Panties in a twist

In need of some shallow entertainment, I picked up US Weekly at the grocery store last night. While I enjoyed juicy stories about family drama, wrecked marriages and over-indulged children, I noticed that there were several sections devoted to 90-pound actresses who claim that they "don't diet."

Sigh.

I understand the Hollywood pressure to be thin. I realize that "Who Wore it Best" is more about "Who is Thinner" or "Which Actress/Model is More Popular This Week" than the designer outfit in question. I'll even admit that sometimes I think thin makes up for not-so-pretty. For example, I adore SJP, but if you took away her incredibly thin - yet athletic - figure and trendy hair, she doesn't have a typically beautiful face. Sure, there are times when I sincerely think she is a pretty woman, but mostly, she is just really thin.

Since I'm guilty of these thoughts, I feel that it would be inappropriate for me to climb up on my soap box and point out that as the line between genders becomes more blurred, both men and women look more like 12 year-old boys.

But I simply can't remain quiet when anorexic-looking women are claiming they "don't diet." Clearly full of crap and nothing else, these women avoid the label of "LIAR" on the technicality that to "diet" you must actually consume food at some point. The new trend of claiming to be effortlessly thin really pisses me off. I'm no physician, but I can assume that very few people are born so thin that the bones in their shoulders stick out and the circumference of their thighs is equal to that of their arms.

An expression of deranged Hollywood logic, I think this trend is an attempt to present a healthier attitude to young people. Well, high on spray tan chemicals, these folks obviously didn't consider the possibility that young people - a group that doesn't exclude certain 28 year-olds - are going to see uber-thin women who "don't diet" and figure that their own bodies are genetically inferior since they were never able to attain (even as a 12 year-old), much less maintain a 12 year-old figure in their 20s, 30s, and 40s.

"I have to work very hard to look as good as I do. I work out every day, I go hiking and I have a personal trainer." One of the many reasons Gwen Stefani is a cool chick.