I’m all for celebs getting real about what it takes to look as good as they do. Hell, I’ve even been known to enjoy me a little of US Mag’s “They’re Just Like Us!” section because it pokes holes in the perceived perfection of A-listers.
What I don’t like, however, is Oscar nominees Octavia Spencer and Melissa McCarthy sabotaging their own moments of recognition and glory by dishing about their shapewear snafus.
According to People.com (in an article that ran under the headline “Octavia Spencer Dons Triple Spanx For Red Carpet”), Spencer has “taken to reinforcing her red-carpet attire with Spanx and doesn’t always stop at one pair.” In fact, she announced to the world on the Ellen DeGeneres Show that she often “triple spanx.”
This bothered me 1) because it seemed to reveal her inner insecurity about her body, and 2) because it demonstrates that “to spanx” has entered the pop culture lexicon. (A verb! About how women girdle their bodies! It’s just not right!)
During her chat with Ellen, Spencer went on to recount how when she and Melissa McCarthy ran into each other at a recent awards show, they commiserated about how uncomfortable they both were.
Said Spencer: “I could not party that night because I was being pinched in places that I didn’t know it was possible. I said, ‘Oh my God, Melissa, I’m about to die. My Spanx are killing me.’ She said, ‘I just went to the bathroom and took mine off.'”
Sigh. I get it. No one knows better what women go through to look fierce and fabulous than other women. But right now, these two actresses are being lauded as trailblazers. A woman of color up for an award in an important film about civil rights, sexism, and racism, and another repping the game-changing answer to the question “Can women do comedy and big box office?”
I think it would be great if they both didn’t feel the need to talk about the elephant in the room–by that I mean the fact that neither Spencer or McCarthy fit Hollywood’s thin and perfect beauty ideal.
I mean, can you imagine George Clooney or Brad Pitt detracting from their time in the spotlight by self-body-snarking? And correct me if I’m wrong, but I haven’t come across any press of Nick Nolte or Christopher Plummer calling attention to their wrinkles.
The comments Spencer and McCarthy have made regarding their own bodies suggest to me that they think they’re somehow less worthy than other actresses nominated. That they have to call out their own flaws before the merciless press—and we—have the chance.
Ultimately, I wish I could tell Octavia Spencer and Melissa McCarthy (a longtime favorite of mine! Has anyone else ever seen her perform live with The Groundlings in Los Angeles? She’s brilliant!) that their bodies are their business—not the public’s. And that I wish they’d work harder at accepting themselves than keeping it real.
Audrey D. Brashich is the author of All Made Up: A Girl’s Guide to Seeing Through Celebrity Hype and Celebrating Real Beauty.
I love about face and thanks so much for writting for them!
I absolutly agree with you about these two women being amazing trailblazers and wishing that they didn’t talk about needing to wear spanx. I wish they talked about how women shouldn’t be extremly uncomfortable and focus on how badly their body feels in spanx when they could be focusing on how special they are.
I mean everybody has insecurities, it’s important how you deal with them. I think it’s awesome how honest they were about their bodies, maybe what would have been amazing and truly going against the grain would have been to talk about themselves and said I felt I needed to wear these items of clothing but wish that as a woman I didn’t feel that way. I wonder though if in a way by them talking about their bodies and the things they go through to look the way they do it could be an example for other hollywood women and men to follow about being open about their body struggles. I guess you can’t win them all! 🙂
And that I wish they’d work harder at accepting themselves than keeping it real.
Something about this post, especially this line, makes me rather uncomfortable. I would love it if all celebrities… and all people, to be honest… were content to consider their bodies their own business and not anyone else’s. But people do have insecurities, and I can understand how actresses, including, and perhaps especially, those who are not ‘Hollywood beautiful’, are under a lot of pressure to look as good as possible enduring whatever discomfort to do so.
You say that The comments Spencer and McCarthy have made regarding their own bodies suggest to me that they think they’re somehow less worthy than other actresses nominated. That they have to call out their own flaws before the merciless press—and we—have the chance. And… that’s a tragedy. But it’s not just down to two actresses who have the audacity to endure a bit of self-doubt occasionally – there’s a whole culture of body shaming out there that they have to contend with. It feels like you are just criticising Spencer and McCarthy for having occasionally low self-image, rather than criticising the culture that makes women like Spencer and McCarthy feel this way.
Argh, didn’t take off the italics! from ‘And…. that’s a tragedy’ it’s me again.
It bothers me, too. This is women at the top of their game, up for Oscars, but yet still feeling the need to proclaim their insecurities because, hey, we don’t like women who are just great and strong and happy. Those types of women get reduced to the word ‘bitch’. And they know it as well as we do.