Monday, September 19, 2011

Leave Christina Hendrick's Breasts Alone: A Rant



Just happened to catch part of the local news just now doing a "wrap-up" on Emmy's fashion. I say wrap-up with quotes because no one appearing on the local news knows shit about shit, I've decided, based on this segment at least.

The woman who will henceforth known as Skinny Bitch Guest Correspondent had the audacity to place Christina Hendricks in the Worst Dressed category, not because the dress was ugly, not because the dress didn't fit her, not because she looked bad, but because she had too much cleavage. Seem like a reasonable criticism? Well, clearly you don't have large breasts or understand the mechanics of large breasts.

I get the criticism that some dresses may be in poor taste like the one Gwenyth Paltrow wore that one time. I don't need to tell you which dress I'm referring to, because we all remember it. It was a little trashy and had a lot of nip. I also get criticisms about, you know, a dress looking like a plastic cup with a bunch of holes in it like Juliana Margulies' was tonight, sure, yes, when your job is to critique fashion, I get shit like that.

But Christina Hendricks looked stunning. Yes, she had a lot of cleavage. But NEWSFLASH, SKINNY BITCH GUEST CORRESPONDENT, CHRISTINA HENDRICKS HAS CLEAVAGE BECAUSE CHRISTINA HENDRICKS HAS BOOBS. BREASTS. SHE HAS THEM. SHE HAS ACTUAL BREASTS OF AN ACTUAL LARGE SIZE. SHE POSSESSES LARGE BREASTS. DO I NEED TO EXPLAIN THIS AGAIN? HER BREASTS ARE HUGE.

For those of you still asking "But why does she need to have cleavage?", allow me to explain a little something to you. When you are born with large breasts, like I was, like Christina Hendricks was, like countless women are, the only way to NOT have cleavage is to cover them up completely. Is to wear a boatneck or turtleneck. Are you trying to say that because I am a D cup, I am forbidden from wearing a dress or shirt with a v neck?

A couple years ago, I got some shit from a male employer for "showing too much cleavage" at work. Was I wearing low cut tops? No. Sure, some were lower cut than others I wore, I guess, I own a lot of shirts. But I wasn't trying to be provocative. I wasn't trying to look sexy. I was wearing clothes. Clothes just like anyone else in the office. But because my breasts happened to be large, it was "distracting" and from then on, I had to make a point of trying to own more uncomfortably high necked shirts. Needless to say, he wasn't my boss for long.

But even if I understand having to dress extra conservatively for the workplace, this isn't going to the office. This is going to the Emmys. This is dressing to the nines to celebrate your hard work and the hard work of everyone else in your field. When you work in television, this is your party of the year, your time to go all out and look amazing. And you, Skinny Bitch Guest Correspondent, is saying that Christina Hendricks should have thought about how distracting her NATURALLY LARGE BREASTS BECAUSE SHE HAS NATURALLY LARGE BREASTS CAN I BE ANY CLEARER ABOUT THAT are and dressed more conservatively? Really? Julie Bowen and Heather Morris waere practically not wearing a front to their dresses, but oh, they're really skinny, so it's okay.

It's hard enough for me to find dresses that work with D breasts, let alone whatever Hendricks is sporting. Add to that her gorgeous slightly fuller figure than most Hollywood designers are regrettably not used to designing for, and you get someone who probably has a hard time finding the perfect thing to wear for these kinds of events. The size 0/A cup women she is surrounded by can more or less get away with wearing any sort of design they want. Hendricks has a harder time mostly because she needs major support for her chest. Her options are limited.

When you look at Hendricks' dress, it is in fact gorgeous and incredibly tasteful. As far as necklines go at this sort of thing, the dress isn't even *that* low cut. The only way for Hendricks to not have cleavage is to dress as she does on the show, and on her special night out, I think she should have the freedom to, you know, not dress like she is a secretary in a repressed 1962 environment. If *any* other woman had worn that dress, there would be no complaints.

It really bothers me that if Hendricks looks up anything relating to "fashion police" she will see one article after another (E! and AOL are guilty as well. EW thankfully understands what women are) saying she "needs to try a new look instead of this same old silhouette." or "it was just too much." To me, it sounds like a bunch of women intimidated by the confidence of a truly feminine woman, unafraid of her body, even if it doesn't fit the stupid mold the media wants it to fit and they want to make Christina feel bad about it and stop showing off her god-given assets, which she happens to pull off by doing nothing but wearing a pretty dress. Fuck em, Christina. Your breasts are beautiful, your body is beautiful, and you should wear whatever makes you comfortable and happy.

Oh, and be sure to head here for @eruditechick's thoughts on the matter, as well as some awesome photographic evidence

8 comments:

whomajigi said...

Thank you a million times over for this.


I am a 38H cup and I cannot express how wonderful it was to read this. I rarely wear low cut tops. I enjoy showing cleavage but when I do it, it makes me feel like a whore, which is a shame. I have a percentage theory which I explain whenever I convince myself to go out in a normal girl shirt. Let's say that in a nice non-slutty cleavage top you show 10% of your boobs. So a B cup shows 10% and that's just fine. When an H cup shows 10% though, that is generally more than the B cup has all over. Showing more breast than most people have, even if it is only a modest amount is sadly discouraged...

My husband points out that I could have cleavage in my t-shirts if I tried, so you can hopefully understand why wearing something with ANY kind of neckline makes me self conscious...


Additionally, I worry about Hendricks and all the criticism getting to her. Scarlett Johansson, Christina Ricci, etc. all used to be pretty large busted and eventually let Hollywood standards conform them into the same size 2 stick figure as everyone else. Hendricks is beautiful and curvy. So far no one has managed to make her change. I just hope it stays that way.

Melissa said...

Christina Hendricks looked gorgeous, and that dress was way more conservative than many of the navel grazers some of those gals were wearing! If anyone was dressed inappropriately, it was 13 year old Ariel Winter from Modern Family. That dress was too boobalicious for someone her age.

And as someone who is well endowed in that area, the style she was wearing is one of the most flattering necklines.

These fashion critics need to disappear along with their superficial pseudo-reporting.

Ch_eekyGirl said...

Thank you for posting this! She also got a lot of criticism for the dress she wore last week to the "I Don't Know How She Does It" premiere too. http://gofugyourself.com/i-dont-know-how-she-fugs-it-2-09-2011

While I personally like those stupid fashion run-downs (Guilty Pleasure of mine), it's basically because I like seeing the fashion and what people wear. It's the whole catty "Fashion Police"/E! vibe that pisses me off the most. Especially when it has to do with people picking on size of the person. Not only did commentators talk about Hendricks, but Mellisa McCartney as well. Per Yahoo: "The winner of lead actress in a comedy for her work on "Mike & Molly" must not have been able to find what she wanted in a store, so she dared to design her own purple dress" Yeahh duh of course she had to design her own dress because designers DON'T make gowns for anybody over a size 4!

Rant done, I just hope like whomajigi said this doesn't get to her head that she has to slim down. I've actually been in the same room as her and she ::gasp:: looks like a normal person size! The dress she did wear was showing off some cleav, but if the girl has them why not show them off??

Anonymous said...

Meh. My girlfriend is a 34DD and has no problem dressing appropriately, fashionably and without showing a ton of cleavage.

Hendricks dresses to the point of distraction. There's no legit reason to show that much chest.

Insomnimaniac said...

THANK YOU! I share the same problem and it is wonderful to hear someone explain how it really is!! She looked beautiful and classy in that dress!

gormagon said...

Mostly a good post. Very true that no other woman should be criticized for wearing that gorgeous dress--she rocked it and she should feel good about that!
Not a fan of the "skinny bitch" or "truly feminine" stuff going on here though. All body types are equally worthy of respect, and a less well-endowned woman isn't any less of a woman.

Anonymous said...

I really like this girl, she is really beautiful , I was searching 4rx machines, Hendrick is like a sirena , Hendricks was named "the sexiest woman in the world" in 2010

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