Tonight:
9°c
New Moon is nothing if not an international advertisement for the hungry virtues of virginity and young people can’t get enough of it
NEW: Some fares could fall by more than a third when Oyster is extended to every national rail station in London, it has emerged
More...
Obsession with looks reveals ugly side of the music trade
By Paul Connolly, London Lite 06.08.07Look over to the left. Do you think Kate Nash is fit? What about Lily Allen? Is she cute? Of course, they're both attractive young women, pretty as well as talented. But if you trawl music business and gossip websites you can find some really unpleasant comments about their figures. One charmer calls Lily Fat Ankles Allen, while another has nicknamed Nash The Prop (as in prop forward, a position in rugby occupied by players even stockier than usual). Granted neither of them are skinny but, really, so what? They're not tubbies either, although who would care if they were? Beth Ditto from Gossip has almost made chubsters cool again, something which I'm very happy about.
And it seems as though music fans are more ready to accept pop stars who don't look like Pete Doherty or Joss Stone, pop stars who look real. Now, it can be argued that we don't want our pop stars to look real. What's the point of having pop stars who aren't fabulously unreal? That's why we love the Kylies and Madonnas and that's why they use any means necessary to stay doll-like. A part of us needs our pop stars to be unattainable, unmatchable super-beings. Unfortunately this manifests itself in some pretty, er, ugly ways in the music industry. A decade ago I was the publicist for a fab new Scottish indie-pop band, Bis. They were bright, fresh, stupidly exciting and had tunes coming out of their ears. They made waves when their third single, Kandy Pop, breached the top 30 and they were the first unsigned band to play Top Of The Pops. One of their number was an 18-year-old girl, Amanda. Amanda, who went under the name Manda Rin (ho, ho), was small and pretty but not skinny. But, like Lily Allen and Kate Nash, she wasn't exactly portly either.
Soon, though, the nasty little public schoolboys at NME and Melody Maker were making sly digs about Amanda's weight. Now, Amanda was no wallflower; she was plucky and she could stick up for herself. But, gradually, it seemed to get to her.
One particularly unpleasant journalist took a shine to her but when it became apparent that she had no interest in him he made some deeply offensive remarks about her body shape in his paper. I confronted him. His reaction was astonishing. If I was defending Amanda it was obvious I must be enjoying carnal relations with her. I managed to stop myself punching the putrid little man and walked away.
But Amanda was affected. This previously self-confident character became wary and introverted and lost a lot of weight.
Now, it may seem that we've moved past these vile, sexist attitudes but deep down the music industry hasn't really changed that much. Lily and Kate will still be the target of jibes about their weight, although the critics will have to be a little more sly. Beth Ditto will only be tolerated because she's a one-off. And the lollipop likes of Kylie and Amy Winehouse will still rule the pop world.
• Agree? Disagree? email me on soundingoff @thelondonlite.co.uk
Related articles
Reader views (5)
"Obsession with looks reveals ugly side of the music".
".....And it seems as though music fans are more ready to accept pop stars who don't look like Pete Doherty or Joss Stone, pop stars who look real."
Well there are two sides to this coin. Music journalists who put down Joss Stone just because she is good looking are just as guilty of judging people by their appearance. It is not as if she is lacking in vocal talent.
- Terry, Maidstone Kent
It's not about weight or feminism. This is all about originality, and when there's not enough originality, you have to resort to some kind of freakishness to pass. It will only change by looking away.
- Jameson, Chicago, IL
Some girls are bigger than others, some girls are bigger than others and some girls' mothers are bigger than other girls' mothers.
- Tom Stanbury, London, UK
The music industry, along with every other industry it seems, are on a quest to make women feel like their natural body shapes are not pleasing in any way in order to sell us stuf. Young women who fall prey to the attitudes of music journalists and music industry moguls are told to have more self-control when it comes to attitudes about yourself. If someone takes a jibe at your shape, you should have enough self respect and ignore the hype. However, many people feel not just young people, that these images of skinny people are taking a toll on our society as a whole. It is hard not to feel ugly and unattractive when images constantly reinforce the idea that beauty is STARVATION! Why should we care about our appearance so much? Most people know that it is a moment in time that a person looks good and then you are just left with your personality in the end. Look at people like Madonna and the likes. I used to really like her but then her quest for perfection...as if being thin is perfect somehow, is really sad and unattractive. She appears to be in control, when actually she is anything but! If a woman who is 47 is unable to accept womanhood, then what chance do younger women have to look at their bodies and such without having utter contempt? The music industry understands this and promotes it like mad. Just look at Beyonce. How can we see any of these young women as role models on weight issues. Even she loss weight to do a film role and tried to justify it as art!
- Shellia, London
Beth Ditto is an awful image for young people to base themselves on - no better than Kate Moss. She is dangerously overweight, and not healthy.
- Daveb, London
