Pajama Pundits

Ann Althouse links this morning to a Robin Givhan article in the LA Times on the Dove advertising campaign featuring "real" women's bodies.

There's no real disagreement here with the conclusion:

It's healthy to occasionally pull back the curtain and remind readers of what most of them already know. Fashion is not truth. That has always been the operating principle of the business. Fashion is extravagance and incongruity, elegance and rebellion. It is envy and exclusivity. All of that may have been epitomized by Richard Avedon's 1955 image of the lithe model Dovima posing in a Christian Dior gown in front of a line of elephants.

All it takes to verify that fashion and reality have a limited relationship is an occasional visit to Manolo's Shoe Blog.

It is reassuring to occasionally see the machinations of the magician. It's nice to be presented with a female physique that is a little more accessible. And it is good to see the beauty fantasy broadened to include attributes such as strength and endurance. But no one wants to feel as though they've stumbled into the ladies locker room or caught their neighbors in their skivvies.

Given the news stories I’ve read about unauthorized photos of everyday people in just such situations showing up on porn sites, I wouldn’t go so far as to say no one wants that.

And just to prove that reality according to Dove may very well be inspiring, just take a look at their portrayal of Real Beauty:

Not exactly disheartening, are they?

However, if Nike listens to Givhan,

Perhaps Nike's next ad blitz should include a chubby lady with wobbly thighs. Her arms could be raised in victory as she wheezes across the one-mile marker.

I'll be there auditioning for that spot.

I haven't seen all the spy movies Ace lists, but he's so right on his number one pick (and for the right reasons too!) that I'll trust his judgment on the ones I haven't seen.

And he's right about Robert Redford too.