Heroine Chic was the idea of looking like a skinny drug addict was attractive. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heroin_chic

Also, no where in my comment did shame thinness, I was pointing out a fad that was created by advertisement and pretty much exulted the use of heroine. Perhaps you are either too young or old to have remembered or experienced that fad but I remember it and the completely negative affect it had on my older sisters. I don't care if you are 0 or 24 but please don't aspire to look like a drug addict.

I agree there is only so much parents can do. At home our kids are not exposed to pop culture. Actually I *think* we started watching this pepsi commercial the other night, when we had on "real" tv. The kids are always asleep if junk tv goes on, but the other night we let them stay up to watch the firework special on tv. We had it on for like 5 minutes, and finally when that commercial came on DH turned it, we both were not too happy about what was on. It wasn't the pepsi, but the sexual nature of the commercial (she's dancing in front of a mirror, right?)

Anyway our kids have no exposure to pop suture in our home because DH and I are not pop culture people. IF I put on something beside kid tv, its the science or weather channels, animal plant, that type of stuff. And we don't watch celeb tv or news infront of them. The fireworks special was a rare event and only confirmed that we cannot just put on any channel in front of the kids because there's so much crap on tv.

But my older son is going into 1st grade next year and I'm sure despite what we do at home he will be around other kids that have been taught who these celebs are, and kids that get to watch their music videos, and watch regular tv all the time, parents that have had their kids dancing to these popular music songs since they were toddlers. We listen to music in the car, but at home basically its what comes on kid tv, I sing a lot lol, and we "play" the piano (kids "play" a lot fo songs on the piano lol). I'm not doing it on purpose, I just get easily annoyed at pop culture and don't give a crap about celebs so its not in the house. I prefer my science shows :)

But I'm glad you acknowledged that even so, I can not control everything my kids see and think as they get older. I can only set an example and hope it works.

Just because it has an official name doesn't mean that it's an ok thing to say. Extreme thinness doesn't necessarily mean one is a drug addict and nor are all drug addicts thin. Putting up a body type and calling it "heroin chic" is just another form of body shaming and our culture's obsession with putting women's self worth into their looks.

I agree with you 100% that parents don't have control of what their children all of the time. A good example is one of my students from last year - she comes from an extremely hard working immigrant family that doesn't even have a TV, yet she wants to BE the next Kim Kardashian when she grows up... It's sad really.

My point isn't so much that kids shouldn't be exposed to this crap, my point is that they should be taught (through intelligent conversations with their parents) critical thinking skills. When my kids were much younger there were a couple shows they liked on Nickelodeon (before NickJr channel that axed commercials). I used to say my daughter was a marketer's dream because she wanted EVERYTHING in every commercial. So I would have conversations with her about the products and typically with a few guided questions she'd realize what was being portrayed on TV was probably not as cool in real life. She was 3 and 4. Granted, she was a SMART preschooler, but I truly believe all kids can be taught to think critically for themselves.

Heroine chic was not simply a label for extreme thinness in an otherwise healthy looking body. Heroine chic combined skeletal thinness, with pale makeup and dark circles painted under the eyes to give a near-death appearance. Facial expressions were vacant and lacking any emotion. Beautiful thin girls were made to look like corpses. Some may have been naturally thin, but to achieve the "look" they had to lose enough weight to fall into the "dangerously underweight" category.

Today those girls would be hospitalized for anorexia.



There is no healthy way to achieve the heroine chic look. Models and young girls emulating models frequently passed out and even died trying to achieve the look, so the term is not body shaming, it's cautionary - that what is considered beautiful and hip can be dangerous.

Again in my comment I never said that extreme thinness is bad and I am offended that you keep saying I am body shaming others.

The point of this thread is about the dangerous of celebrity endorsements and how advertisements control societies view of what is acceptable. Using the term is valid because I was using it as an example of how magazines, the media, etc. can control society by praising one body type over another and actually coining terms like "Heroin Chic."

Thanks, I was having trouble being eloquent trying to explain why the term wasn't be used in an offensive way.

I do think celebrities have a certain amount of responsibility in the message they put out to the world. Listen, you can't have it all. You make millions of dollars standing on your platform, spreading one message after the other, and then say "hey I'm not responsible!" It's total hypocrisy.

Now more than ever, with reality tv we have total nobodies rising to fame and fortune. I mean look at Kim from Don't be tardy. She's totally trailer trash! All she values is money, fame, hair, and treats people badly. And she's on tv for it. Most people that our children see on television are.... nobodies. They've achieved nothing whatsoever.

I enjoy pop culture as much as anyone. I get a kick out of Bravo tv. I look forward to the Oscars like it's the superbowl. But I also LOVE to watch PBS and learn, I would love it if the Pulitzer Awards were televised! I would love it if the Special Olympics were televised! I love seeing successful people make PSAs!

I think that every jobs comes with certain responsibilities. If you are the CEO of whatever company then you can't be seen around town doing illegal things because that reflects poorly on you and your company. If you are a teacher you cannot go to the local playground and make out with your boyfriend. If you are a doctor you cannot go get high with your patients. If you're in the public eye you really do have a responsibility to the people who follow you. At least I would feel so.

I work in Harlem. The amount of billboards and ads that celebrities do to sell liquor is obscene. Mostly pop and hip hop stars. Most recently I was disappointed to see a huge billboard of John Legend selling some type of liquor. Really? Like this is the kind of marketing we need in Harlem? Where all my students think they're going to grow up to be either a rap star or a basketball player - and that's it.