# Ug. Maybe Media DOES want women to be too skinny.
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ug-maybe-media-does-want-women-to-be-too-skinny/402492
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [May 2, 2007, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ug-maybe-media-does-want-women-to-be-too-skinny/402492 "2007-05-02T17:19:05Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2007, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ug-maybe-media-does-want-women-to-be-too-skinny/402492/21 "2007-05-02T20:17:09Z")
Lauren Bacall was the main character in “How to Marry a Millionaire” (also, not kind of fat). Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable were more sidekicks.
[url = “[Grace Kelly Movies: Hitchcock Blonde + Best Actress Oscar Winner](http://www.altfg.com/Stars/h/how-to-marry-a-millionaire.jpg)”]link
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### Author:  [@Sofaspud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofaspud)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2007, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ug-maybe-media-does-want-women-to-be-too-skinny/402492/22 "2007-05-02T20:22:48Z")
[QUOTE=Kimstu]
Most of which, for those who are interested in checking this assertion, can be seen clad (technically) in a skintight satin and lace negligee [here](http://www.eforu.com/gallery/marilynmonroe/pic1.html).
[/QUOTE]
Eyurgh. I’d advise heading over to Google Images, myself, rather than click on a link that (a) loads Java applets without so much as a by-your-leave, and (b) attempts to open six (SIX!) popup windows.
Gee, thanks, **Kimstu**! 🙂
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2007, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ug-maybe-media-does-want-women-to-be-too-skinny/402492/23 "2007-05-02T20:28:03Z")
I had identical measurements to Marilyn’s in high school, even without a corset (37, 25, 37, size 37D bra) and constantly had people telling me I was fat, including my mother, my gym teachers and doctors. I believed them, and hated my body. Now I look at [this](http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=79729873&albumID=0&imageID=3634036)and wonder what the fuck they were on about. In fact, if you notice the bottom comment on there, it’s from a friend from high school I haven’t seen since (so she doesn’t have a newer, fatter version of me in her head), and she made a very representative “Brickhouse” joke. It was well accepted by everyone that I was, if not grotesque, at least fat, and deserved teasing about it.
[Here’s another one with jutted hip, where my bottom curves are slightly more visible. I’m on the right.](http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewImage&friendID=79729873&albumID=0&imageID=3634082) As you can see, I wore a lot of black on the bottom to hide the huge ass.
Yes, people, we _do_ tell girls the size of Marilyn Monroe that they’re fat. And they believe us. ☹
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### Author:  [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2007, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ug-maybe-media-does-want-women-to-be-too-skinny/402492/24 "2007-05-02T20:28:14Z")
Oops sorry, **Sofaspud**! My browser disables all that nasty shit and I didn’t realize it was such an invasive page. I hope the eventual sight of Marilyn in the satin and lace negligee was some consolation.
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### Author:  [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2007, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ug-maybe-media-does-want-women-to-be-too-skinny/402492/25 "2007-05-02T20:31:34Z")
[QUOTE=A Monkey With a Gun]
Sorry I missed this, but nope, I don’t think I was whooshed. The quote is very real. Feel free to google.
[/QUOTE]
I did. Those that cite a source (like ([this one](http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,21645224-5006343,00.html), [this one](http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070502/ENT07/705020381/1035), and [this one](http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20070429_Sideshow__.html)) cite [_The Hollywood Reporter_](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com).
Luckily, [your link](http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2007/04/nicole_kidman_actual_millionaire.html) has another link directly to [the article in question](http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3ia76075fe469ef9a41f5a6a8d477764c4) in _The Hollywood Reporter_.
Which says nothing at all like the quote you mention, gullible entertainment and gossip reporters notwithstanding.
I vote whoosh.
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### Author:  [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2007, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ug-maybe-media-does-want-women-to-be-too-skinny/402492/26 "2007-05-02T20:40:15Z")
[QUOTE=A Monkey With a Gun]
Show me a picture, then.
[/QUOTE]
Numbers 8 and 3 are fattish, if you ask me. [http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-06-19-army-charges\_x.htm](http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-06-19-army-charges_x.htm)
I also think the last picture (in front of the mirror) is fattish [http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/862](http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/862)
I realize there are fatter people in the world; I’m just saying I do not prefer this amount of weight over a Nicole Kidman or someone similar. Marilyn’s figure is too fat for me to be comfortable with.
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### Author:  [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2007, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ug-maybe-media-does-want-women-to-be-too-skinny/402492/27 "2007-05-02T20:46:21Z")
:eek: :eek:
That’s insane. Marilyn was, by actual calculation, 12,987,245,769.2121 times hotter than Kidman, who, let’s be frank, only USED to be hot. Now she needs to EAT SOMETHING!
Such insanely stupid statements will be banned once I am King.
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### Author:  [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2007, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ug-maybe-media-does-want-women-to-be-too-skinny/402492/28 "2007-05-02T20:58:18Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun]
Numbers 8 and 3 are fattish, if you ask me. [http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-06-19-army-charges\_x.htm](http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-06-19-army-charges_x.htm)
[/QUOTE]
Holy shit, she fought in Iraq?
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### Author:  [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2007, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ug-maybe-media-does-want-women-to-be-too-skinny/402492/29 "2007-05-02T21:01:22Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot]
Yes, people, we _do_ tell girls the size of Marilyn Monroe that they’re fat. And they believe us. ☹
[/QUOTE]
Hmm…
I just kept getting shunted to the Myspace main page. So, apparently, you were invisble.
-Joe
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### Author:  [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2007, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ug-maybe-media-does-want-women-to-be-too-skinny/402492/30 "2007-05-02T21:03:56Z")
[QUOTE=NurseCarmen]
Holy shit, she fought in Iraq?
[/QUOTE]
Okay, I have no idea what happened there. I don’t have time to find it again on account of working for a living.
I’m sure youze wouldn’t think she’s fat. But I could not carry that physique without being totally depressed.
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### Author:  [@CaerieD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaerieD)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2007, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ug-maybe-media-does-want-women-to-be-too-skinny/402492/31 "2007-05-02T21:04:13Z")
[QUOTE=NurseCarmen]
Holy shit, she fought in Iraq?
[/QUOTE]
_Zombie_ Marilyn, maybe.
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### Author:  [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2007, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ug-maybe-media-does-want-women-to-be-too-skinny/402492/32 "2007-05-02T21:07:52Z")
[QUOTE=Merijeek]
Hmm…
I just kept getting shunted to the Myspace main page. So, apparently, you were invisble.
-Joe
[/QUOTE]
Me too.
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2007, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ug-maybe-media-does-want-women-to-be-too-skinny/402492/33 "2007-05-02T21:08:32Z")
[QUOTE=Merijeek]
Hmm…
I just kept getting shunted to the Myspace main page. So, apparently, you were invisble.
-Joe
[/QUOTE]
Oh, dang. Sorry, I forgot MySpace doesn’t let nonmembers see those pages. The first pic is the one on my [profile.](http://www.myspace.com/nwins) The other is in my pics, but you need a MySpace account to get to it. Sorry.
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### Author:  [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2007, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ug-maybe-media-does-want-women-to-be-too-skinny/402492/34 "2007-05-02T21:11:34Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot]
Oh, dang. Sorry, I forgot MySpace doesn’t let nonmembers see those pages. The first pic is the one on my [profile.](http://www.myspace.com/nwins) The other is in my pics, but you need a MySpace account to get to it. Sorry.
[/QUOTE]
Totally not fat. You look _way_ thinner than Marilyn.
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### Author:  [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2007, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ug-maybe-media-does-want-women-to-be-too-skinny/402492/35 "2007-05-02T21:12:15Z")
[http://fatboy.cc/images/marilyn%20monroe%201.jpg](http://fatboy.cc/images/marilyn%20monroe%201.jpg) : Yeah, she was fat. NSFW. WARNING. NEKKID LADY.
You folks are insane. Fat? Man, there ain’t much room for deviation from the norm hereabouts, if she was fat.
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### Author:  [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ug-maybe-media-does-want-women-to-be-too-skinny/402492/36 "2007-05-02T21:23:45Z")
[QUOTE=Kalhoun]
Marilyn’s figure is too fat for me to be comfortable with.
[/QUOTE]
Well, if **WhyNot’s** numbers are correct, Marilyn would wear about a size 4 or 6 today, which really isn’t particularly fat, by any definition. (The whole “Marilyn was a size 14?!?!?!” schtick has been thoroughly debunked).
However, she had curvy tits and a curvy ass - if a gal had a much more athletic or boyish figure (and I don’t know if you do **Kalhoun** ) perhaps a 4 or a 6 would feel “fatish” to them. Dunno.
I do know that the notion that Marilyn was “fat” is totally absurd. Even at her “fattest” she was maybe a size 10 (and I think that’s a stretch). Now granted, compaired to Nicole Kidman, or Portia deRossi, or Natalie Portman, or Victoria Beckham, or Nicole Ritchie, or either of those dreadful Olson twins, Marilyn is a heffier. But really, she was certainly never fat.
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### Author:  [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2007, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ug-maybe-media-does-want-women-to-be-too-skinny/402492/37 "2007-05-02T21:53:41Z")
[QUOTE=alice\_in\_wonderland]
Well, if **WhyNot’s** numbers are correct, Marilyn would wear about a size 4 or 6 today, which really isn’t particularly fat, by any definition. (The whole “Marilyn was a size 14?!?!?!” schtick has been thoroughly debunked).
However, she had curvy tits and a curvy ass - if a gal had a much more athletic or boyish figure (and I don’t know if you do **Kalhoun** ) perhaps a 4 or a 6 would feel “fatish” to them. Dunno.
I do know that the notion that Marilyn was “fat” is totally absurd. Even at her “fattest” she was maybe a size 10 (and I think that’s a stretch). Now granted, compaired to Nicole Kidman, or Portia deRossi, or Natalie Portman, or Victoria Beckham, or Nicole Ritchie, or either of those dreadful Olson twins, Marilyn is a heffier. But really, she was certainly never fat.
[/QUOTE]
My ideal body (my body) was thin and fairly curvy (no butt, though ☹ ) and I am short. I was very comfortable with a size 1 or 2. I noticed in one of those Marilyn pics (I think it was the one I screwed up the link for) her thighs were touching. That is too much weight on me. I have very fine bones and I was 95 lbs, give or take, with no dieting or starvation.
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### Author:  [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2007, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ug-maybe-media-does-want-women-to-be-too-skinny/402492/38 "2007-05-02T22:07:26Z")
Hmm, I’m remembering Marilyn in that movie wearing a stunning raspberry-colored skin-tight satin gown and that she was anything but fat. She was curvy and beautiful, but _not_ fat. Yeesh, what’s up with guys wanting a woman to be shaped like a man, i.e., no hips, no tits, no thighs?
She did get a little chubbier in _Some Like It Hot_, but ISTR she was pregnant during that filming. I saw her screen test for _Something’s Got To Give_, and she was back down to a trim, shapely weight. She was thirty-five at that time, IIRC.
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### Author:  [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ug-maybe-media-does-want-women-to-be-too-skinny/402492/39 "2007-05-02T22:09:13Z")
My husband would look at those Marilyn Monroe pictures and think she was okay, but she could be more curvy and look better to him.
He would look at Nicole Kidman pictures and not have much of a reaction, because he’s not hot for 6’ tall 11 year old boys.
ETA: Look at those wonderful, natural breasts on her!!! No fake bubble boobs in sight!
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### Author:  [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)
#### Post date: [May 2, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ug-maybe-media-does-want-women-to-be-too-skinny/402492/40 "2007-05-02T22:21:20Z")
[QUOTE=teela brown]
Yeesh, what’s up with guys wanting a woman to be shaped like a man, i.e., no hips, no tits, no thighs?
[/QUOTE]
Why are you blaming men? Men’s magazines feature women with boobage and backage. It’s the women’s magazines that have the waifish fashion models. More men I know drool over Scarlett Johansson than Nicole Kidman.
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