This is very very shallow of me, I don't respect myself but Amal Clooney, has she eaten anything since last year?

[nigelslaterfan]

There is something horrible the way she was catapulted into fame, it must be shocking and you can forgive her wanting to look her best, but oh lordy she looks tiny now.

She was fine just being gorgeous and brilliant and selfish old George had to acquire her for his greater glory. I have a lot of respect for her but I wish our society didn't make women feel this kind of pressure.

sticks they don't make me feel bad about myself.

I don't read women's magazines or tabloid papers. It's fairly easy up avoid that 'pressure' if you don't buy into the celebrity culture.

Also it's a fairly unpleasant statement that all celebrity women take drugs to stay thin.

There are plenty of slim women in real life. Do they take drugs too?

"Pressure to be thin" she was thin before, she does seem thinner now but how do any of you know it's due to "pressure"?

I think tbf for many very thin women (and I mean those who actively try to be very thin) there is a control and success element as well as the aesthetic. Very thin women look good but also in control and successful. At times of anxiety and stress (which I suspect this experience may include for her) that drive and need for control can become more pronounced.

Sticks2 you're talking nonsense. So all the people who have said they are naturally skinny are making it up are they?

And I dont see the media celebrating Amal's skinniness, they seem to be pointing and inviting comments such as "look at her, she's too thin"

Raasay - presumably you're an adult woman who didn't grow up with that pressure and who stays away from the sleb gossip? Teen girls (and boys) live lives surrounded by that kind of stuff - I am horrified by the images and pressure my 15 year old DD (very slim, size 6) has grown up with, in a world that is very different to the one we knew 20 or more years ago. The pressure to be thin has always been there, but it's incessant nowadays. It's not magazines or tabloid papers - those are not the kind of media that young girls are looking at and being bombarded by.

I've had periods where I've been very thin. The point is, it hasn't been because I'm trying to control anything, or feel pressure from anyone, it's because I've lost my appetite and nothing would persuade me to eat as I probably should. Both times were due to bereavement and lasted about two years each.
I repeat, it was nothing to do with the media, pressure or control.

I don't know why Amal has lost some weight and neither do any of you!

No, you're absolutely right Bake, no-one knows why. It just feels (to me) as if she's one more 'sleb' who has been catapulted into the limelight and has coincidentally lost a lot of weight - funnily enough, becoming very famous never seems (or very rarely seems) to coincide with weight gain, does it? Another super skinny body held up as a style icon for my DD and her friends.

Bake I'm the same, can't eat when stressed. Which is what I was getting at with Amal- it can be a reaction to anxiety also.

It has to be said, there is no way she is naturally that thin, and I say that as someone who is 8stone at 5ft 11. It may be stress, it may even be illness- that doesn't make it her natural size.

I just hate the accusation that she's lost weight deliberately. As I and other have said, for some people it's perfectly natural to lose your appetite for very valid reasons. I hate the "gosh what will power" or "she must be on drugs" type commments.

SirChenjin I was responding to Sticks comment that thin women make other (grown) women feel bad.

I have already said that I agree that the pressure on women to confirm is concerning. I don't disagree that this is something that should be tackled and will speak to my children about this repeatedly over the years no doubt.

I think a thread full of ill informed and unpleasant comments about one particular woman is beneath us and will make not one iota worth of difference. In fact it probably just adds fuel to the fire.

If in a few years SirChenjin your daughter rises to prominence in whatever field she pursues would you want her to be subject of a thread like this?

Actually I'm not talking nonsense. There is a link between the pressure on women to stay thin and eating disorders.

Good for you if you manage to avoid that pressure. Many don't.

And I didn't say she was naturally skinny or there's anything wrong with being naturally skinny.

I'm talking about how actresses, models and celebs, feel they need to look stick thin (or are pressured to look stick thin) and the methods they use to achieve it.

Most people are getting so chubby, they clutch pearls at healthy, but lean, celebrities. Put down the sugary pancakes, go for a run, and stop dissing beautiful women under the guise of 'concern'.

Rave but if she naturally loses her appetite if she's stressed, she is "naturally" that thin.

I don't think you can blame the media for Amal's choices. She might get more press as a result but her job doesn't depend on it. As it does for others.

And agree with pp it's not something that is held up as a good way to be. But just another thing that gets discussion and clicks / comments. Which they probably do like.

I know she's obviously very into fashion and has an excellent sense of style, but I can't help think that the coverage of her in newspapers says to young women it's not enough to have an excellent degree and career, but you also have to be very thin and be immaculately turned-out always, with an extensive designer wardrobe. How she is represented is not Amal's fault though.

But you know what SirChenjin - I walk past my local school at lunchtime and there are more fat kids than thin kids. I'm sitting on a train carriage right now, and there are more fat folks than thin folks. This "pressure" you speak of is having very little effect. (For the record, I also have DDs and there were weight pressures, just as there were ear piercing, eyebrow plucking, and 5" heel pressures. It's for parents to set standards and boundaries - and a good example)

Of course many "famous" people are berated for putting weight on. The glossy magazines exist on feeding the nation's appetite for lurid gossip about slabs. Maybe if people focused on making their own lives better, they wouldn't have a need to immerse themselves in the concocted problems of others?

I referred to myself as "naturally slim" earlier on the thread. On reflection, my mother was the same build as me. She would have been called average in the 70s. As we all get bigger, our perception of slim, normal and fat is changing and it's not healthy.

And Sticks I don't starve, and don't take drugs.

Agree loads more fat kids than thin. LOADS. Normally with fat parents.

Yet the kids who are thin obsess about it

Old amal hS totally slimmed down tho. From a very lovely figure before. Now a bit skeletal

In a way, her job does depend on it. If you are looking at paying fairly hefty legal fees, I suspect you may have a negative bias towards someone who is portrayed in the media as having lost weight allegedly due to anxiety/stress. I did a lot of work with lawyers for a client - I would not have recommended a lawyer who appeared to be frail/ socialite as we wanted a hefty Rottweiler type. Also as a client, I'd be somewhat irritated if the junior lawyer a) brought press attention to my case b) received more press attention than me depending on the case. She works internationally, is self employed, and isn't yet a senior barrister ( not QC). The media will have an impact on her job.

Yy @ OBJ and Whatthese ... Absolutely.

Oth people that do want press coverage will be more likely to seek her services. Half the Stella article recently was about meeting DC on a human rights case.

Loads more fat kids than thin? Not round here

Obesity is linked to poverty, so what we have in this country are areas of deprivation where you will see lots of overweight children, with the opposite true in more affluent areas. Go 'higher up' the class system and there are far fewer girls and women who are overweight - so being thin (and super skinny) is seen as a sign of wealth and success. There's lots of really interesting research about it.

If in a few years SirChenjin your daughter rises to prominence in whatever field she pursues would you want her to be subject of a thread like this?

Just noticed this. Firstly, Amal hasn't risen to prominence in her field, she's become very famous for marrying a A list Hollywood movie star. Secondly, if my DD lost a significant amount of weight very quickly my concern would be for her, not whether she was being discussed on MN.