Ellen DeGeneres: Being Skinny Is "Not Important!"
Credit: Jeff Vespa/WireImage.com
Ellen DeGeneres is tired of women thinking beauty is synonymous with being super-skinny.
"It's a double standard because there are men with really beautiful women that don't have great bodies, and yet nobody's saying anything about that," she tells Katie Couric on CBS Evening News. "Women [think they] need to keep themselves up to look good for a man or for society. It's not fair."
Check out photos of stars who love their bodies
The CoverGirl spokeswoman's biggest frustration? Airbrushing.
"Women are looking at bodies like that and going, 'My stomach doesn't look like that. I'm supposed to look like that?!'" the talk show host, 52, says. "So they starve themselves and they work out like crazy."
Take a look at these scary-skinny bikini bodies
She adds: "It's not important. We put the wrong emphasis on what beauty is and what health is. Health is being vibrant and having energy and being happy. If you're healthy, it's got nothing to do with how much you weigh."
DeGeneres tells Couric that what makes her healthy and happy is her relationship with wife Portia de Rossi.
She and the Better Off Ted star, 37, are so "fully in love with each other" that DeGeneres doesn't feel the need for children.
See Ellen's funniest moments on her talk show
"Of course we thought about it, and for a moment there, it was actually a consideration," she admits. "We really are lucky enough to be so in love with one another that I don't want a baby because I know what kind of love that must be. I don't want to share that. I like having all of her, and she likes having all of me. And we have freedom and we have time."
Plus, she says she gets all the baby love she needs from her niece.
"We play with her and she cries," she says. "And we just hand her back!"
Tell Us What You Think
17Wow, lot of hate and stupidity in this thread. Is this representative of the readership of US magazine? I can only hope the ink on the pages makes you all sterile...
What she says is completely true in regard to the disparity between the beauty standards to which women are held and the beauty standards to which men are. Men can get away with being completely twig-like, and even being borderline obese and still be considered cute and attractive by mainstream standards. It doesn't seem to matter that much whether or not they are muscular, or how much body hair they have, whether or not they have tattoos, or how tan they are. Women, on the other hand, are constantly criticized for being too thin, too chubby, too muscular-"manly", too hairy, or too flat-chested. It's a wonder that some female celebrities don't just lose their minds...oh wait, they do...
wow. how stupid can that b i t c h be? doesn't she realize that men respond to VISUAL stimulus and women respond to EMOTIONAL stimulus. of course nobody cares about how men look, because men are judged by their bank accounts not their looks, you idiot. lol
For someone who is talking about weight not being an issue and natural beauty etc. Ellen seems fixated on this subject as she is always talking about it. She seems to always be looking for the latest exercise equipment or diet. PLUS she has had work done.. and don't deny it, just look at old pictures of her. I find her hypocritical and just does things for ratings ie the sugar cleanse... believe me, she knows about agave nectar being a substitute for sugar and her chef has been using it. But saying all that, I am happy that her and portia are happy together, that's the most important thing.
I agree with you Siz, if Portia were to pack on about 50 pounds Ellen might not change this song she is singing. I am pretty sure Ellen would not look twice at Rosie O'Donnel!
Ellen looks great, and giving up sugar is a health choice. But her girlfriend has obviously struggled with the pressures to be too thin. She was voluptous in the movie Sirens, and became a stick when she was on Ally McBeal. Just as hard to gain as it is to lose weight I am guessing
I find these health comments from Ellen interesting. in the past year Ellen became a vegetarian although she had never been over weight she did lose a considerable amount of weight. And this week she announced she is giving up sugar. in which she will lose even more weight and will be too thin
WhiteMaleWithAsianHoney-I disagree. How many times have I seen a gorgeous woman with a meh looking man? Too many to count. Look at the television shows and movies where average or even nerdy unattractive men get the babe. How many times do you see it the other way around? Also, I think that some of the posters are right when they call Ellen a hypocrite. Portia is very thin and I bet if she gained thirty pounds, Ellen-who is probably like the men she criticizes who need to walk around with arm candy- would be very unhappy indeed. But who's creating the standard? Tyra's another one, putting down people chemically straightening their hair and she's the queen of the weave and pressuring women on Top Model to be bony. The desired body type is impossible to achieve naturally. The body of a teenage boy with huge breasts and gigantic rear end.
Ellen spouts positive talk, but she's kinda a hypocrite. Her wife is super thin. Would Ellen have been attracted to her, or vice versa, if she had been chunky? I appreciate she's trying broadcast positive self-esteem and equality between the sexes, but it reminds me of how Tyra Banks speaks of her message of inner beauty and loving your natural outer beauty when she herself has had at least three plastic surgeries to get ahead in this image conscious world and banked her career on outer beauty.
Geez I wonder if Ellens GF heard anything of what Ellen has to say about being skinny or is she just like the other stars who eat a ton and are just "naturally skinny"? LOL
The reason women want to be thin is because they want to be able to attract "poster quality" males with studly ripped hard bodies. Get it? Thats not a double standard. Thats a paradox. Its not their beauty they are worried about. Its the beauty of the males they are trying to be able to attract they are worried about. (who do women think they are kidding?????? )
I sincerely doubt Ellen would have even considered Portia had she been a hog.
IF NOT THEN WHY "MARRY"(HAHA) AN ANOREXIC? FAKE KHATE GOSSELIN WILL BE ANOREXIC SOON FOR ATTENTION! NEWEST FAKE BOOBS!!
IF NOT THEN WHY "MARRY"(HAHA) AN ANOREXIC? FAKE KHATE GOSSELIN WILL BE ANOREXIC SOON FOR ATTENTION! NEWEST FAKE BOOBS!!
being skinny IS important, no-one likes a fatty mcfatterson...
She says, "If you are healthy it has nothing to do with what you weigh." I thought Ellen was intelligent. The problem is that one is NOT healthy if they weigh too much!!!!!!!!!!! I do agree on the double standard though but women help that along my valuing a man's MONEY over his looks too often. Some women always have done that and always will, so sadly that standard isn't going to change.
I'm not usually a fan of Ellen but I like what she had to say about this topic. I agree!