Wherever I go on the internet, I see pictures of Jennifer Lawrence. Ok, yeah, I loved “The Hunger Games” and all, but do I really need to see another picture with a quote about how much she eats? Jennifer Lawrence is a good actress, she’s kinda funny and definitely attractive. I also appreciate that she is conscious of her character Katniss’ power to positively or negatively affect young girls in terms of body image. I’m just bothered by her being held up as the poster girl for loving one’s body, while being “overweight” and still attractive.
Look, it’s nice that Jennifer Lawrence is comfortable in her own skin, but what is empowering about a meme of Jennifer Lawrence eating pizza? Am I really supposed to feel empowered by that?
It doesn’t matter how you try to paint her. Jennifer Lawrence is a beautiful, thin and fit Hollywood actress. To try and act as if she’s an overweight actress, or even an average looking person is just ridiculous. I have a hard time believing that overweight girls watching interviews of Jennifer Lawrence talking about how much she eats are comforted by that. They don’t feel comforted because Jennifer Lawrence is successful, attractive and THIN. You can’t mask her as anything else.
I wouldn’t be so bothered by the “cult of Jennifer Lawrence” if it wasn’t for the fact that she is stealing the niche of being the poster girl for overweight people. Actresses who are actually overweight don’t have the luxury of talking about how much they love pizza. If they did, they would certainly be ridiculed and fat-shamed. Gabourey Sidibe is an overweight actress who was cruelly taunted during the Golden Globes with comments on Twitter such as “Is she pregnant?” and “Clearly, Gabby’s stylist doesn’t like her and has no problem stealing money from her.” Compare that to Jennifer Lawrence who is always upheld as flawless, yet Lawrence is the one who is supposed to represent us “normal” looking girls.
To me the cult of Jennifer Lawrence says something sad about our society and its superficiality. It isn’t Lawrence herself that I have a problem with, or her fans necessarily. I am bothered by her image being touted as proof that it’s okay to love food and be goofy, if you’re a beautiful thin actress. For the vast majority of girls food can still be a battle and loving oneself is hard. If we really want to publicize more “average” looking women then perhaps we should stop being outwardly cruel to celebrities that do not fit society’s cultivated mold of beauty. Or better yet, stop assigning value to people based on their body weight.