The “Fat, Ugly And Slutty” Future of Women In Media

…From A Liberal Black Man’s Point Of View

In the midst of decades-old American media portals going to hell in 2015, we’ve opened the Pandora’s Box of the Internet and an obese woman, ugly hipster chick, unloved brown girl and a blonde white whore are now being pushed as mainstream female stars rising to iconic levels of renown. In identifying how that came to occur and why Tess Holliday, Lena Dunham, Mindy Kaling and Amy Schumer are on top (and not going anywhere anytime soon), we ultimately understand how democratization of the media in our modern and tech-positive age has changed the face (and mind, body, psyche and soul) of the world to come. Plus, as a liberal 37-year old black man watching this happen, all of the potential baggage I bring to the table is important, and comes into play here, too.

It wasn’t always this way. When I was seven years old in 1985, there were three main TV channels, and on my rabbit-eared TV, the UHF options were weird and only good for watching pro wrestling after school and on Saturday evenings. I also had one radio, the movies and whatever I saw in the magazine aisle at the supermarket to influence who and what I thought was cool, hip and relevant. Where limited options reigned, one standard of female stardom and pop cultural excellence tended to rule.

On TV in 1985, four of the top-ten programs were Dynasty, Dallas, Miami Vice and Who’s The Boss. Between these four programs there was enough thin, white and glamorous opulence to last ten lifetimes. From Joan Collins to Victoria Principal to Judith Licht and any lithe blonde sidling up next to Don Johnson and Philip Michael-Thomas, there was a clear message being sent to me about who was attractive, desirable and popular in American popular culture.

That trended into other industries, too, as Billy Joel married his top-tier model and “Uptown Girl” fiance Christie Brinkley in that year. Brinkley was literally THE Cover Girl and the face (and hair) of Prell Shampoo, too. Also, add in this 1985 clip of Joan Rivers telling then neophyte talk-show star Oprah Winfrey that [Winfrey] “needed to lose weight,” and again, there’s a clear message that was sent to a seven-year old boy sitting in front of the television.

Of course, my real life didn’t mirror TV at seven. I grew up black, poor and around the corner from Section 8 housing in far northeast Washington, DC. My mother was a plus-sized black woman who by the time I was 13 was working three jobs, so that in middle and high school I could attend a privileged and largely Caucasian prep school on the other side of town. Thus, growing up as a media-obsessed kid, I never really saw any of my reality or the awkward underbelly of society that I began to notice in all people, women especially — regardless of race or class — via the three hours of daily travel I had, ever really reflected. Thus, TV and media in general were a strange place where I saw “imaginary” people living “imaginary” lives.

What’s intriguing to me right now is that in the internet evolving from being a series of tubes to being an emerging mainstream media staple, is that via that series of tubes, the world that I never saw reflected in my youth is being reflected right now. While that may be bizarre for the rest of the world, to me it’s actually quite alright. The digital age has emerged, and is strangling thin, white, classy and opulent model-laden classic media into paralysis, and I’m loving every second of it. In offering voices to the once “voiceless,” a new coterie of off-kilter mainstream celebrities representing everything that mainstream female celebrities never were is surging to the forefront.

Regarding this surge, here’s a few intriguing figures to consider:

• One billion people use Facebook and YouTube
• As mainstream TV ratings dip precipitously, Hulu now has nine million subscribers
• By the end of 2015, 74 million people will likely subscribe to the notion of “Netflix and chill”
• Instagram has 300 million users

Foremost, rising in the wake of this 21st century shift in media tastes are numerous stars, Amy Schumer and Tess Holliday possibly the most outlandish of them all.

If you don’t know who Amy Schumer is, that’s quite alright as she’s risen to $11 million book advance fame via unusual means. Her success has come via bit roles, her Comedy Central-aired Inside Amy Schumer program, YouTube clicks of segments of said program that often number in the millions and feature films in an era where people don’t tend to go to the movies as much as before. Schumer’s style of humor is so caustic that she’s been accused of being a racist and whore, which given that the movie that’s largely an autobiographical story of her life is titled Trainwreck, are angst-filled perceptions of her that she embraces instead of hiding from completely. A far cry from Dynasty’s sassy, yet still quite austere portrayal of Joan Collins, Schumer’s success is a sign of where we are in this progressive age, and a likely harbinger of wilder women to come.

As well, Tess Holliday’s emerged pretty much out of nowhere to become a million Instagram follow having tour de force who’s challenging traditional notions of beauty on a daily basis. While there are those who view her success as a flash in the pan, there’s an equal number of voices of women worldwide who have been underrepresented in mainstream media for generations who beg to differ and find empowerment in her story. From being the face of plus-size clothing retailer Torrid to earning a deal with MiLK Model Management, appearing in the pages of Vogue and more, the sky’s the limit for the 5’5” tall, heavily-tattooed and size 22 breakout star.

Continuing, Fox dumped Mindy Kaling’s Mindy Project which has moved on to being picked up by Hulu. Hulu’s a streaming broadcast portal that Fox actually has a minor ownership stake in, and as Hulu’s first major network-to-streaming sitcom acquisition, is a groundbreaker.

Kaling is an Indian-American actress/comedienne born Vera Mindy Chokalingam, and after breaking out on NBC’s The Office, has also gone on to become a best-selling author of Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) and Why Not Me?, two books that in being unflinchingly honest, raw and sometimes awkward portrayals of the human condition are unique outliers in the history of underground-to-mainstream beloved women who become authors, too. While numbers regarding her Hulu earnings are not public knowledge, do know that “awkward brown girl” Kaling is reportedly splitting a $7.5 million advance for her next book with co-author B.J. Nowak.

Continuing along the path of awkwardness, there’s Lena Dunham, who may be the most powerful ugly white woman in America. We’re at a strange place in her bizarre trajectory to success. Girls, the HBO drama she co-writes and upon which she built her success is limping into season five bearing the lowest ratings of its run. Intriguingly, Dunham’s called an end to the award-winning show at season six, maybe aware that traditional media is tiring of the program’s progressive portrayal of millennial females as not-so Sex and the City types.

Dunham also has published a book, 2014’s Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s “Learned,” which as much as being known for being a bold book that aggressively confronts social issues like sexual assault, was just as renowned for public outcry against Dunham’s frank discussion of a quasi-sexual relationship between her seven year-old self and her then one-year-old sister Grace. Of course, this hasn’t stopped Dunham from reportedly also receiving a $7.5 million advance for her next book, as well as launching female empowerment newsletter Lenny Letter alongside Girls co-writer Jenni Konner. News that two weeks after launching with content that included interviews with actress Jennifer Lawrence and presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton that Hearst Publications was becoming an advertising sponsor of Lenny Letter shows that though Dunham may fade away from the mainstream, her pop influence is spreading wider and further via the digital age, and going absolutely nowhere anytime soon.

In previous generations, success for not-so-mainstream beloved women was difficult because women who didn’t fit pop culture’s widely-accepted expectations of beauty and cool weren’t blessed with great support systems. There’s a frightening mix of fat-shaming, ugly-shaming, slut-shaming and general woman bashing that did (and still does) exist, that lacked an audience of people able to nullify the effects of that on growth of sustainable outlets for different looking and sounding women to exist as stars and relevant voices in society. The digital age has democratized access and thus created a new and progressive sound, look, feel and vibe that’s inclusive of all women, and that’s ultimately an amazing thing.

All I know is that when I was seven, I turned on the TV and saw nobody that looked like the awesome plus-sized black force of nature that birthed me. As well, I saw nothing of the awkward, strange, imperfect and yet somehow wonderful world of people (namely women) I had come to love and/or respect. Now, at 37, I log online, and everything I ever wanted, and more, is all right there, and thankfully it looks like there’s more to come.