The weirder you're going to behave, the more normal you should look. It works in reverse, too. When I see a kid with three or four rings in his nose, I know there is absolutely nothing extraordinary about that person. ~ P.J. O'Rourke
For the past month or so, I've been studying Womans World magazine for their romance short stories. This morning, I actually looked through the rest of one of the magazines and stumbled across a story entitled: What Would You Change About Yourself If You Could?
In this particular story, the woman got breast implants and went from a AA cup to a C cup. Not exactly earth-shattering stuff IMHO, but there you are.
Still, it got me to thinking about our characters and their appearances. Though chubby heroines are beginning to make an appearance (I am interested in the fact that Nora has Peabody in her "In Death" books who is very curvaceous, self-conscious about it and always considering a diet BUT continually getting wolf whistles and such), most heroines are slim and built.
Many have long hair. Full lips. Big eyes. Legs all the way up to their butts.
In the article, above, they list average sizes for American women:
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 163 lbs
Clothing size: 10-12
Bra size: C cup
How many of you have read or written a story lately with a heroine proportioned in such a way?
Me neither.
I know, I know -- we read to escape, at least I do. So it's a fantasy. If I could insert myself into a particular world and be anyone I could be, I'd certainly want to have a "perfect" body, be strong-willed and intelligent and sexy and self-assured, so I understand.
Still... it got me to thinking. Isn't it a shame that we, as women, would choose something like our breast size as the one thing we'd change about ourselves?
If I was being realistic, and had to change something physical and not my circumstances, then I wouldn't want bigger breasts (and I'm not exactly well-endowed). I would change my hair. I. Hate. My. Hair.
What would you choose?
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5 comments:
On a good day, when I'm working at home in my favorite jeans and well-worn hoodie.... nothing.
After a day shopping for clothes at the mall... everything: liposuction, implants, laser resurfacing--the works. Another reason to stay away from malls.
Nothin'. If you can't be happy looking in the mirror, then it's gonna be awfully tough dealing with some of the other stuff that's out there.
But yeah, anno's right: the media sucks. Why else are we so consumed with the way we look?
I'd like a body that wasn't in pain so much. It gets old. :) But there's not much I can do about that so... I wouldn't mind if my hair would stop falling out. It's a wonder I'm not bald. *g*
I don't mind a chubby heroine in a story. Look at the young high school and college girls today. They have very skinny legs they look emaciated for God's sake.
I once dated a "chubby" girl and she tought me tricks I never thought about.
When you are too "chubby" you have to think about your health but when the bedroom lights are turned down "chubby" can be pleasureable.
Al Kuchinski
My weight definitely. But I don't want to be supermodel slim. 11 years ago I was 160. I loved it. I'm 5'7". I had the curves.
I generally don't write heroines who are perfect looking in every way (with the exception of my heroine in Finally Home who is). My heroine in one book has nasty scars on her face from a car accident. Although I haven't written a heroine who is under 5'5" I go for the other stuff. I'd rather have a real woman as a heroine than an ideal.
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