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The Queen's Chair: NY Times Critic Calls Ballerina Fat (432 hits)

I was watching The Today Show yesterday and heard about the New York critic who gave a bad review to the show, The Nutcracker, because he thought the dancer in the show was too fat. She was on the show to respond back to his comments. I expected her to have a belly, be overweight... something. After the commercial break, this beautiful woman who was slender and muscular appeared.

After looking at her on TV (and we know TV puts on 10 pounds), I thought how could she be called fat? And I guess what made this issue worse was the fact that she had an issue with body image and anoerxia issues. And she was being called fat. Gee, what would the critic think of me.

I'm glad she is standing up for herself. I'm glad others are backing her. I think this critic is and was way out of line. This is why. If the casting director thought she was fat, he or she wouldn't have cast her. Ballerinas are so of the most athletic people in the world. They know how important body image is to their performance. To call this woman fat would be like calling Twiggy "fat" in her day and now. It's ridiculous.

That's why young women--especially girls--are so messed up. These mixed signals that we send are ridiculous. Today's women are supposed to be rail-thin and women are taught to starve themselves. Sorry people, real women do have curves, hips, breasts and butts. Looking like a pre-teen isn't s*xy.

To define a woman just on her looks is so unfair, but it continues to happen in our society. It won't stop. Women are judged on the way they look period. It is a fact of life. Pretty girls go farther in life. Also is a fact. The cosmetic and hair industry garners millions of dollars on products that are supposed to fix us. Whether it means we have a whiter smile, s*xier lips, longer lashes, to controlling feminine issues.

I think the critic owes her an apology. He feels he's justified. I'd like to see his butt in a tutu and have someone review his performance. Wonder how he would feel then?
Posted By: Marsha Jones
Tuesday, December 14th 2010 at 2:13PM
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I do believe the ballerina acknowledged that she was not the typical size one sees or expects of ballerinas. Let's face it, ballerinas are very slim so perhaps the lady should just opt to teach rather than perform then that way she can help young girls overcome these weight and self esteem challenges.
Wednesday, December 15th 2010 at 9:40PM
Jen Fad
Ironically, she too suffered from an eating disorder. To give in to the critic's disregard of her struggle is wrong. She's not an unusual size. She's what we black people may call healthy but just a white version of it. She is in no way fat. And to suggest that she should teach is basically saying that men define who and what we should like. In this case, I don't agree.
Sunday, December 19th 2010 at 5:25PM
Marsha Jones
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