Cranky Jennie ;-p

I have to applaud Marie Claire magazine for publishing their “Fat Girl in a Skinny World” articles.  It’s great to see an overweight girl with fabulous fashion sense.

My only gripe is this:  what about the normal-sized girl?

My favorite “normal” girl is Christina Hendricks, who plays Joan Holloway on Mad Men.  Now, that’s a real woman!

Aren’t most girls in this country a size 12?  Why do I feel chunky when I wear either an 8 or a 10?

Back in the day, Hollywood, which has enormous influence on pop culture, praised the curvy woman.  Marilyn Monroe was a prime example.  How did we fall into this skinny, hasn’t-eaten-a-brownie-in-a-decade society?  The skinnier you are, the more your wrinkles show!  That is, of course, if you succumb to Botox and all those other nasty fillers out there.

According to my husband, and therefore my authority on all things male, guys like to have something to grab on to.  No, not cellulite, but a J-Lo ass works well.  Speaking of J-Lo, has she gotten on the skinny train lately too?

As adults, we know what we see in magazines has been Photoshopped to within an inch of its life.  So, when will these magazines (which vulnerable teenagers pick up regularly) decide to show real women, what they look like before and after and how lighting, makeup and the right angel can make YOU look like Angelina Jolie too (o.k., that’s a stretch)?

It’s nice to look at those clothes in the high fashion magazines, but when the heck are we going to wear them?  To a P.T.A. meeting?

Now, I have to admit, that my fashion sense consists of jeans, t-shirts and sneakers.  However, a few times a year I like to get dressed “to the nines” without breaking the bank account!  There are cute clothes out there, even for those of us who rarely spend a dime on ourselves.

Our society has been one that focuses only on the “perfect”.  Well, who decided what is perfect?!!!  I’d like to see a magazine that deals with real women all the time.  We work, we’re mothers, we’re wives, daughters, sisters and we’re BUSY!  We can’t sit in a makeup chair for 2 hours.  Show me how to get there in a 1/10th of the time!

Oh, and maybe show me some more women like Christina Hendricks, since she’s one of the very few you actually see on the cover of a magazine.