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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

to think Keira Knightley is actually stunning?

232 replies

InMyLittleHead · 23/12/2009 13:11

I find it v bizarre when people (usually women) go on about how she isn't that attractive really, too thin etc. Surely it is jealousy? Her face is literally perfect. Voice slightly annoying though.

OP posts:
ThumbleBells · 23/12/2009 17:33

nope. It ain't cool but that's my opinion and I'm entitled to it.

mayorquimby · 23/12/2009 17:34

It's also pretty cool if you're waiting for a bus otherwise you don't know what to do with yourself. But that guy smoking....he knows what's going on.

lowenergylightbulb · 23/12/2009 17:34

LOL Thumble!

BalloonSlayer · 23/12/2009 17:35

Whoever said "And yes, it is men like you that do give rise to easting disorders in young women." - I'm sorry but I disagree.

Maybe men who like women skinny do contribute to eating disorders in women, but this contribution is a drop in the ocean compared to that of the bitchiness of other women, usually at school.

Women constantly have their appearance critically examined by other women, and it is frequently the admiration of other women that most women crave more than the admiration of men. Men are far less critical and most women know this. This thread is a good example - my own comments included.

lowenergylightbulb · 23/12/2009 17:36

MQ, it is a scientific law that if you are waiting for a bus and light a fag that a bus will arrive just as you are enjoying your first drag, thus causing one to discard a whole fag...

I'm sure that there's a journal article about it somewhere.

mayorquimby · 23/12/2009 17:40

"nope. It ain't cool but that's my opinion and I'm entitled to it."

The hell you are.......opressor!!

Olifin · 23/12/2009 18:05

I don't think KK's face is perfect, literally or otherwise. And I don't believe she can act her way out of a paper bag, either. She is very pretty and, yes, very slim but she doesn't look emaciated to me. I would be surprised if she was starving herself.

But definitely not beautiful, IMO. If I were going to swing that way, I'd go for Natalie Portman; she is ridiculously beautiful, I think.

I can't believe someone suggested Cheryl Cole is beautiful (sorry, no offence) Do you recall what she looked like when she first appeared on Pop Stars, or whatever it was called? She is a pretty, girl-next-door who's had her teeth done, and makes good use of her stylists basically.

ABetaDad · 23/12/2009 18:08

I cannot believe how contentious this thread has become. For those of you on this thread who think that it is men who give rise to women being anaorexic you are absolutely and totally wrong.

Men have a vast range of preferences for body size, skin tone, hair colour, facial features, character, and so on. Just like women have preferences for muscle men, blonde blokes, sensitive souls, latin lovers and every other preference under the sun.

What I do think is that the extreme body images that women see in the media and fashion industry are perpetuated mainly by women.

If it balances out what MayorQuimby said, I just happen to like brunette women with an hour glass figure. I don't know why, but a woman with a pronounced waist and hips and dark skin and hair just does something for me. As MayorQuimby rightly points out that does not mean he likes women who are dangerously thin any more than it means that I like women who are dangerously overweight.

DW happens to really dislike blokes with either pronounced muscles or fat blokes. She likes slight skinny blokes - I am 11 stone 2 lb and 5' 11" but she has firmly told me she does not want me to lose any more weight.

Each to their own within the normal range. I repeat. It is not men that promote anorexia.

Olifin · 23/12/2009 18:13

And actually, eating disorders are very often connected with issues of control, rather than body image.

ThumbleBells · 23/12/2009 18:27

MQ -

ABetaDad · 23/12/2009 18:36

BalloonSlayer - x-posted with you and I agree with what you say.

NancyDrewRocks · 23/12/2009 18:55

Anorexia is not caused by men who like girls thin.

The causes are wide and varied and include a number of interelated physiological, psychological and social factors disorder: genetic; chemical imbalances; desire for control; low self esteem; poor familial relations.

To attribute it to men liking thin is to grossly over simplify the issue.

thelollyandtheivy · 23/12/2009 19:31

Big rant warning!

As soon as skinny women were brought up I just knew there would veiled accusations of gayness etc. Some people (however small this number may be and undoubtedly it is very small) are indeed naturally that slim and I really don't see how comments like "excuse me while I puke" and aggressive accusations of anorexia are accepted while mayorquimby's pleasantly-stated preference is held as being somehow reprehensible.

Are some women really that tragically insecure? I've seen pictures of KK where undoubtedly she does look a bit stringy to be at an ideal weight but in that bikini picture she looks absolutely fine. Thin undoubtedly, but healthy - she doesn't have that gaunt, hollow-eyed look that genuine anorexics (of which my sister was once one - which is why the idea that KK looks anorexic int hat photo is so laughable to me)generally have.

Whenever a man expresses a preference for thinner women, he always seems to get rounded on by women in a way that is really ugly to watch. I appreciate some may find it uncomfortable to hear a man express such a preference but you know what, get over it! We're all human and we all have our insecurities but to use them as an excuse to make vile comments about thin women and accuse men who like thin women of being closet gay is something else.

I suspect that a considerable number of the people who claim KK is so repulsively underweight would, if given the hypothetical choice to have KK's body for the rest of their life, or a body as chubby/fat as KK's is thin so to speak (free from any health repurcussions for both examples, v hypothetical I know) would choose the former.

Also, undoubtedly she has no tits but she does have a not-entirely-masculine waist/hip definition. In theory it is that that defines what men are meant to find bodily attractive in a woman, rather than the actual weight or build. put it this way, I'd be bloody disturbed if I saw a teenage lad that looked like that . It is possible to be both slim, even thin, and curvy. Equally it's possible to be well-covered and curveless.

When there are discussions like this people always say things like "[insert considerably more well-built attractive woman] - now there's a REAL woman!". Last time i checked the only requirement for that label was a vagina. Now how would it look if the tables were turned, and people started calling anybody over about 55 kilos "not a real woman"?

JaneiteQuiteRight · 23/12/2009 19:34

I think she's gorgeous. And I like her as an actress. So there!

nickytwotimes · 23/12/2009 19:43

I'm a former anorexic and I can say that it had fuck all to do with wanting to be skinny for a bloke.

A fair chunk of anorexics have been sexually abused as kids (me included) and staying super skinny makes periods, breasts and hips disappear. Trust me, I was completely asexual during that time of my life. That was partly the point.

Media pressure does have a role too, definitely, but not blokes.

Morloth · 23/12/2009 20:05

I can look at her and think "Yes, I see why people think she is beautiful", but not my type. If I am taking a trip to the other side lovely.

lowenergylightbulb · 23/12/2009 20:14

Morloth, my husband would take that trip with you!!

All I can add is 'seven of nine'

Morloth · 23/12/2009 20:19

Mine would as well lelb, which opens up a whole interesting range of possibilities...

Am still smarting from the loss of Ash from Sanctuary, sometimes I wonder about me.

Oblomov · 23/12/2009 20:59

I don't like her. pretty I guess. too thin. don't rate her as an actress.

ABetaDad · 23/12/2009 21:01

*Morloth - who is the woman in your first link..... just out of idle curiosity like?

TotallyAndUtterlyPaninied · 23/12/2009 21:09

Eww Keira knightly is yuck. She is too manly- man jaw, no boobs, no curves or shape, etc. Even DH says she looks like a boy.

I'd love to look like Kate Beckinsale or Jessica Alba- they're beautiful.

Morloth · 23/12/2009 21:54

Claudia Black, ABetaDad an Australian actress and SciFi regular. Was Erin in Farscape and Vala in Stargate, both excellent women who don't stand about waiting for some man to come along and rescue them (as Keira Knightly seems to spend a large amount of time doing).

UpsyOne · 23/12/2009 21:57

I think she is breathtakingly beautiful until she smiles - then she looks weird

MollieO · 23/12/2009 22:06

She is very thin and not toned. She also looks like Jimmy Hill's love child.

ABetaDad · 23/12/2009 22:16

Thank you. I do really like Sci Fi as well.