Yesterday I moderated a Fem 2.0 discussion on the topic of Breast Implants, Plastic Surgery and Hollywood. The experts on the calls were:
- Sybil Niden Goldrich, Command Trust Network
- Mary McDonough (formerly “Erin” on The Waltons), actress and women’s health activist
- Dr. Diana Zuckerman, president of the National Research Center for Women & Families.
I learned so much about the topic especially the figure that 80% of all breast implants are for cosmetic purposes. Wow. You should listen to the podcast because these women have so much great information and you will hear Mary’s personal story of why she got implants (her agents told her she wasn’t blonde enough and didn’t have big enough boobs and she was missing out on parts.) She got sick and it took them a long time to connect her illness with her implants.
What is really made me think about is all the distorted images we see of women’s bodies in TV and movies. Think about it. Whose breasts are most visible in the media? Victoria’s Secret models. How many of those women’s breast are real? If everything we see is fake, how are people expected to know what is real?
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And then…remember that the large real women’s breasts are censored. Remember ABC pulling the ads for large-sized women’s bras?
Funny you should post on this. I recently blogged and later put up a podcast on how America doesn’t know real breasts anymore.
Great topic. Thanks for doing it. We don’t hear enough about this. I remember way back when I was an actress definitely being told I lost parts because I didn’t have the big boobs. And many of my actress friends were doing it. And then later had very serious problems. What message does it send to our young girls and women when big breasts are so important in the media. And not just big breasts but skinny bodies with large breasts! A topic that warrants alot more discussion.
Interesting post. We recently had a candidate for a popular beauty contest reach out to our office for breast augmentation. She felt it was important for her to have larger breasts in order to win the contest. And, the agent agreed to publicize information on her via her Facebook page, blog, and other press items. Seems that being open about having a breast augmentation is no longer as taboo as it was 15 years ago when I started out.
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