Unfeasibly large breasts. Grr. See. This is what I've had all my life. Its utterly frustrating (not to mention just rude). Comments like that after repeated use, do get people down and make you utterly self conscious and hate bits of your body. They are not 'unfeasibly large'. They are just what I happen to have. Why can't people accept they are 'normal'?
If my breasts are so 'unfeasibly large' perhaps I should have surgery to remove them. Perhaps Marilyn should have had too.
I have had people 'try and be helpful' (those are the polite ones) saying to go shop in children's shops as I don't fit 'normal' clothes. Which is a little difficult for the fairly obvious reason I have Women who were bigger don't generally like to be laughed at and told to go shop in the 'bigger size' shop. Because there's a fair chance they are 'normal' for them too. And should be being catered for by retailers.
The stuff about my bra size not even being real, was awful for years. Finally people are really starting to recognise my size as being a 'proper' size - and actually not that unusual surprisingly. You really should get over to the better bra threads and see how many people have similarly 'unfeasibly breasts'.
And tbh, Marilyn's bust size was 35". So is mine. Regardless of what my actual cup and back size are, the measurement is the same. So her actual size wouldn't make a huge deal of difference as the measurement all round is still the same. If a size 10 is too big up top for me, it is more than likely it would have been for her. Especially given the fact that the rest of her frame - indicated from her waist size - was small. Its not too much of an assumption from the information we do have, in the way of her clothes, photos and measurements.
If we can get a proper idea of what is perfectly natural and healthy - from one end of the spectrum to the other - then it gets rid of all this myth creating and women wouldn't be so paranoid about it. There are plenty of women out there who are bigger - yet completely and utterly healthy and NORMAL. Yet feel shit because they don't fit this imaginary ideal, that doesn't even exist beyond the realms of fantasy. Marilyn like every other fucker out there, would have a shit time trying to find something to fit on the high street cos she had a dimension or too that didn't fit with clothing sizing.
EVERYONE would be treated with a lot more respect and would be better catered for by retailers if we stop trying to fit the clothes and got the clothes to start fitting us instead! We are individuals not labels. And in 2013, particularly with the high street dying a slow death and modern technology improving to the extent that we have 3D printers appearing, is it such a demand to start challenging this attitude by retailers even more? Part of the reason certain bra sizes aren't more common is not because there isn't a demand - its because women wear the wrong size and put up with the discomfort - and even when its very clear that this is the case, people like M&S don't want to acknowledge it.
This is all about why I think its important to put Marilyn into proper context - precisely because she's rolled out of her grave so much. And is actually no more of a 'better' symbol than the celebrities of today who are routinely castigated for being 'too thin', 'too fat', 'not representative' etc etc. Perhaps her figure didn't reflect the period she lived in either. But equally she certainly wasn't a freak of nature either. She's not that different from what we see in Hollywood in 2013 - apart from one aspect. (From what I know, she is more likely to have ended up in porn than Hollywood today. Apparently 'unfeasibly large' knockers are frowned upon by modern day casting agents).
Truth is the same pressures existed in the 1950s as they do today. The fact we haven't got away from those, is rather miserable. She isn't accepted for what she was - by today's judgmental world - same as any other woman out there. In the words of the lady herself - "It's all make believe, isn't it?".
Until we do start accepting everyone for what they are and have to pretend they are something else, then yeah, we aren't really getting anywhere are we?