Guest Author - Cassandra George Sturges
In the April 2009 issue of Allure Magazine, 43-year-old, supermodel Cindy Crawford seductively posed wearing nothing but suds that left nothing to the imagination for an anti-aging promotion. Part of a caption to the left of her nude pose says, “This is what 43 looks like.” Forty-year-old, Jennifer Aniston, posed on the December 2008 cover of GQ wearing nothing but a male tie around her neck with her finger tips covering her breasts.
When my boyfriend and I watched the movie “The Reader” where Oscar winner, Kate Winslet, was nude at least a quarter of the way through the beginning of the movie; I silently cringed each time there was a nude scene trying to appear mature and secure careful not to look at my boyfriend’s facial expression that was sure to make my heart sink with jealousy.
When I go to the movies with my boyfriend and I am constantly exposed to nude women with perfect bodies, firm thighs and flat stomachs, I feel a nauseating, jealous ache in the depth of my belly because I know that I could never look that perfect, firm and youthful with my clothes off even with the my exercise routine. I feel sick inside because even though he will never admit it, (but most importantly I would never even ask him whether or not he finds the nude woman attractive—what normal healthy man wouldn’t); I know that he is aroused by the scene of the nude, beautiful actress on the screen—in an intimate, private way that I feel should only be reserved for the love between us. And I think that what hurts the most is that I can’t even remember the last time he even glimpsed my completely nude body in a way that made me feel feminine, sexy and beautiful.
When I see actresses and supermodels in nude and semi-nude provocative and seductive poses in movies, I don’t feel rejuvenated, inspired or sexy as a 43-year-old woman who is battling facial hair, grey roots, and the recent loss of my waistline; I feel insecure, inadequate and unattractive. I feel desperate and find myself pondering the latest fad diet, anti-aging cream or reconstructive surgery. Fortunately, I am overwhelmed with the demands of my job and my two teenage children who quickly bring me back to the reality that I am aging and that every day that I am alive and healthy is a blessing.
I find it amusing when some female celebrities pose nude and claim that the reason they are doing it is to encourage average, everyday women to feel good about their bodies. Many female celebrities, ( too many to mention) state that the reason they take off their clothes is to build the self-esteem of women who can’t afford personal trainers, expensive cosmetics, and special diets separate from what their children and mates eat during supper. But aside from not having the time or the resources to dedicate to improving their body’s appearance; let’s be honest, most of us are not genetically gifted with genes that would sculpt our bodies into intoxicating goddesses of beauty.
I am going to make an argument that the average woman feels uncomfortable being completely nude in front of their husbands or boyfriends without worrying about cellulite, belly-bulges , sagging breasts or stretch marks and seeing celebrity women in the buff does not create feelings of pride in their own bodies, but stir unspeakable, shameful, feelings of guilt and envy. But these are the hidden raw emotions that advertisers are aiming to capture that sell anti-aging products, breasts lifts, weight-loss pills, fad diets, Botox and liposuction to women who compare themselves to female models and entertainers who are celebrated in the mass media.
Cindy Crawford, Jennifer Aniston, and Kate Winslet look great nude, but with their clothes on they can’t hold a candle to the women who truly inspire me everyday—Harriett Tubman (my all time favorite person in the world); Mother Theresa (and I am not Catholic); Hillary Clinton ( I love you, Hillary); Oprah Winfrey (please stop dieting you are beautiful just the way you are); Ellen Degeneres (she is way too funny) and Queen Latifah (she is authentically, incomparably beautiful in a category all her own). Fortunately, my body is more similar to these women who put more time into shaping the world-- than maintaining their shape.
