Ashley Judd Slaps Media in the Face for Speculation Over Her ‘Puffy’ Appearance
Ashley Judd’s “puffy” appearance sparked a viral media frenzy. But, the actress writes, the conversation is really a misogynistic assault on all women.
The Conversation about women’s bodies exists largely outside of us, while it is also directed at (and marketed to) us, and used to define and control us. The Conversation about women happens everywhere, publicly and privately. We are described and detailed, our faces and bodies analyzed and picked apart, our worth ascertained and ascribed based on the reduction of personhood to simple physical objectification. Our voices, our personhood, our potential, and our accomplishments are regularly minimized and muted.
As an actor and woman who, at times, avails herself of the media, I am painfully aware of the conversation about women’s bodies, and it frequently migrates to my own body. I know this, even though my personal practice is to ignore what is written about me. I do not, for example, read interviews I do with news outlets. I hold that it is none of my business what people think of me. I arrived at this belief after first, when I began working as an actor 18 years ago, reading everything. I evolved into selecting only the “good” pieces to read. Over time, I matured into the understanding that good and bad are equally fanciful interpretations. I do not want to give my power, my self-esteem, or my autonomy, to any person, place, or thing outside myself. I thus abstain from all media about myself. The only thing that matters is how I feel about myself, my personal integrity, and my relationship with my Creator. Of course, it’s wonderful to be held in esteem and fond regard by family, friends, and community, but a central part of my spiritual practice is letting go of otheration. And casting one’s lot with the public is dangerous and self-destructive, and I value myself too much to do that.
However, the recent speculation and accusations in March feel different, and my colleagues and friends encouraged me to know what was being said. Consequently, I choose to address it because the conversation was pointedly nasty, gendered, and misogynistic and embodies what all girls and women in our culture, to a greater or lesser degree, endure every day, in ways both outrageous and subtle. The assault on our body image, the hypersexualization of girls and women and subsequent degradation of our sexuality as we walk through the decades, and the general incessant objectification is what this conversation allegedly about my face is really about.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/04/09/ashley-judd-slaps-media-in-the-face-for-speculation-over-her-puffy-appearance.html
please read the entire article.
= new reply since forum marked as read
It's clear that "she"
Slapchop CLAIMS to be a woman)is just getting back at Ashley for being a woman of Southern heritage who opposed the McCain-Palin ticket.
Slapchap might be Sarah Palin(or possibly Bristol)posting after a 72-hour Everclear bender. Or perhaps Karl Rove in drag(not that ANYONE wanted that image).
Yep, that's the truth, both participate and help keep that system alive. How sad.
Boy, did THEY pick the wrong target -- you GO, girl!
rocktivity
I was surfing through the channels with the volume off & I saw Rice on TV. I thought, "What's this war criminal saying?" I only caught the last part of what she said, but it was about women & our culture, so I stayed tuned. It was about 20 minutes into the documentary, being shown on Oprah's network.
One of the telling scenes for me was when a female TV exec was asking around to start another woman's channel. Male network execs scoffed & said, "You ladies already have your own channel." Then the screen scrolled the names of all the sports/men type channels & it was mind boggling. The ladies have one channel, the men have dozens.
Male is the default. 
Yeah, it's gonna piss you off. But it will be good, too. I can't wait to see it again.
Oh look, I know what I'm giving all my friends this year for the holidays:
http://www.amazon.com/Miss-Representation-Cory-Booker/dp/B006GRWCF2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1333996828&sr=8-1
I think I will have a Christmas in April event. 
and "puffy" my ass...The "demand" for hyper-skinniness in women
is now officially "insane", like so many other things in the world.
The idea that a size 8 is "large" is a joke, and a bad one.
Jackie Kennedy was a size 10, Marilyn Monroe a size 12.
No one thought they were "puffy". 
I thought it was bad when I saw size 10 listed as "large"...That used
to be "medium".
Do you live in L.A. or NY or something?...Sorry, nothing against
either of those places, but I somehow imagine only a very "trendy" city
would take it that far.
For what it's worth, I thought it was admirable when actress, Kate Winslet
stated that she was NOT going to buy into the "big skinny" crap.
Even with that, she certainly looks no larger than an eight on screen.
I thought Lane Bryant handled only "plus" sizes, which are (at smallest)
size fourteen and going up to to 16 through 24.
Maybe I'm a lot older than you.
Not that I would know. ~lol. I'm a size 12-14. And for the record, no one thinks I look fat, heavy or puffy.
Women bought into this, too, though. I've gone shopping with friends who will buy one particular pair of pants over another because one is labeled a size smaller than the other. One friend even liked the other pair of pants better, but it was labeled an 8 so she bought the size 6 pair.
I'm waiting for the day when I hear some woman say that she's a size -1. 
on Ms. Judd. 