for “all you full-figured gals”? La Russell was referring to the more bosomy among us, of which she was surely a sterling example. And yes, Ms. Hargitay’s mother, the late Jayne Mansfield, was right up there with the best of them. How “full-figured” came to be a synonym for “fat as a pig” instead of “wow! get a load of those knockers!” escapes me.
Linda nailed it, too. Hollywood and Madison Avenue are seriously screwed up, and they’re taking the rest of us down with them.
I remember the Jane Russell commercials, but what I remember is my own mother’s remark to the television (my mother has always been fat, so this was no compliment):
“Full figured? I call it ‘cow.’
So to me, full figured is code for “be ashamed, you fatty.”
What I meant to say was:
“what I remember BEST is my own mother’s remark… “
As an English student I’m always trying to look at language and figure out if people are saying/writing what they really mean or if it’s code. When it comes to words like ‘full figured’, ‘curvy’, ‘voluptuous’ and the like, they’ve all BECOME code of ‘fat’, which is seen as negative. However, these terms by themselves aren’t negative, only the context in which we use them, or they are used against us. How a word is used is often more important than the actual definition of a word, so Keira Knightly being called ‘big boned’ is silly. Calling anyone in Hollywood ‘full figured’ because they actually have breasts under those gorgeous gowns is equally silly.
My point is language grows and changes and the way words are used today is often more significant than what they actually mean. I would love to be called voluptous or full figured because I know what those words actually mean; a large attractive woman ‘with a great set of knockers!’ as Carol Gwenn said above. ;) Unfortunately, those words would most likely be thrown at me as a sweet covering for “she’s fat!”, so maybe not.
Is this from the November 2008 issue? If it is, getting it in the mail is going to feel a bit like receiving a pre-chewed cookie. :(
Hollywood (and our society) doesn’t have “standards”. It has unhealthy “you’re going to die” ideals. I love my body. Call it what you like. I call it me.
It is shocking what the media considers to be “fat”. It really doesn’t bode well for the body image ideas that are being passed on to the next generation!
I saw this at work the other day and e-mailed it to myself so I could show you guys. The part that really gets me is that Eva felt like she needed to defend herself – “I’m rounder, but I’m STILL a size 0!!!”
Argh. It’s not letting me post the link, so here it is piecemeal. You’ll have to copy it into your browser (or explain to me how to do it properly).
http://tinyurl.com/4kp3vz
I was just thinking about Mariska Hargitay last night while what SVU, because she looked so skinny her jaw looked like you could slice something with it. I definitely wouldn’t apply “full-figured” to her, although she definitely has the classic hourglass shape like her mother.
Whenever I buy a bra from a particular store, I’ve noticed that the till receipt says “FULL FI”. It took me a while to work out what that was short for, but clearly in bra parlance, it still means what it used to. (I’m a 34 or 36F.)
I have never heard “big-boned” used in any way other than as a euphemism for fat, though I’ve heard “rawboned” used to mean what’s suggested here. I don’t think it’s a particularly attractive term!
I would be happy to be called “curvy”, which I take to mean “has breasts and hips”. I don’t think I’d care to be called voluptuous, as it’s rather over-sexualised.
I honestly don’t see how Keira Knightley can be called big boned. Her bones just look big because she’s so damned skinny! If big boned really means large-framed, there has to be a better example than Keira Knightley (maybe that tall woman who used to be on “Third Rock from the Sun”?).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beCAVuKqF1U
This mocks the full-figured. Trigger warning.
I think I’m probably “sturdy”. Hee…
I always thought full figured, curvy, etc. were references to the classical hourglass figure – breasts larger than flat, rounded hips and buttocks, narrower waist. Which lead to some confusion for me when I heard people using the term to mean “fat.”
As for big boned – that’s me. I have a short but broad skeletal structure. I’m built like a tank. Even when I was thin, I had a hard time finding women’s watches or rings that fit. The standard sizes were always too small for me. I often would have to go into the men’s section, or have things custom sized.
A bit inconvenient finding things, but it’s saved me a few broken bones over the years, so I’m not complaining.
The other day I got the opportunity to watch this great documentary on BBC America called Super Skinny Me. Two female journalists decide to loose an extreme amount of weight, to investigate how it would feel to be someone who is obsessed with being thin.
They had one of the journalists show how she could fit into a size 0 jean. They mentioned than an American size 0, was the same size jean that an 8 year old could wear. A size 00 (yes there is such a thing!), is what a 6 year old child could wear. I really was amazed, I never thought it was that bad. It really puts things in perspective.
I recommend you watch this show, unless you have been eating disordered, since it could be triggering. It is fascinating how the women not only discuss the physical effects of trying to make yourself super thin, but the psychological effects as well.
One of them talked about how they had no energy at all, and it reminded me of the last diet I went on. It really is like your body is going, “What in the heck do you think you’re doing?!” when you try to starve it to be thin.
Also, what is somewhat off-topic from what I was discussing above. I just want to mention that I think America Ferrera is awesome cause she’s a video gamer. She did an ad for Nintendo’s I Play for Me campaign, and it was like “OMG a plus sized woman gamer like me!” I mean I knew they exsisted, but to be represented on TV like that was awesome.
I’ve seen the size 00 before, Abercrombie sells them. I saw one at the Goodwill store I used to work at.
I got in an argument with my manager because I kept putting a size 00 skirt in the adult section, because she thought it was a child’s skirt.
i think jen is on to something. why are we so concerned with these labels? and what does it really matter if keira is big boned or if eva says she is fat; if i know i need to lose 30 lbs (and i do) that is what i need to concentrate on and not muddy the waters with what would be considered voluptuous or curvy by hollywood standards, or if a size 6 is too fat or too tiny.
we can only be pressured to adhere to unrealistic standards when we persist in buying into them.
I don’t mean to start a fight, but HOW do you know that you need to lose 30 pounds? I agree that we should not obsess about labels, but obsessing about numbers on the scale is just as destructive.
I agree that numbers mean absolutely nothing on the scale. I am a double 0 in adult stores like Anne Taylor and White House Black Market. My ideal weight is 94 lbs. Don’t judge. I am barely 5 feet tall and I’m very petite. I don’t diet. I would love to exercise but I have four children under the age of 7 so we all know how that goes. This is just me. My body is not made to hold more weight than this. I would like to say , however, that when I was in eigth grade I wore a size 3! I was no bigger than I am now except for a little skinnier in the mid section (four babies will add a little meat to your belly). This can only mean that the sizes have gotten bigger. I know that no one will appreciate me saying that but for me it is really difficult. I’ve finally found a couple of stores where adult clothes fit in the 00 size but they are not inexpensive stores to say the least. I went through most of my college years having no where to shop because 579 was for teeny boopers and Petite Sophisticate was for more mature women. I blame the obsession with numbers for my lack of choices. This can be the only reason that the size 3 from 1990 is now a size 00 today. To every full-figured woman out there who thinks she’s not skinny enough, I think I’m not tall enough or womanly enough. Maybe we should all just accept the body size that we’ve been blessed with and be as healthy as we can be!
Oh, I almost forgot, I’ve been either pregnant or nursing for the passed eight years now and it gives me a fuller figure (aka bigger boobs). I must say…I looooove them, oh, and the extra weight that I hold in my hips – more of the fuller figure vibe – I feel so womanly and sexy. Too bad for me, though, my last little one will be finished with me in a month or two. I will miss my full figured, sexy, womanly body.
The grass is always greener on the other side isn’t it? :)