Dying to be thin

Hollywood often hits back with the age old excuse of "The camera adds ten pounds," thereby justifying the necessity of thin women. And if that doesn't work they claim this is the image of women that audiences want and like, but is this true or our we just taking what Hollywood shoves down our throats? The only thing I know for sure is that the media is sending confusing and hurtful messages to women: A recent People magazine bemoaned the skinny bodies of people like Lara Flynn Boyle, but at the same time chastised Christina Aguilera for gaining a few pounds during her tour. My image is about how the world of television influences women everywhere to be thin. I know that it does bother me when I have to look at lara Flynn boyle or calista flockhart and many other actresses so thin and I wonder to myself maybe I should lose weight too. .
             It's true that the camera adds a little avoirdupois to the silhouette, but many starlets literally starve themselves to cadaverous dimensions, hoping the lean and hungry look will widen their cinematic possibilities. With no regard for health, the show biz industry has imposed impossible standards for women. Not only is their talent and ability put to the test, but so is their dress size. More than a few voluptuous females have arrived on the Sunset Strip, only to diet themselves into beanpole status. Jennifer Aniston, Dolly Parton, Ally Sheedy, Helen Mirren, Elizabeth Hurley, Sherilyn Fenn and Kim Basinger were once women of pleasingly rounded proportions. Now they're as lean as 10-year-old Romanian gymnasts. Alicia Silverstone has been derided for her round-cheeked baby fat and Drew Barrymore frets when she allows her exercise program to lapse. "The minute you start to get too lazy about it you get that drive again," she says. Jane Fonda has admitted that she was anorexic for a time. Alexandra Paul (Baywatch) also said she suffered from a similar eating disorder a few years ago and so did Susan Dey.