Here is a Man and Look at His Hot Wife!

Daily Mail had such an egregious article title of how women are relegated to only being important for how they look that I had to share: 'Most comedy talent in one place!' Jerry Seinfeld beams at SNL's 40th anniversary as wife Jessica, 43, shows off toned figure.

Jerry gets to “beam” and be quoted while Jessica gets to tag along to show off her body, as if that is the only reason she exists, to be a pretty piece of arm candy for her husband.

She doesn’t even get to beam in adulation of her comic husband.

Oh! But don’t worry, while Jessica doesn’t get to say anything, at least her purse does!

“Her gold purse made a statement with the word 'Saturday' emblazoned across the front.”

Thank goodness she had her purse, or she might not have even known where she was or what day it was, huh?

And it’s not like Jerry doesn’t appreciate what he owns, as the writer sees it: “Still, the 60-year-old comedian appeared to be keen on showcasing something else - his 43-year-old wife's enviable figure.”

Oh yeah, uh-huh. I can tell that’s what Jerry is doing there.

Look at what Mail Online does next—Jerry must be happy, so that calls for a metaphor—you now, fancy writing: “The Seinfeld actor looked like the cat that got the cream as he wrapped his arm around the fit blonde.”

Jerry is a cat and his wife becomes an inanimate object.

But Daily Mail figures the photos can’t be enough, so we get a luscious description of Jessica’s body parts, errr, I mean, outfit: “Jessica's clingy purple Narciso Rodriguez jumpsuit called attention to her muscular arms, and its low-cut bodice put her cleavage on full show.”

Perhaps realizing how objectifying the article was becoming, the reader gets to learn that Jennifer actually is something besides Jerry’s wife: “The cookbook author completed the look with a black double-chain necklace and colorful dangling earrings. Her blonde locks were slicked back and she had on a bright red lip.”

Finally, we get a mention of Jerry’s attire: “Meanwhile Jerry looked dapper in a black tuxedo, crisp white shirt and black bow tie.”

Umm, yeah, his outfit just gets a sentence because we know what a man wears isn’t important, it’s what he does. So then we get a description of his experience of the SNL 40^th Anniversary special.

I understand that it’s a night about comedy and he’s a comedian and that’s why the article is about him, but why does his wife have to get turned into just an objectified thing for the night?

Can you imagine if Daily Mail wrote an article about one of the female comedians there with the title:  'Most comedy talent in one place!' Tina Fey beams at SNL's 40th anniversary as husband Jeff Richmond, shows off buff figure?

Performer Sexual Integrity

The Daily Mail has a thought-provoking article today: Now opera gets sexy: Singer who stripped down to a leopard-print leotard says performers SHOULD embrace their sexuality (just not 'desperate' Miley Cyrus) by Leon Watson.

@Alastair Muir

The opera performer Danielle de Niese who is appearing in Francesco Cavalli's bawdy opera La Calisto at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Germany, explains that her appearance in La Calisto is different from a performance like Miley’s.

“She claimed she only strips down when she has 'artistic integrity.'

 Cyrus, she says, is trying to 'break free from her previous image.’”

de Niese explains that she believes there is a difference to sexually charged performances that have to do with the purpose of the performance.

I agree heartily with the idea that it is important for women to embrace their sexuality and their own sexual identity. The purpose for performing in a sexual way or stripping down on stage can make the difference between something being seen as crass and desperate or beautiful and meaningful.

Of course, it is hard to read a person’s mind when they are performing. Yes, we might say Miley Cyrus’ performances seem to have to do with creating a new image, but who are we to say that is wrong?

Yes, it all may be a carefully crafted marketing strategy, but how do we know if she feels sexually liberated? Only the person behind the performance can really know if what they are doing has integrity or not.

I believe an opera singer and a pop singer may have artistic integrity in their sexually alive performances.

I find myself deeply exploring the idea of my own expressed-sexuality lately. After many years of turning my back on my stripper/nude model former self, I find myself wanting to return to the roots of that identity that really were supportive and empowering. I have focused so much on the negatives of stripping, I feel myself wanting to reconnect to myself as a “performer” and what that really means to me.

Kvon Photography

Who decides what is appropriate representation versus negative for each of us? I can only answer to my own thoughts about what is integrity-filled for me today.

I want to explore that performer part of myself again, but on my own terms this time.

Pastor Mike Scruggs Appeals to the Stripper Inside of You

The UK’s Daily Mail reports on Pastor Mike Scuggs of White Oak, Ohio, who has some controversial ideas when it comes to preaching, like installing a stripper pole at the altar.

Religious people from all times and places have used theatrical approaches to get people into service and that’s what this preacher seems to be trying.

He’s not asking anyone to come up and try out the pole, rather he’s making a statement about what some men’s fantasies look like and what some women’s look like, too (hence the bed with roses and romantic thingies sprinkled across on the other side of the stage).

Of course, there are some people who have problems with Scruggs approach, but he did have a packed room last Friday night.

Oh, and he’s asking his flock to have sex every night for a week, too.

I like his direct approach about real life:

“We push the envelope, that's true,” he told WLWT.com. “Don't take it out of context. Some people say, "He's going to hell. He's wrong." We want to talk about it. We don't want them to guess at it, assume it's wrong. It's right. We want to talk about it.”

“We talk about sex. We talk about drugs. We talk about faith. We talk about relationships… things that people are dealing with on a day-to-day basis.”

It seems like bringing real life problems into the context of one’s religion makes sense.

What do you think about Scruggs’ controversial theatrics?

Strippers and Sensationalism

I'm getting a kick out of the slant the media plays with my story.

And hey, as an author, you know, you just live for that first "I'd hit it" comment.

Here's the latest headline from the UK's Daily Mail: Anorexia, sex addiction and failed marriages: Mother-of-three who led double life as a stripper lifts lid on her troubled past.

And just for the record, I quit stripping when my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, not when she died.

You Can Strip, But Not You

This article by Jan Moir for the Daily Mail got me thinking—Stripping off for gold: How our super-fit Olympic hopefuls just can't keep their kit on.

As do so many American athletes, there seems to be a trend in stripping down for the cameras for publicity’s sake.

We expect and accept it from celebrities like actresses and models, but how does the public feel about elite athletes doing the same?

Do athletes posing nude denigrate the sport?

I’m not sure I really see the difference between popular athletes and celebrities. I mean, why should it be acceptable for only some people to make some extra bucks with their bodies and not others? Don’t stars and athletes already make a living off their “bodies”?

Look at Sports Illustrated’s annual swimsuit issue. If we’re really going to get upset about something, why not question that age old practice of saying looking at beautiful half-naked women is a sport.

What ABout Us Average Women?

The Daily Mail’s Tamara Abraham reports on an article in PLUS Model Magazine that claims “Most runway models meet the BMI criteria for anorexia.”

“A magazine dedicated to plus-size fashion and models has sparked controversy with a feature claiming that most runway models meet the Body Mass Index criteria for anorexia.

Accompanied by a bold shoot that sees a nude plus-size model posing alongside a skinny 'straight-size' model, PLUS Model Magazine says it aims to encourage plus-size consumers to pressure retailers to better cater to them, and stop promoting a skinny ideal.”

I applaud the magazine’s photo shoot that spotlights size 12 model Katya Zharkova, 28, with a “regular” size model to show the discrepancy in their bodies.

The photos are accompanied by remarks made about women and body image, such as “Twenty years ago the average fashion model weighed 8% less than the average woman. Today, she weighs 23% less.”

The expose does a great job of highlighting what an extreme there is between a “regular” model and a “plus size” model.

What this experiment on body image seems to bring to light for me is that we are missing most in the media is the middle ground.

We need to see more average-size women, not just skinny or curvy—what about the mass majority of women who just fall into that middle zone? What should we be called? “Average” models?

Why can’t we just see a mix of ALL sizes in magazines? Why does it have to be skinny or plump?

We will have achieved success in body image when we open a magazine and see photos of all sizes of women mixed together in a normal fashion magazine rather than women being separated into categories of this and that extreme.

How can we put more pressure onto fashion magazines and media to more accurately represent the full array of women’s beauty?