The article is basically a big advert for the new issue of the UK Marie Claire, which has Jessica on the cover, draped in the flag. The gist of the Mail’s take on it is that Jessica feels her ‘muscular’ figure (it’s not that muscular, Iris Kyle she ain’t but that’s the word she uses) isn’t feminine, and merely a ‘tool’ for her career.
However, as I read the article in full, and other articles that appeared in UK newspapers and on celebrity and sports websites today, basically reporting exactly what the Mail had, it became clear that all of them were actually positive about Jessica’s appearance, and all of them mentioned how great she looks in the Marie Claire shoot.
From the Mail: Jessica looks stunning in the magazine's shoot, in which she shows off her incredible figure wearing some very revealing sportswear. From the Star: As these pictures prove, she has got sex appeal. From the Mirror: If looking stunning was an Olympic sport, Jessica Ennis would win gold every time… but believe it or not, she doesn’t reckon she’s a beauty, although there are a million fans who would argue.
A million indeed. In terms of UK searches, only Pippa Middleton has more than Jessica with the word ‘bum’ attached. And that shouldn’t be too much of a surprise to her, as she was, according to the Telegraph, ‘Rear of the Year’ at secondary school.
Comments on the articles are pretty much all positive, and many of them refer to her physique as desirable, more desirable than typically celebrated mainstream body types:
I think you look amazing, give me toned athletic rather than stick insect any day! Good luck Jessica, I'll be rooting for you this summer!
She blows all these ‘celebs’ away.
She is a real stunner, far better than any professional model.
The journalists who wrote the articles, the public who commented on them (or merely searched for pictures of her bum!), and also indeed the man she is engaged to, all agree that she is attractive, very attractive, and that her honed, athletic physique is very much part of that attraction.
So why this insecurity? Another of the comments hits the nail on the head I think: It [Jessica’s attitude to her body]’s not surprising. The media has decided it’s OK to tell women ‘curvy’ means you’re really female [feminine] and if you are slim or don’t have big boobs, you’re worthless. Not the best sentence ever written in English, but insightful nonetheless, and I agree with the poster that, to some extent at least, Jessica Ennis has been conditioned by the media to dislike her own fabulously toned, athletic body.
Tragic as that may be, it’s clear that Jessica is holding a minority opinion. And once again I am pleasantly surprised that the British press and the British public have reacted to a beautiful but muscular (well, toned and athletic) woman in a positive way. And that's not a bad start to 2012.
Judge for yourself if Jessica needs to lose muscle to be beautiful and feminine.
Enjoy, and a belated Happy New Year to all you lovely readers!
No comments:
Post a Comment