women picspam

[salixbabylon]

Remember way back when I was collecting images of women with healthy bodies? Women who are not stick-thin and skinny, not altered by surgery, with no additional plastic parts? Women I could use as role-models in a "you could actually achieve this look!" sense?

Well, here's what I came up with:

angelina jolie

gina torres

jennifer tilly

kate winslet

marilyn monroe

carrie anne moss

catherine zeta jones

claudia black

drew barrymore

mia tyler

queen latifah

rachel ray

rachel weitz

salma hayek

serena williams

sophie dahl

xena (lucy lawless)

gabrielle (renee o'connell)

And then for some non-famous women, we have the belly-dancer crowd:

And just to babble a bit - the point of this collection was to fine some visual role models. I have struggled with my weight since I was 9 years old, and while I want to change that, I've never yet been successful. I realized one of the things I lack is the ability to visualize my body, fit and healthy. Still curvy, but strong. I didn't want to have just movie stars. Because it's so easy to think they're super-human and don't ever have to struggle with the debate of spending $4.00 on a burger and fries at the fast-food joint versus a $9.00 sandwich at the gourmet cafe, and only having $10 in your wallet for the next week. Or the cost of gym membership or personal trainers or etc etc etc. It's easy to say that I can't look like them because I'm not rich and not devoting my life to how my body looks for my living.

So that's where this came from, and why I included the belly dancers at the end. To know that real women do this, not just the wealthy and not just the under-30 years old.

Good luck to you all in your plans to have and own and create the body of your dreams, and thank you to everyone who suggested images!

*smooch*

Comments

If you could vote!

[willys-digs.livejournal.com]

Lucy Lawless all the way. Actually I used her Xena series to rescue my sister. Broken after a disasterous 35 year abusive(mental) marriage and it gave her a chance to see that women could be strong and brave. It was fun too, lots of laughs. The lady is a very talented gem. Will always be grateful to her AND her costars for such a wonderful series... had to add some Herc in there too, have some brawn with the lady brains.

Fun, fun, fun...

Hugs

Jo

[the-little-owl.livejournal.com]

You forgot Monica Bellucci (I hope I spellt her last name correctly) in the actresses section.
I consider some of them still too thin (the first one of Zeta-Jones for example: not good if you can see ribs over the breasts, and these almost non existing arms make me want to feed her some burgers or sandwiches or whatever I find next), but that's my POV.
Yay for the belly-dancers and the fact that they don't get discouraged by the stick-thin models in the magazines! I hope this madness stops soon in favour of real women.

[causette.livejournal.com]

aaah Kate Winslet! My hero! Now there is a woman young girls should look up to! Not Paris Hilton!

[uinendolothen.livejournal.com]

It's expensive to eat healthy in America. I think that's the biggest challenge. Also, most of our cities and towns are not condusive to providing natural exercise - we have to rely on our cars so much.

I would love to move to London or Paris or Amsterdam. Well, maybe not Paris so much. Dublin or somewhere in Scotland would be lovely, though.

We went to a Turkish restaurant in Amsterdam. My daughters were enthralled with the dancer there. She had a beautifully proportioned body - not a human skeleton.

I'm starting Taekgyeon lessons in January. I have an "in" - my brother in law is the instructor. All the same, it ought to be good for increasing my flexibility (and who am I to turn down that opportunity?) as well as shaping up various parts of my body.

Jamie Lee Curtis did a photo shoot, a couple of years ago, I suppose - to show that undressed, without all the special undergarments that make a body look "perfect" beneath clothing, and without any retouching of the photos, that she didn't look that different from other women. If you didn't see them, they've been reprinted HERE.

*hugs*

[andolinn.livejournal.com]

Salix honey, don't you think you are perhaps asking a lot of women everywhere? I mean, these are some very beautiful, young, tall, posed and airbrushed women. And they're still pretty skinny. I don't think most of us stand a chance of looking like this - without surgery and even then...

Go easy on yourself! And us.

Re: If you could vote!

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

I do love Xena! I'm glad your sister benefitted from her as a role model! :)

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

Monica Bellucci - point me to some pictures of her and I'll include them. :)

They are a bit too thin, I agree. It was *so* difficult to find women who were fit but still famous to have pictures of them on the internet. The best I could do was fine mostly-in-shape actresses with enough body fat to still have boobs.

Maybe we should start a program where I give all the junk food I shouldn't be eating to the emaciated actresses. ;)

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

I love Kate. She has the best ass on the planet. *swoonsplat*

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

Oooh, thanks for the links to JLC - she rocks! :)

I totally agree - it's just criminal that the foods that make humans fat are so cheap and the foods that are wholesome and good for you cost so bloody much. And that While I'd love to go jogging or ride my bike to the market, I *can't* because the roads are only made for cars - no sidewalks, and it's too dangerous for bikes. And even if we lived in town, it's difficult when the whole city is designed so that you have to have a car to get around. Driving somewhere to go for a walk or a bike ride just drives me nuts. :P

I'll move to Scotland with you. Or anywhere in the UK, really. Canterbury. *g*

And good luck with the classes - I hope you enjoy them!

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

It's true - everything you said. I tried so bloody hard to find pictures of women who were strong but not body-builders, and shapely but not models or actresses. The best I could do is what I collected above. Any additions from you would be welcomed.

I think the dancers (and Kate and Marilyn!) are a little more realistic - they have boobs and belly fat. (And at east 2 of the dancers are in their 40s!)

[jackieville.livejournal.com]

I have been heavy and super skinny. The one thing I have learned is that if you are not happy in your soul it doesn't matter what the outside looks like. I hope I haven't been too forward in posting this. I have always loved Drew Barrymore! She is beautiful on the inside and outside.

[andolinn.livejournal.com]

Off the top of my head, how about Gwen Ifell? Brilliant mind, enormously talented, older, lovely. And realistic looking. I apologize for the quality of the pics - it was the best I could do on short notice from work.

I guess the point is that being beautiful isn't just about how you look. If you can come to love yourself even if you will never be physically beautiful, you achieve a level of attractiveness you will never attain if you continue to dislike yourself. It's such a tough thing to achieve in our society, but it is possible.

[uinendolothen.livejournal.com]

*packs bags*

So, when do we move??

;)

And amen to everything you said!!

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

Very true - thank you for sharing.

[bloominbabylon.livejournal.com]

Brilliant choices! I applaud your efforts.

Even at my thinnest, which is too long ago to remember, I was always bigger than a woman was 'supposed' to be. It took a long time to realize that ok.

*hugs*

[sileya.livejournal.com]

HUGS
Thanks for sharing, hon. I'm right there with you.

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

I will never be as thin as the charts say I sould be, but I'd like to be in better shape. I think these hotties will help remind me it's worth skipping the sweets for a while. ;)

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

:) 2007 is going to be the in-shape year!

[brigantine1.livejournal.com]

When my mother used to go on the weight warpath I can still recall my father admonishing plaintively, "Well don't lose too much! It's no fun huggin' a bunch o' bones, y'know." Snort.

I could *definitely* drop about twenty pounds, but you're right - darn it, eating healthy is expensive! sigh. Wish I had my garden anymore. It's a fabulous workout, and you can grow your own salad! ;D

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

I have garden envy... Perhaps this year I will put in some raised beds and give it a try. :)