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Baby, the Stars Shine Brite

The secret life of a girl.the strange confessions and dirty little secrets of a girl.

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8.2.07

Anna Nicole as Cultural Icon 
Anna Nicole Smith died today at the age of 39 of mysterious causes. (for full story see article) Anna Nicole Smith was the new spokesperson for a diet pill - and I fully believe she was a long time user of this drug. That being said, I am not in any way surprised by her untimely death.****** So, instead of my regularly planned (and oh yes, dear nonexistent readers, I did plan!) posts I'm going to improvise on this... because I can always bitch about something in my life, one shouldn't let news worthy of pop cultural analysis like this pass by!

I have to say: Anna was indeed an icon. For those not familiar with her work she was probably best known as a gold digger America loves to hate. However, in reality I have to say I do NOT think she was merely a gold digger. Anna Nicole was also an accomplished model who did work for Guess, Playboy (1993 Playmate of the Year), and starred in her own reailty TV show. On top of all these things, she was also a mother: her son Daniel died last year and her daughter was born.



As anyone can see there are some interesting things about Anna from this clip.
First and foremost, she's gorgeous. I have to admit, she was beautiful. Second and importantly, she is a *real* woman. Maybe not realistic, let's face it - her boobs are completely fake but compared to today's models, it's important to recognize the healthy amount of meat on Anna's bones even at the very height of her modeling career with Guess. Anna made her struggle to reach a 90's standard of model thin (significantly larger than model standards today) no secret. Her drug and alcohol problems along with other mental issues were no secret and I think she should be admired for having the courage to speak out on these subjects. Years ago, when the beauty standard was less unattainable than today, Anna Nicole spoke out about it's outrageous standard. Perhaps in a failing of feminism, or feminist consciousness, society did not hear her. We all laughed at her. We all made her "fat ass" (which incidentally, did get MUCH bigger I admit but one can only imagine what could have become of such a lovely woman had she not depended on drugs and anorexia both of which set the body up for becoming much larger once they are ended) the butt of our jokes.
Later she was villianized for her marriage to an oil tycoon millionaire and fighting to get money after his death. I don't think she was an intelligent woman - since I realize right away if she had sold the estate he left her she could have easily made more than satisfactory amounts of money. What's truly tragic about the story of her second marriage is this: the only possible way for Anna to get out of poverty and give herself and her son a good life (which is after all the American dream) was to marry Howard J. One ought not to be appalled at the fact that she would possibly marry for money but by the fact that in some cases marrying for money is the BEST thing a person can do. Let me make that more clear: for poverty stricken WOMEN, the best and absolute most they can do is to get breast implants and dance topless in a dimly lit strip club and the MOST they can hope for is to be noticed and taken care of by a rich or well off man. Possibly, one day to marry a man with a mountain of money. This becomes the only way they'll ever be living a middle-class lifestyle. That's the tragedy - that and the name calling over it later.

Anna Nicole may have been born white trash - but she made sure her son was not raised to be and her daughter was not born to such a life; in fact, maybe there is a happy ending in that maybe by the time Anna's daughter reaches her 30's she won't have to take her clothes off for money: maybe NO women in America will. Maybe while we're at is she won't die a mysterious death at 30-something from years of substance abuse in the name of beauty.

****** DISCLAIMER: I am in no way affiliated with Trimspa, nor do I mean to implicate Trimspa in her death. The actual effects of use of this drug remain unknown to me: however throughout her career Anna Nicole Smith used many substances, not the least of which cocaine, to control her weight: Trimspa being just one in a long list of substances. My point was simply that I truly believe her long history of diet pill, cocaine, and amphetamine use LARGELY contributed to her early death - but not necessarily Trimspa.

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posted by Tragic the Pixie @ 2/08/2007 08:13:00 PM

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"Father Forgive Me" (later renamed "Baby, the Stars Shine Brite") was started in the hope that a confessional blog would be entertaining reading as well as intellectual. After being neglected for some years is now, rather anonymously written in the hopes of hashing out thoughts in a somewhat intelligent manner. Aside from the writer of this blog, I am a university student majoring in Women's Studies and minoring in English at a prominent Catholic university in Middle America. A dedicated liberal - I also throw and participate fully in raves and rave culture from DJing, to lights and sound crew, to doing homework in legal libraries I'll be there - in true Riot Grrrl style: usually a miniskirt, combat boots, and wildly dyed hair. Aside from considering law school and entering politics I hope to start an organization wherever I end up providing a safe place for teenage girls (and boys) and helping their voices be heard as well as providing information on sex, condoms, and anything under the sun that kids may need. I am currently engaged to a wonderful man and hope to be married sometime around November of 2008.
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