Woody...thanks for the detail in your explanation and perception of this topic. I find discussions like this very informative and thank G*D that we are all civil enough here to have them. I love you guys! [sniff!]

However, without reading the book for myself, and just going by the synopsis and reviews I've read, it sounds like it can relate to any culture, race, or even religion. You know what I mean...hey, I'm Jewish, eastern European background. Stereotypical big nose...the Jewish look. You've all seen it and heard it, maybe even said it.

What I am saying is that body image and self-esteem is something across all party lines And, as you said, Woody, too many times the movie stars, actresses and yes, smooth jazz guitarists are portrayed differently then everyday folks.

It's that old judging a book by it's cover and not by it's content. All I can say, is thankfully my husband is attracted to the Jewish nose!!!

I don't think you have a big nose!

I'm 700 pages into Ken Follett's "World Without End" the follow-up to "Pillars of the Earth" which is one of my all time fave books. I got on the waiting list for it in Feb and didn't get it until early July! While this one is not as strong as the original and some critics have said the plot isn't well constructred I'm enjoying it..what I love about both these books is that when you read them you feel like you are living in that world (14th Century England in this case).

Someone left a copy of John Grisham's "The Innocent Man" in the break room at work and I started reading it there. I'll probably read that when I finish Follett.

I enjoyed "The Kite Runner" and "A Thousand Splendid Suns" But I agree about Dan Brown..I don't try to plod through books that don't hold my attention anymore. I just put them down, which is what I did with that one.

As for the sub-topic here: My feeling is that the standard for "beauty" that we impose on women today is unattainable and brutally unrealistic. And what is sad is that now women who cannot attain and maintain that standard are on the receiving end of so much cruelty. It's perfectly OK now to point out to average looking women that they are "ugly" by contemporary standards and impress your male friends by calling them names and making "clever" comments. But guess what..those people in magazines don't look like that either when their cadre of stylists, makeup artists and photoshop geniuses go home. Some of them look pretty close to...average people.

As for the sub-topic, I think the bar for the standard for beauty HAS been lowered to a more realistic approach over the last 10 years. The Hollywood check-out magazines seem obsessed with pointing out how flabby and out of shape celebrities really are. Most diet commercials on TV (Jenny Craig, etc.) don't show hot bikini babes but "normal" sized looking women that certainly are not modeling material and may even need to lose more weight, but the message that comes across is that they have succeeded, and that's good! Even Bally's commercials have gone away from totally hot and buff models in their commercials to models (actors?) that are much more wholesome and normal looking. Even fashions seem about baggy, loose and comfortable to "help" hide a persons not so perfect figure. Even clothing sizes in stores have gotten bigger to accommodate the obesity epidemic. Heck, good luck finding clothes if you are normal sized these days.

I've noticed that in the new Nair commercials, the women - while still thin, are more fleshy than their past counterparts. As a teen, I enjoyed those "Nair for short-shorts" ads, but thought the models - except for the "token" black girl - were way too skinny. The group I see in the new ads are still thin, but not waifish. The world is slowly coming around to realizing that super-thin is not only unhealthy but is also not a realistic impression of beauty.
Change comes slowly, but at least it's coming.
That's why I was so happy to see Sanaa Lathan get some lead roles in movies. She's not 20 and skinny. She's in her upper 30s and looks a lot more like people I see every day than the typical theatrical beauty.

Hey!

I managed to get through the foreword and the introduction. If what follows is equally as interesting it should be a good read.

Sonia Sanchez really hits the nail on the head in the foreword when relating the incident of stereotypical identification. That type of "thing" is common to black men as well.

One thing that really struck me was the last paragraph of the introduction: All told, Naked is an entry point, a way to get mothers talking to daughters, women talking to men, and, most significant, women talking to themselves about how to form our identities, claim our ideals, and come to terms with the relationship we have with our bodies. Nothing less than our humanity is at stake.

In case some of you are wondering why a guy would be interested in something like this, I can tell you there are a couple of reasons. One is I enjoy a good book when I have time to read. Another is I'm always looking for ways to help relate to this woman I've been married to for more than half my life. Every little bit helps.

SH mentioned the Jenny Craig ads, and I commend them having Queen Latifah as one of their spokesperson. She's definitely not a twiggy, nor is she trying to be. I like how she takes the emphasis off size numbers, and goes more for a "size healthy," whatever that is for the individual. I think that's more important, and, more realistic. Remember a couple of months ago when there was all that flack over the bikini photos of Jennifer Love Hewitt? They were calling her fat! She's far from it.

Billy, glad you decided to read the book. I commend your reasons for wanting to read it. As I said before, I see myself in some of those stories. Let me know what you think about it when you get through it.

Mmmm. Latifah. Now there's one large woman I find exceptionally gorgeous. And, regardless of size, a lot has to do with the smile. She's got one of the most beautiful smiles among celebrities that I've ever seen.

I just finished a book that Bonnie loaned me awhile back, "But Enough About Me: A Jersey Girl's Unlikely Adventures Among the Absurdly Famous." The author is a former writer for Rolling Stone, and she tells about that life, and her Jersey upbringing. Funny stuff! Shannon, I think you'd like this one.

This is a great thread!

LibraLady-- I've been really wanting to read that!

I've gotten some really good recommendations lately but I'm ashamed to admit that I have yet to get my library card here! This is pretty disgraceful, but my daughter isn't exactly library-ready-- she likes to hear her own voice as loud as she can. I have to make it a point to go on a weekend, already.

I did just finish two books-- one, "I Was Such A Good mom Until I Had Kids" is fantastic for moms. It gave me a lot of lightbulb moments about the pressure we put on ourselves as mothers to do everything perfectly when it's not possible to do so-- at least I do this. Great insight from the authors and even better, they include quotes from a bunch of people they spoke to while researching the book. I definitely got a lot out of this slim volume!

The other was a graphic novel called Clubbing by Andi Howard, in which a London goth girl with a good wit gets sent to her grandparents' golf course in a provencial town for the summer, and a murder mystery develops. It was pleasant, I'm a sucker for British characters but the "mystery" element was pretty obvious to me early on. (does anyone else read comix, manga or graphic novels?)

meanwhile, my husband is listening to middlesex on audiobook (he has a monster commute) and when he comes home talking about it, it makes me want to pick that one up again. LOVE that book.