Tag Archives: celebrities

#AskHerMore

23 Feb

https://instagram.com/p/zbKwp_Cha1/

I’ve been a fan of Reese Witherspoon’s for a while. Most people fell in love with her in “Cruel Intentions.” But my adoration began with “Man in the Moon.” It’s a coming-of-age where she plays a spunky and smart 14-year-old who doesn’t conform to what people think she should be. She likes a boy, so she makes that fact known to him. She likes to run and swim, so she goes running and swimming. Her parents suggest being a little more feminine, but they don’t push it on her. There’s more to her than her femininity.

I’m reminded of this because before last night’s ridonculously long Oscar ceremony, Reese put a photo up on Instagram with the hashtag #AskHerMore. For years, questions posed to women on the red carpet have centered on “Who are you wearing?” “How long did it take you to get ready?” “What’s in your purse?” “Did you diet before the coming here?” On one hand, I want to know who the designer of the dress is out of curiosity. On the other, what someone has in their purse crosses a line of invasion. How long it took a woman to get ready is such a misogynistic question that I can’t even. If there’s more to put on, it takes longer to get ready. That’s just facts; no need to dwell on it.

Worst of all is the diet question. We live in an image-obsessed society that places too much emphasis on how much weight a person has lost or gained in any given amount of time. Not only that, but no one asks the men if they’ve been dieting or working out before coming on the show. You know why? Because it doesn’t matter. These ceremonies are supposed to be a celebration of work, not a celebration of image.

Focusing on the image only hammers home the belief that it’s all that matters. Taking care of your health is different from taking care of your image. Diet and exercise are the keys to good health. Your image is something that is personal to you. How you look and how you want others to see you is the internal struggle you’ll forever deal with. Discussing the inner workings of that process in front of the E! red carpet cameras probably isn’t the best platform to be hashing out something so personal.

That’s why I am such a fan of Reese and others who pushed the #AskHerMore hashtag. Instead of focusing on her appearance, reporters were encouraged to ask about the work. Instead of diving into a stranger’s handbag, interviewers were pressed to ask about an actor’s relationship to the role. And instead of asking about the work it took to prepare for the night, reporters were requested to ask about the work it took to prepare for a scene.

https://instagram.com/p/zajjHmChY7/

These ceremonies are just big parties where people want to ask fun questions. But it’s a party honoring work, so don’t forget to ask about that, too.

Did you make it to the end of the three-and-a-a-half hours of the Oscars? Wasn’t Common and John Legend’s performance Glorious?

 

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On Amber Rose

17 Feb


(Includes NSFW language)

Amber Rose, Wiz Khalifa’s estranged wife/Kanye West’s ex-girlfriend, made a few headlines yesterday. The main one I’ll get to shortly, but there are a couple of points I want to make first.

1. I wouldn’t say I’m a fan of Amber Rose. I’m familiar with her work as a model and being rapper’s arm candy. I think she’s beautiful with an amazing body. She also thinks she’s beautiful with an amazing body. In the beginning, that’s all we had in common.

2. In interviews, she gives some of the rawest answers you’ll ever hear. If you’re a fan of Jennifer Lawrence and her unfiltered views on things, you’ll love Amber’s openness and honesty about her sexuality, her dating life, motherhood and the people she wants to surround herself with.

3. That openness and honesty takes me to the link she has with this blog. Like many women, Amber gained quite a bit of weight after having her child. Like most women, she didn’t lose the weight immediately. The human body is not an animal balloon that you can just twist and turn in any shape you want. You have to work hard to mold it. Amber had her son two years ago and it was last month that she debuted the fruits of her labor.

“I’ve really been trying to work on my body and do it the natural way… I wanted to put in the work,” she told Hot97 radio last week

https://instagram.com/p/yAsgMwEq-u/

The subject came up because the host questioned if she’d had plastic surgery. Two things: none of his business and him saying he didn’t care about the answer to his question made him look ri-damn-diculous.

Losing weight through diet and exercise takes time. It took Amber nearly two years to get her body the way she wanted. Note that she said she’s not the size and weight she used to be, but that she’s at the size she wants to be. On your weight-loss journey, you’ll learn more about yourself than you thought possible. One of the things you’ll have to contend with is rectifying your ideal weight with what is best for you. Amber found that the pre-baby weight of 120 pounds was neither feasible nor was it practical. To be honest, she looks amazing at this size.

*FYI: This will be a departure from usual weight-loss fare*

4. She’s right about Tyga. He should be ashamed of himself if he’s really is dating an underage teenager. At 25, he’s way old enough to know better that he is setting himself up to catch a case. Her comments on The Breakfast club to defend her friend and shame her friend’s ex are standard in girl code. Khloe Kardashian’s attempts to clap back were useless and embarrassing for her.

I have to admit the side of me that loves gossip was distracted by this back and forth for hours. And it made me an Amber Rose fan. She made a couple of harmless digs at the Kardashian clan in her radio interviews. But her comments about Tyga were strictly that. He has no business dating a teenager.

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