Monday, September 03, 2007

KT Tunstall jumps on women's bodies

"Shoelaces with big boobs" is how KT Tunstall thinks of the unhealthy Heat magazine body archetype:

I don't know any guys who want to go out with a shoelace with big boobs. All the guys I know like girls who look like women.

"It's very twisted that women are being bombarded with the idea that this is what they should look like.

"You're left feeling inadequate and with a general sense of low self-confidence.

"There's nothing wrong with a young person wanting to be famous and rich through doing something they're passionate about but it seems to be breeding this desire in younger people to get very, very famous and rich in anyway they possibly can."

We're not entirely sure we follow her morality here: is there a problem if you're passionate about making yourself look like a big-breasted stick? If it's okay to want to be rich, but not very, very rich, where is the cut-off point where richness becomes wrong.

Tunstall, of course, blames television:
"TV firms don't seem to have any standards about what they're pumping out for young people to watch."

"It's really fucked up.

"I don't have a television any more because reality TV just made me sick.

"It's very addictive. It hooks you in and you end up watching shit for hours."

Curious that "reality TV" makes her "sick" but she watches it for "hours" - presumably she'd angled her telly so she could see it from the bathroom. But while it's brave of KT to thjrow out her TV, if she was really that annoyed at what TV companies are doing, shouldn't she refuse to appear on networks which "pump out" these fucked up programmes? And, indeed, request her record company stops funding them by advertising her record in their commercial breaks? And ban all those reality TV shows which lob "Suddenly I See" on any package featuring a "beautiful girl"?

Or does her outrage only come into force when she's not on the receiving end of a benefit?


7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Quote:

"We're not entirely sure we follow her morality here: is there a problem if you're passionate about making yourself look like a big-breasted stick? If it's okay to want to be rich, but not very, very rich, where is the cut-off point where richness becomes wrong."

As you're not entirely sure, I'd suggest you re-read the text you chose to quote:

"There's nothing wrong with a young person wanting to be famous and rich through doing something they're passionate about but it seems to be breeding this desire in younger people to get very, very famous and rich in anyway they possibly can."

You see, the problem is not with people wanting to get rich or famous, but that magazines such as FHM have created a culture which makes people want to get rich and famous "in anyway they possibly can", including selling themselves in magazines as a "big breasted stick". So if you're passionate about looking like "a big breasted stick" as a direct result of that culture, it's wrong.

Sometimes, Mr. No Rock And Roll Fun, you just pick holes for the sake of. And it makes you look incredibly petty-minded.

Unknown said...

Would it help your viewing figures if I added the phrase 'KT Tunstall Lesbian?' here?

Bit of a favourite from the old 'top 10 searches' there.

Simon Hayes Budgen said...

Anonymous:

Yes, I read that bit. But it doesn't answer whereabouts KT draws the line - for example, let's imagine a singer who, for that difficult second album, suddenly 'glams up' for the video and sleeve to broaden her appeal, sell more records and make more money - you know, like KT Tunstall has just done. Is that still acceptable?

Presumably so.

But, I'd imagine, KT would disapprove of the recording career of Jennifer Ellison, which is based entirely on her being 'pretty'.

So: is it not fair to ask where, exactly, KT sees the line between acceptable and unacceptable?

Thom: It's handy - but perhaps if you throw in "videos youtube watch" as well...

Anonymous said...

"It's very twisted that women are being bombarded with the idea that this is what they should look like."

It's amazing how often I read this from people and yet I don't think I've even once read/seen/heard someone say "THIS IS HOW YOU SHOULD LOOK". What I have seen is someone who is constantly changing her image to best suit what will sell at a given moment in a given market. I'll tell you what's worse than this "do anything to be famous" attitude, it's the "I'm independent because I can point this out and look all smug about it at the same time as being an absolute hypocrite" attitude that Tunstall, Ditto and co. constantly subject us to.

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

what on earth are the people who search for "kt tunstall lesbian" looking for exactly? the wholesome pop star involved in a three-way romp with ron jeremy and jenna jameson, filmed for a movie the news of which has for some bizarre reason never made the papers?

Anonymous said...

That is quite odd. Perhaps people forget to clear the search box before typing "lesbian". Actually that makes a bit of sense. I mean the thought process is probably "KT Tunstall. This song is bad. Oh shit how do I get rid of this from my head. Lesbians! That always cheers me up. No Rock and Roll Fun. Oh this seems interesting..."

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